So Bowers and Wilkins recently released the new 600 Series 3. I’ve been enjoying my 683 S2 for about eight years. The S3 now has a new tweeter, midrange and bass units compared to my S2.
Headed to Magnolia to give them a listen. I enjoyed them. They are a very good speaker. B&W always does a fine job with their 600 series. While there I thought I’d listen to the 702 S3.
I knew better. In knew they would be very good and they were. Magnolia had a good setup with Arcam amplification and easy a/b switching. It made hearing the difference between the 603 and 702 pretty easy. Smoother, more refined airier treble. I’ve always enjoyed the yellow Kevlar mid driver in B&Ws and the new silver Continuum mid sounds a bit smoother and more refined. And oh the bass. What Bowers does with bass is just fantastic. The soundstage, wow, just wow.
The CM line from B&W was very good but the move to and the evolution of the 700 series has been phenomenal.
I went home, thought about it and discussed it and headed back to Magnolia. I still can’t believe it but I walked out having ordered a pair of 702 S3s. They should be here sometime next week.
Whoa Nelly, I CANNOT wait. These are my endgame dream speakers. Update with pictures and impressions coming soon.
Six months in with dual subs and the stereo continues to sound great. I’m very happy with the results. Unless something fails I think I’m settled. Could this be the end of a twenty year quest. It’s funny to think it might be. Why I didn’t try subs years ago is beyond me.
A month in and the Bowers and Wilkins ASW608s are settling in nicely. Ah heck, they’re fantastic. Can’t live without them.
On forums that many of us frequent you’ll find those that believe eight inch subs are a waste of time. And boy some I are adamant about it. Fortunately there are those that understand the concept of right tool for the job.
So after many years I started thinking about subs again. The stereo sounded fine but even with moderately sized floorstanders and plenty of power it just sounded small and strained in our large room if pushed past moderate spls. The 6.5” woofers just couldn’t move the air and keep up with the mids and highs as volume increased.
So, setting these up with an 80Hz crossover point has fixed those issues. The system can now fill the room. Music sounds great and movies are a blast.
These little dog subs think they’re big dogs. They’ve even handled Avengers and Top Gun: Maverick (We only run a stereo 2.2 setup for tv and movies so they don’t have to deal with the LFE signal). But that still makes movies so much more enjoyable. Yeah, the windows don’t shake and stuff doesn’t fall off shelves but fun nonetheless.
I've had the subs in place and playing for a bit over twenty four hours. I should have been running subs for the past twenty years. Of course they are new and exciting but I have been enjoying the stereo with them right from the start. As they settle I'm might do a bit more adjusting of the crossover and volume but I'm going to take my time with that and enjoy the process and the music.
I tried a single sub at one time years ago and it was huge disappointment. Thinking back I'm pretty sure I simply had it set way too low. I don't believe I even tried it above 40Hz back then. Glad I gave subs another shot.
The stereo has been stable for two years and the family enjoys it quite a bit. The addition of the Rotel amp pulled everything together.
The room it’s in is very big (open concept family room/kitchen/ breakfast area) and a larger speaker would work even better than the B&W 683 S2 currently used.
I love B&W speakers, so looking to move to the 702 S3. I had a quick informal listen to them finally. I would have liked to have walked out with them but can’t bring myself to do that without a longer demo. I would also like to see a review in Stereophile or HiFi News with measurements. I’m surprised that we’re about three months out from their premier and no reviews yet.
Oh well, the anticipation is fun and I’m in no hurry.
And so it begins. The journey continues. Bowers and Wilkins just announced their new 700 series and I’m loving what they’ve done with the 702 S3. They haven’t hit the local showrooms yet but I can’t wait to check them out.
Wow, where does the time go? I have lived with the Rotel RB-1590 for a year now. I had listened at length to it several times, so I knew it was a great amplifier but was still apprehensive about making such a large purchase and wondered how it would ultimately sound in my system.
Ha, I shouldn’t have worried but like many I’ve had a few disappointing journeys along the way trying to achieve good sound. It’s mated well with my preamplifier and sounds great in the system. The music sounds correct and complete. Tone, clarity, dynamics, all there. Great soundstage and the system now sounds like it belongs in the room instead of sounding too small.
Anyways, good stuff and I’m content. So, how will I feel in six months. We’ll see….
Made it to the six month mark with the RB-1590. Usually at this point the strengths and shortcomings are pretty evident with a piece of gear. I’m sure most of us around here can relate.
With my fifty watt Arcam or NAD music always sounded pleasant at low to moderate volume through the B&Ws. In our large room the sound would become strained at around mid to high 70 decibels at the MLP 13ft away; Which was actually mid to upper 80 decibels at three feet. In fact pushed a little further and the Arcam lost control of the woofers. It is no fun to hear a woofer make that loud whack when it bottoms out.
I tried a 200 watt Class-d amp. And while there was more control of the speakers and you could play music louder and to the edge of the comfort zone of the speakers the sound was not nearly as enjoyable as the Arcam and NAD when they played within their limits. The best way to describe the sound would be flat and hard. The sound stage was not stable with imaging that floated around a lot, very frustrating.
All those concerns have been put to rest with the Rotel. We now have good tone/timbre, very good dynamics and an excellent stable soundstage with great detail, imaging and layering. Really couldn’t ask for more.
Added a Bluesound Node 2i to the main/family room system and put the Node 2 in bedroom/office.
So thankful for the Node 2. Won’t say it’s cheap but it is a good value. I’ve used a Node for the past five years as my main music source. Fantastic sound and a great OS. Love it.
One month in and very pleased. The RB-1590 works very well with the Freya S. With the RB-1590 the system has very good tone, fantastic dynamics and nice big soundstage.
One interesting thing is that the settle-in/break-in has been very subtle. It sounded great out of the box. During the first week the soundstage opened a bit more but it has really sounded fantastic from the get-go.
In a nutshell, everything sounds right. We’ll see how I feel in a few more weeks.
It’s here and it’s spectacular: The Rotel RB-1590. Spent four hours this morning with dusting, cable management, rearranging components and finally putting the RB-1590 in place.
It’s sounds fantastic. Yeah, I know, it’s the honeymoon phase and it’ll take about a week to get know it well, but man, this is fun. Just been streaming Jazz24 for a couple hours.
Two quick observations: It has the smoothest two-stage soft start I’ve experienced and this amp with two 1.2kVA transformers has not a scintilla of self noise/hum.
The Schiit Freya S has been in the system a year and I’m still pleased with it. As mentioned in the last post I’ve wanted to get a new amp. Ordered the Rotel RB-1590.
Hope for it to arrive next week but with Thanksgiving it may take longer.
The Schiit Freya S has been in the system for two weeks now. It has exceeded all expectations from packaging to performance. So much so that I am contemplating a complete Schiit system by adding a Gungnir MB DAC and the Vidar amp.
Of course all this is the very early stages with a new piece of gear. I’ll try to be patient and see what the future holds.
I will add a few more impressions of the Freya S after I have lived with it for a couple of months.
You’re confusion is understandable. The Arcam A19 is in a second system in a bedroom/office. I’ve updated descriptions to make that clear. The Schiit/NAD pair replaces the NupPrime amp that died.
I love my A19. It was in the main system for quite awhile. I only replaced it because we simply needed more power in our large room for louder music and movie playback.
Congrats on the Arcam acquisitions. I believe you are going to enjoy those for a long time. In fact I may get the Arcam SA30 integrated in the future.
Well, after replacing the power supply on my IDA-16 in February it made a loud pop and died last week. Not quite three years old, very frustrating.
Alas, I have recommissioned my trusty 15 year old NAD c320BEE integrated and it is working great. In a few days I will be pairing it with a Schiit Freya S preamplifier.
I’m very disappointed that the NuPrime failed however I’m delighted how good my little NAD sounds. Been running it about a week and it is sounding so good.
About a year after getting the C320BEE I added a deHavilland Ultraverve Jr 6SN7 tube preamplifier to it and it was some of the best sound I have had.
Honestly, I should have never replaced that set-up. But that was many years and lots of lessons ago. Even though the Freya S isn’t tubed based I have high expectations that putting a better pre in front of the C320BEE amp will again produce excellent results.
Thank you, milpai. The thing about a large room is it can be tough to fill it with music. At this point I finally have very satisfying sound and I don't sit around wondering what I have to do next to get respectable results.
When I was looking into new cables for my system I came across your power cable post from '15. The feedback from it steered my in the direction of Cullen, thanks.
Whoa, I said I'd post more impressions after the Cullen Cables accumulated more hours.
Well, eight months later I think everything is finally settled in. The addition of the Cullen cables tied everything together beautifully.
For the first time in a long, long, long time I am simply listening to music. My brain has finally turned off (in a good way).
The Nuprime IDA-16 along with Bowers and Wilkins 683 S2s is natural, neutral, dynamic and balanced. It presents all the music in a complete cohesive manner and the Cullen cables let them do their jobs.
An indication of how much I'm enjoying my system is the dozens of CDs from my collection that I have ripped and added to my Blusound Node 2 streamer. What a great piece of gear and a tremendous value.
I have another Cullen Crossover Series ll power cable coming. Will be adding it to the power conditioner and moving the Cullen Avius to the Arcam A19 in the bedroom/office system.
Over the last four months I've acquired a full set of Cullen Cables. They are one of they best audio investments I've made.
I have the Cullen Avius power cable to my power conditioner, the Avius C7 cable to my streamer, Nitin Coax cable on my streamer and universal player, Crossover ll power cable to my integrated dac/amp and the Crossover speaker cables to my speakers.
Instead of going on and one about how they sound I'll just say the Cullen Cables simply make my system sound right.
After living with them a few more months all add additional comments. If you come across this post and are considering cables give Cullen Cables a look. Patrick Cullen has an extensive background in the HiFi audio industry. His cables are well made, sound fantastic (neutral and balanced), and are a great value.
The Cullen Cable Avius power cord is approaching the 300 hour mark. I can only say that it is has been a revelation. I have been enjoying my Nuprime IDA-16 for six months. Since adding the Cullen pc the sound coming from my NuPrime has improved in every way
As the Cullen cable settles-in my amp actually seems to be going through another stage of break-in itself. The tone, timbre, dynamics and refinement have all improved. The music is propelled into the room and at my listening position with the music has added weightand body.
Cabling is so system dependent. The Volex 14 gauge pc and WireWorld Stratus did not work in my system at all with my amps; which is strange. There are many people that use the Volex and Stratus with great results in their systems I'm sure.
I've just ordered another Cullen Avius pc and Nitin Coax cable for my Bluesound Node 2 streamer. I'm really looking forward to how they will sound. I really like the gear I have. But I was dealing with a flat, hard midrange and brittle highs; with the music feeling constricted and fatiguing to listen to at length. Switching one pc has changed all that.
If you have settled on your system and it is appropriate for your room size and listening habits and you have addressed cable management but you are still not satisfied with the results; you might want to try different cables. Beginning with power cables might be the best place to start. It has really helped my system.
The NuPrime IDA-16 has settled in nicely. Just replaced the WireWorld Stratus power cord with the Cullen Cable Avius power cord. Looking forward to putting 300 hours on it to hear what it can do. The first twenty hours shows great promise.
New pics of the Nuprime IDA-16. I will refrain from posting comments about it except to say that I am extremely pleased with it. Although at three weeks in I'm sure I'm close to past the "honeymoon" stage but I will wait to go into details about its performance so as to avoid sounding like a gushing schoolboy talking about his first love.;-)
The NuPrime IDA-16 has been in the system for a week now and has accumulated a bit over 100 hours. It is still breaking in. The move from 50 watts to 200 is apparent and appreciated with our large room and speakers.
Added two WireWorld UltraViolet S/PDIF cables that will be used to connect the Bluesound Node 2 and Sony UHP-H1 universal player to the NuPrime IDA-16 integrated dac/amp heading my way.
Really looking forward to what the 200 watt Class D NuPrime will do in my system. Up to this point I've only used 50 watt A/B integrated amps. Should be interesting.
According to the Roon Labs website the Node 2 will be Roon Ready soon. Another reason to try this great affordable streamer. Also, it sounds fantastic.
Pretty nice in a high-end system sounds good to me. That validates my thoughts on how good it sounds in my system a bit.
Real quick; another way it has improved my listening experience is that I listen more and with greater variety. It reminds me of how I used to listen years ago when I would turn the tuner on and listen to all kinds of music as I scanned the dial.
Thanks you, milpai. That's a great question. What it has done for me is to allow me to simply enjoy the music. Sorry, I know that is such a cliche in this hobby of ours. I also don't know why it has elevated my listening enjoyment, except for the fact that music sounds natural and has an ease to it that has eluded me for many years. Is it that it has a great dac? Or that the computer is out of the loop. Or that I'm not using a USB interface.
All I know is that I really like it and I look forward to what Bluesound might have planned for the future. I would be very interested to hear what they could do at the next level. Say, at the $1500 mark, which would be my budget limit.
Check out the reviews on Audiostream and What HiFi. They sum the Node 2 up very well.
New pics. I've had the Bowers and Wilkins 683 S2s for about two months now. It took two years to come to the decision of the B&Ws. Heard many great speakers in the $1,300-$2,000 range. Not a stinker in the bunch, just different presentations.
During my search only a couple of times was I able to hear any of the speakers I auditioned anywhere near their potential. One of the best demos I had was at a BB Magnolia. Actually had a couple of staff members hang out and listen with me for a couple hours. One of the guys took notes of the music I was using. It was a good time. So I ended up getting the B&Ws there. Great staff, great price.
Once in my room and settled the 683 S2s sound better than I ever heard them (which was a big relief). They have fantastic synergy with my Arcam components and WireWorld cabling. Funny, the big review magazines many seem to despise and not trust lead me right to my B&W and Arcam gear. They were also well reviewed by a few of the web review sites I admire.
Anyway, I am very happy to be listening and enjoying the music. Here's to finding the system that works for you!
Well, the Pioneers have been in the system for four months. They have settled in nicely. They truly have continued to season even after many hours of music through them.
They rarely get played above 80dbs. I have had a few rocking listening sessions where I have played them at 85-87db peaks. They did benefit from that with scale and tone both improving more. My amp (Arcam FMJ A19) and the speakers really like playing at that level.
Been listening to many speakers to replace them. At this point it looks like the lead contenders are the Bowers and Wilkins 683 S2. I have had a couple extended listening sessions with them and they hold a lot of promise. I hope to demo them in my room in the next couple of months.
System edited: The WireWorld suite has been in the system for a few months now and I feel I have a pretty good understanding of their sound. It is clear, full and complete. The build quality and value is outstanding. Perfectly happy and satisfied with them. I have new speakers; Pioneer SP-BS22-LR. I've got about 20 hours on them. For $500 they would be very good speakers. The fact I got them new at Best Buy for $99 makes them incredibly wonderful. Wow, they sound so big! I'll update on those after they have few more hours and I've played with positioning.
The WireWorld cables are settling in nicely. I was very surprised how good they were straight out of the box. After 48 hours they are sounding fantastic.
I started adding WW cables one at a time beginning with the UltraViolet USB cable. I then added a Sratus PC and this week put the Equinox IC and Oasis SC in to finish of the full suite.
These are the quietest cables I have used. The details come through cleanly and the resolution is superb. The tone is just right and the fine timbre makes listening relaxing. Dynamics are wonderful and my system has never sounded so at ease and powerful. They have met and exceeded my expectations.
It's been a long process determining which cables to go with in my system. I had made up my mind to go with one manufacture but, of course, there are so many. I feel fortunate and am very glad I went with WireWorld.
System edited: Added a WireWorld Stratus power cord. Very good improvement across the board. Wont bore you with the details but it's a nice upgrade for a reasonable cash outlay. I will say that the 14g, shielded Belden I had laying around was a nice improvement as well on the A19.
Well, new dac, amp, and power cord. It's been interesting, frustrating and fun listening to things settle in but more fun than anything. It is coming along nicely. Will be adding new IC and SC in the next week or so. New pics too.
System edited: Having a very good time. I replaced my NAD C325BEE with an Arcam FMJ A19. It has the same output as the NAD (50 watts). Its been in the system 3 days now. I was hoping to get a nice little jump in performance making the move from the NAD. Its really has surpassed all my expectations. The Arcam is checking off all the hifi tricks (sound stage, imaging, detail). It has great tone and timbre. The biggest surprise is the resolution. I shake my head at times but, dang it if it doesn't remind me of the SET amp I had in regards to resolution!. The Arcam rDac/FMJ A19 is outstanding combo and a great value. The build quality exemplary. Pride of ownership has taken a big jump. I wasn't expecting that but it is a nice bonus. Reminds of the Apple products I have. Anybody looking for an int. amp in the $1k range really needs to put this on their list. Cheers, Scott
System edited: New room. New (bad) pic. Changes coming. Sold my REL to free up cash for a new amp and cabling starting with a power cord from the wall to speaker cables. Wish me luck. Cheers, Scott
