Pretentious, bloated, boring comments about B&W 705 S2.

[Mellotronix]

I've had these B&W 705 S2's in my studio for a few weeks now and they are pretty well broken in. They replaced a pair of CM6 S2's which on the surface look nearly identical with the obvious exception of the Kevlar cum Continuum materials in the mid/bass drivers. The tweeter (on top) housing is larger on the 700 series and milled from aluminum. It also has an aluminum- carbon dome tweeter and has been designed to reproduce treble frequencies far above the range of human hearing. Headroom, if you will. The claim is that the further they can extend the frequency range, the less distortion there will be in the audible range. Makes sense, but one thing I have learned about audio is that nothing is quite as simple as it appears, no matter what the marketing people claim.

I'm using them with a Grado Statement (low output) Master 2 cart mounted on a 9" Project carbon fibre/aluminum sandwich tonearm (standard with the Classic). A Project Tube Box DS and Yamaha 100 watt/channel A S801 integrated amp and a REL T/i7 subwoofer complete the picture. We're not talking high end audio here, but this modest system does have some features that would make some audiophiles happy. The bespoke speakers being the most obvious. Even though they had garnered solid reviews by users and pros alike, I was hesitant to upgrade my CM6 S2's less than a year after I purchased them. But my son was in the process of changing jobs and before he did, he took the opportunity to acquire a bunch of gear at a 50% discount over the street price. So the new B&W's with stands were just over half of their $3000 retail.

I had a chance to A-B the new 705's with the CM6's before I gave away the latter (to my son, of course). Since I had the CM's bi-wired, I just attached the jumpers and wired them up alongside the 705's. To be sure, the 705's were not broken in so the test was not a very fair assessment. It did reveal a few things that could be helpful to anyone thinking of upgrading:

• The basic Bowers and Wilkins signature sound is present in both. Energetic mids, smooth transients, solid bass (around 50 Hz for both) and power hungry nature was obvious in both sets.
• Neither sounds particularly punchy at lower volume levels. These speakers like to be driven hard and in my little studio space, they do not come to life until you are nearing 80 db from your listening position.
• Both produce gorgeous vocals, guitars, and sweet cymbals, hi hats, and rides. If you like rush, iron maiden, genesis, and other prog/metal music and you like to listen at higher volume, both speakers will reward a good turntable setup.
• The new 705's have noticeably more bass extension. I readjusted my REL crossover from around 90Hz to 70Hz to compensate. You could easily get by without a sub if you mounted them within a foot of the back wall. Closer than that produces mud, so keep that in mind.
• Since the 705's have broken in, I do notice a fullness to the sound that would translate to a sort of V-shaped EQ. As a result, the subwoofer needs to be carefully positioned and adjusted. Choice of cartridges is critical if you want midrange. The Grado Statement Master 2 is an excellent match because it will keep the upper frequencies in check. It does have a formidable bass, so sub setup, as I mentioned, reigns supreme if you want balanced frequencies.
• Right now I'm listening to "Exit Stage Left" in the sweet spot of my listening room. My db meter reads between 70 and 77 decibels. The bass is full and Neil Pert's hi hats, splash cymbals, etc, give you the illusion that he's in the room. The mids are slightly recessed with Geddy's voice a tad light. The synths are exceptionally full with the guitar popping through the mix without ever getting harsh or shrill. And that's where the 705's start coming into their own. There's lots of loud headroom to be had before your ears start to notice the volume. Remember that my room is treated with Auralex Pro Panels, so they will diffuse harsh frequencies. Additionally, I have bass traps in opposite corners aligned with the sub. As I get the volume past 80 db, the quality of the tones and sheer weight of the band are quite impressive, especially Alex Lifeson's staccato riffs and pinch harmonics during La Villa Strangiatto. Sheer Bliss. The CM6's were very close. I could have been perfectly happy with them for a long time. They fall short in the transients and bass extension, but the mids were slightly more forward.

Final thoughts. Some people don't like the Bowers and Wilkins sound and that's understandable. They are often more like what I hear from studio monitors than home speakers. They are also quite eager to reveal weaknesses in the room or the signal chain--a badly mastered LP, slightly microphonic tubes, a poorly designed turntable preamp, bad cartridge, or a home theater receiver whose power ratings per channel, noise and distortion have been incorrectly reported. Also, I had to work for months to get the 600 Series 5.1 setup that I have in my home theater room to sound exciting. The whole thing was just plain dull until I found the correct position for everything and cleared out some excess clutter around my TV. Once you get them working optimally, you may still think that they lack a bit of punch with rock music or bluegrass. But crank them up and it's a whole different world. There are better bookshelf/standmount speakers for low volume listening (KEF, ELAC, even some of the classic JBL reissues, dozens of others, I'm sure). But if you have a fairly powerful amp, good source material, and decent sounding room, both the CM6's and the 705's will deliver thrilling sound. Forget about MP3's and low bitrate files though. You're gonna hate what these things do to them. They will reveal the shortcomings of low bandwidth digital streaming as well.

 

[crouse]

Nice review.