B&W 706S2 to KEF R3, M16 or Linton?

[KuroMuro]

Hello everyone,

A search for new speakers is always a challenge. Currently I have the Bowers & Wilkins 706S2 at home as my main stereo setup and I'm somewhat pleased with the sound of them. They sound very good with Jazz but I have the idea that they aren't a relaxed listening. Much details and sharpness instead of detail but a relaxing and soothing sound. My budget is around €1500,-, so these mentioned above fall in the category.

So far I've read/watched a lot of reviews and I came to the conclusion that I'm currently fixed on there speakers:
• KEF R3
• Revel M16 (or the M106)
• Wharfdale Linton (somewhat... but I don't think they will provide me the detail in sound that I'm looking for)

I don't have dealers in my near environment to hear these speaker in a demo session, so this makes it more difficult to come to a conclusion which one to choose. I've read the review here and the M16 look like to be the best. Will it be a decision to make between the R3 and M16 or is the Linton also a serious one to choose?

My room is about 16m2 which would be a smaller/medium sized room.

My current setup:
Speakers: B&W706S2
Stereo Amp: Advance Acoustic X-i105
Subwoofer: SVS 3000 Micro

Which of these three are the best for my taste in music...


Thanks in advance.

 

[regan]

I'd say go with the kefs

 

[muad]

Hello everyone,

A search for new speakers is always a challenge. Currently I have the Bowers & Wilkins 706S2 at home as my main stereo setup and I'm somewhat pleased with the sound of them. They sound very good with Jazz but I have the idea that they aren't a relaxed listening. Much details and sharpness instead of detail but a relaxing and soothing sound. My budget is around €1500,-, so these mentioned above fall in the category.

So far I've read/watched a lot of reviews and I came to the conclusion that I'm currently fixed on there speakers:
• KEF R3
• Revel M16 (or the M106)
• Wharfdale Linton (somewhat... but I don't think they will provide me the detail in sound that I'm looking for)

I don't have dealers in my near environment to hear these speaker in a demo session, so this makes it more difficult to come to a conclusion which one to choose. I've read the review here and the M16 look like to be the best. Will it be a decision to make between the R3 and M16 or is the Linton also a serious one to choose?

My room is about 16m2 which would be a smaller/medium sized room.

My current setup:
Speakers: B&W706S2
Stereo Amp: Advance Acoustic X-i105
Subwoofer: SVS 3000 Micro

Which of these three are the best for my taste in music...


Thanks in advance.

This is tough, you're trying to choose between 3 very good speakers. So far the Linton has been my favourite due to it's very easy to listen to sound, but they do have a wide dispersion pattern and a big low end that would need some PEQ to control.

I the above poster is likely right in suggesting the KeFs. Full range with an slight but early bas roll off, and narrower dispersion patter would make it interact less with the room.

Really hard choice between those three though...

 

[diddley]

As a owner of KEF's i recommend them.
They give you bass and high tones in a honest way, not over the top.
Plug and play ;-)

 

[Livewire]

I was considering between the R3 and Lintons, but also have a small room and my understanding is that the Lintons need to be pulled out quite far from the wall to really shine. That's not an option for me so R3 it is. I'm also curious about Revel but there aren't many dealers here in Canada, unlike KEF.

 

[sweetchaos]

I'm also curious about Revel but there aren't many dealers here in Canada

There are 19 Revel dealers that I found, in Canada.
See my thread:

List of Canadian Speaker,Headphone,Subwoofer Resellers/Dealers

-=List of Canadian Speaker, Headphone, Subwoofer Resellers/Dealers=- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRABsAtCUUfOq4NDpk5SkUwLdd3kJ7YQ7qjjVg-PCFjrPG4bHQqhd-KwphdFxm9gcRTMkoq1lcUrI3D/pubhtml I created a list of Canadian Speaker, Headphone, Subwoofer Resellers/Dealers. Let me know...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[AudioKC]

As Revel M105 owner, I can recommend those. Good spin, better time aligment than in M106 (due to smaller woofer). Revel put I belive their best twitter into that speaker. Insane resolution in the top.

Note: My “some day” dream speaker is Kef Reference Towers, out of budget for now.

 

[test1223]

I would suggest something different by buying an equalisation tool.

The basic quality of B&W speakers are usually very good but most models don't provide a neutral sound which can get annoying. And if you get rid of the B&W sound some are more happy with them. This can be done with an equalizer.

I would try an automatic eq tool like dirac live, trinnov or a similar device. The sound of a speaker can be shaped a lot with such a tool and the improvement is usually higher than buying a new speaker. Especially if you have a good speaker with a sounding which you don't like that much.

If you are willing to spend some time you can buy a manual eq like a mini dsp or similar device and a measurements microphone. There you have more control but you also have to have more knowledge of speakers and room eq to get good results. You can find a lot of information in here about it.

Even if you want to upgrade the speaker in the long run an eq tool is always useful to equalize the bass, since the room acoustic dominates the bass response and an eq always helps here a lot.

 

[KuroMuro]

Thanks for the comments, I went for the KEF R3. All the reviews convinced me these are the right choice. And here in the Netherlands they are now €499 p. speaker. Which is a really good price compared to what they originally where MSRP.

The only difficult choice at the end was which color to choose when ordering

 

[Laserjock]

Thanks for the comments, I went for the KEF R3. All the reviews convinced me these are the right choice. And here in the Netherlands they are now €499 p. speaker. Which is a really good price compared to what they originally where MSRP.

The only difficult choice at the end was which color to choose when ordering

What color did you choose?

 

[KuroMuro]

While the Walnut suites my living room the most, I choose the black model, which is the most safe. You never know what your living room looks like in a few years. And it complements the design of the subwoofer, the SVS 3000 Micro. Which is also Piano gloss black.

 

[3125b]

All the finishes are very well executed, can't go wrong. I wish they did the racing red they had on the 1st gen LS50.

 

[KuroMuro]

That would suit an IKEA living room

 

[eddantes]

As a fellow canuck, you can get into the M16 rather cheaply - as a nice gloss black set is on CAM right now for under 700... Provided you're in southern ON.

 

[warpdrive]

In Canada, I was interested in the M16 when I saw it on sale on crutchfield.com, but all of the Canadian dealers I checked were still selling for full price.

Either way, in this case, I would choose the KEF R3. It's beautiful, performance is great, and I would get it from KEF because you can buy it directly from their website, and they have a return policy.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I would suggest something different by buying an equalisation tool.

The basic quality of B&W speakers are usually very good but most models don't provide a neutral sound which can get annoying. And if you get rid of the B&W sound some are more happy with them. This can be done with an equalizer.

I would try an automatic eq tool like dirac live, trinnov or a similar device. The sound of a speaker can be shaped a lot with such a tool and the improvement is usually higher than buying a new speaker. Especially if you have a good speaker with a sounding which you don't like that much.

If you are willing to spend some time you can buy a manual eq like a mini dsp or similar device and a measurements microphone. There you have more control but you also have to have more knowledge of speakers and room eq to get good results. You can find a lot of information in here about it.

Even if you want to upgrade the speaker in the long run an eq tool is always useful to equalize the bass, since the room acoustic dominates the bass response and an eq always helps here a lot.

This is the best approach. If you still don't get it sounding good with Dirac, I would buy a different speaker. If Dirac get the sound you like you have saved a lot of money and hassle. If it doesn't you are well set for doing eq and room corrections on your other pair of speakers.

 

[gitesh]

I would suggest something different by buying an equalisation tool.

The basic quality of B&W speakers are usually very good but most models don't provide a neutral sound which can get annoying. And if you get rid of the B&W sound some are more happy with them. This can be done with an equalizer.

I would try an automatic eq tool like dirac live, trinnov or a similar device. The sound of a speaker can be shaped a lot with such a tool and the improvement is usually higher than buying a new speaker. Especially if you have a good speaker with a sounding which you don't like that much.

If you are willing to spend some time you can buy a manual eq like a mini dsp or similar device and a measurements microphone. There you have more control but you also have to have more knowledge of speakers and room eq to get good results. You can find a lot of information in here about it.

Even if you want to upgrade the speaker in the long run an eq tool is always useful to equalize the bass, since the room acoustic dominates the bass response and an eq always helps here a lot.

Hello . I have ordered B & W 706 s2 and going to pair it with Harman Kardon 3380 stereo receiver. The HK receiver has bass and treble controls. Please advise with this arrangement will an equaliser work ? If yes, any suggestions for an equaliser.

 

[test1223]

Hello . I have ordered B & W 706 s2 and going to pair it with Harman Kardon 3380 stereo receiver. The HK receiver has bass and treble controls. Please advise with this arrangement will an equaliser work ? If yes, any suggestions for an equaliser.

Hello,

yes you can put any equalizer in between the pre out and main in connections of the receiver.

I would first try the speaker without any eq with some toe in and listening distance variations so you get to know the sound of the speaker. Your ears will after few days adapt to the speaker to some extent. Try it for some time to decide if you like or don't like the sound.
As a second step I would use the treble and bass control to fine tune the sound.
As a third step you can buy an equalization tool. But you have to invest some time even into the simpler devices. There are many threads here about room curve, dirac live, REW and many other room correction and speaker equalization topics.
If you invest the time and effort it will be another step up no matter if you like the sound of your new speakers or not.