B&w 686!

lanchile

Hello, I was walking outside of "GoodWill" store and I decided to go inside to check if any electronic gears were good to purchase. They had so many speakers that I lost count...They had many "crappy" ones but they had some good ones. in all of those I saw some small bookshelf speakers that were in mint condition and looked like new. I got closer and they were B&W 686 bookshelf speakers!!!! the price was $60 for the pair...I took the chance and I bought them without knowing how they sounded or if they were working. Well, as soon as I got home I gave them a good inspection and hooked them to my diy integrated amplifier...WOW,WOW,WOW...These small speakers sound so good that my Polk RTi-A1 sounded poor next to the B&W 686. first the bass on the B&W is way deeper than the polks, the sound of the B&W is more detail and crisp than the Polks. My friend has the Polk RTi-4 and We gave a test next to the small B&W 686 and to our surprise the B&W took the lead and beat again the Polks even in the bass!!!. I have had many bookshelf speakers of many good brands, but I have never had B&W speakers. I am a Polk speaker lover, but now I have to give my vote to the B&W 686...Sorry Polk, but the B&W 686 are way better in sound and components quality than the RTi-A1 and RTi-A4!!!. The B&W 686 cost around $480 so if you find in the used market for a good price...do not loose time and the chance to get these small monsters!. The cabinets are very solid (knocked on the top and side of speakers)and they are made of 100% MDF. the crossover are 1st order using top quality parts, they use HUGE inductors and POLYPROPYLENE caps. the wires are very thick. I would say they are all worthy the money they ask for these speakers. They use very clever ports to increase the SPL 3db in the bass without distortion. I will put some info about them in the next post.

ZLTFUL

I was considering swapping out my LSi9s for a pair of 685s...I like them that much.

I also thought about replacing my HT setup with 600 series B&Ws but in the end, decided keeping the LSis is a better idea.

Great speakers though and an AMAZING price.

Erik Tracy

Nice find!

But - you have to put this into context....if the GW store had the RTiA1s they may have been $25, so 'value' is all relative.

Still - killer deal - enjoy the sonic goodness :cheesygrin:

lanchile

You can read here some information. http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Downloads/Product/Review/686-Hi-Fi-World-Mar-2008.pdf

lanchile

ZLTFUL wrote: »

I was considering swapping out my LSi9s for a pair of 685s...I like them that much.

I also thought about replacing my HT setup with 600 series B&Ws but in the end, decided keeping the LSis is a better idea.

Great speakers though and an AMAZING price.

Yeah, the price was very good to pass! I had the LSi7s long time ago, they sound very nicely, but as soon as I cranked up the volume...it sounded like a stone in a can...! My favorite polks are the RTi series. But now there is a new contester that beat the Polk RTi-A1 in all the way. if I had to choose from Polk RTi-A1 and the B&W 686....I would not think it twice and I would pick the B&W 686. I saw some reviews saying that the B&W 685 (bigger ones) sound better than the B&W 686. I think it is like the RTi-A1 and the RTi-A4 war. To me the RTi-A1 sounds better than the RTi-A4!!!! I wish I can compare the B&W 686 next to the B&W 685. maybe it is the same way...lol

lanchile

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Nice find!

But - you have to put this into context....if the GW store had the RTiA1s they may have been $25, so 'value' is all relative.

Still - killer deal - enjoy the sonic goodness :cheesygrin:

You are right! but if I had to pick up the RTi-A1 for $25 or the B&W 686 for $60...Now that I had compared them next to each other in sound and quality...I would pick the B&W 686 even for $100 or $200. I would strongly recommend them.