B&W 704 vs polk rti A7 ?

polkseller

Does anybody here has the BW 704 ? How does it compare to the RTI A7 ?

jakelm

Just my opinion, but I dont really think you can compare a $2200 pair of B&W's to a $1100 pair of Polk's.

I love Polk, but I have to say, B&W is a step up from Polk.

polkseller

I can have a deal on B&W for the price of the polk, thats why I'm asking.

I went to a store yesterday and the Focal 816v were interesting, but the price tag is way out of my budget, 2000$.

SolidSqual

Buy the Polks . . . what's the deal on the B&Ws? Name? Number? Ad? I have cash. I'll let you know if thhey are better.

venomclan

I had a pair of B&W CDM7NT's, which were the predecessor of the 704's and pretty much the same. I have never heard the A7's so I cannot compare. The B&W's **** slapped my Polk RT16's. A much tighter and defined bass with a clear as a bell top end. A very nice speaker for a small-medium room. If you are a bass nut, you will need a sub.
Venom

SolidSqual

Yeah I imagine the B&Ws would **** slap the Polks in much the same way my CS2s will **** slap any offering from Gallo.

jakelm

SolidSqual wrote: »

Yeah I imagine the B&Ws would **** slap the Polks in much the same way my CS2s will **** slap any offering from Gallo.

OUCH!!!:(

venomclan

SolidSqual wrote: »

Yeah I imagine the B&Ws would **** slap the Polks in much the same way my CS2s will **** slap any offering from Gallo.

Nah, the Gallos don't fear most speakers, especially ones that are basically a painted 2x4 with a few driver cones screwed to them. Next time try and save up for an entire speaker box, not just the front wall...

SolidSqual

venomclan wrote: »

Nah, the Gallos don't fear most speakers, especially ones that are basically a painted 2x4 with a few driver cones screwed to them. Next time try and save up for an entire speaker box, not just the front wall...

Awwww! Touch

dorokusai

The tonality of those loudspeakers is entirely different so it more personal preference than "is one better than the other". The last B&W speaker I liked was ages ago, but that's not to say they don't make a good loudspeaker but its not on my short list. You won't find Gallo's on that list either.

venomclan

SolidSqual wrote: »

Awwww! Touch

dorokusai

venomclan wrote: »

Those be fightin words.
Gallo Punk

Ding Ding DIng

SolidSqual

venomclan wrote: »

Those be fightin words.
Gallo Punk

Hey Venom,

My driver's 15" how big is yours?

venomclan

SolidSqual wrote: »

Hey Venom,

My driver's 15" how big is yours?

10" Compression drivers, but since I can power the second voice coil also, with its own amp, that makes a 20" dual powered driver. Nice try Beavis.
Venom (of the Gallo Punk Squad)

SolidSqual

If we're adding, then I'm 60", Butthead

(I was trying to think of a cool gang name but the only thing Emerald Physics seems to inspire is references to the Wizard of Oz. I don't like the sound of = Lollipop Mike "the Kid").

polkseller

hi guys, I went to listen to the B&W today... what can I say ??? Solid Squal is right :The polk sure sound better. I listened to the new 683 B&W and They are not what people on the internet says they are. I didnt have the chance to listen to the 704.

Speaker sound is very subjective and I have pretty good hearing, so I can definitely say that this 683 B&W is not worth it for the price. I listened to many brands of speakers in my life because I'm a seller of Energy, polk, athena, jbl, Infinity and other speakers, I had never listened to So called ''Hi-fi speakers''. Now I'm happy that I did.

I compared the B&W side by side with Dali Ikon 6, Dali is a closer match to polk sound, with better inner details in the treble because of the ribbon tweeter. The b&W sounded bad in comparison. Night and day difference. Midband was not clear and many mid and treble details were LOST. Norah jones voice was not clear. For the asking price of the B&W, I seriously consider the Ikon, but for the polk A7 asking price, polk is surely a winner with its better lower bass and real wood veener ( look good too). I must say the polk sounded more balanced, even if the Dali has more treble inner details, bass on the Dali was like a sharp knife but was missing little weight. ( ADDED MESUREMENTS TO PROVE MY FINDDINGS, this DAli need to be RE-EQ to sound flat)

http://www.regonaudio.com/DALI%20Ikon%206%20speakers.html

polk has all the details, without the bad of the Dali freq spectrum and also has better sound and midrange than B&W.


associated equipment
Arcam a70
arcam cd73

Rotel 1072
Rotel 1062 integrated.

Cd : norah jones

I advise you to always listen before buying speakers, the B&W reputation or hifi quality has almost makes me ordering their speakers before even hearing them....

polkseller

I did a listening test returning home.

I listened to the same Norah Jones Cd in my room with my Rti 6 and my yamaha receiver and HD-dvd XA2 player as a cd player.

Interconnect are monster mkII 400
Speaker wire are Anticables

Everything was just more musical, no artificial details were pronunced like on the Dali speakers. I really prefer the polk Bookshelves over the more expensive B&W and Dali offerings. Norah jones voice was clear, intruments were all there with good amont of details. Very warm and natural sounding.

mantis

Wanna hear a killer bang for the buck speaker??? Try the CM7's from B&W. Man I listened to them and just about wanted to hug em. I loved the tone, the balance, the overall clarity of the speaker. I heard them on Rotel gear analog and there new digital amps. I actually liked them better on the Rotel then the N804's.

Such a killer sounding speaker. I would love to hear the entire home theater package.

But I also feel the B&W all of them are better then all of polks speakers except the LSi's and there RTS and LCI inwalls. Rti speakers just don't replay music like B&W does. For theater only I feel Polk RTi do a very good job. But B&W I feel out shine even here. I know it's a personal choice but I don't hear them doing anything better or close. Maybe Heavy Metal music but thats about it. I don't care for Heavy Metal music on B&W.

polkseller

I saw the cm7 behind my listening area at the store, it was more expensive than the 683 like 600$ more, didnt listened to them.

Anyway, I'm sure some B&W stuff sounds good, but at a price !

have you listened to the new polk RTI A7? Compete with B&W for sure. Many polker here got them instead of many more expensive speakers out there after A/B listening to even martin Logan, BW and others.

Bright highs are gone, bass has more impact and speed and mid gained definition and imaging is superb. In my opinion, way better than the B&W 68x series.

I would like to listen to these B&W beauties, but money wise they are expensive and its sometime difficult to find a place to listen to them...

I can have the 704 for 1300$ can..used

mantis

polkseller wrote: »

I saw the cm7 behind my listening area at the store, it was more expensive than the 683 like 600$ more, didnt listened to them.

Anyway, I'm sure some B&W stuff sounds good, but at a price !

have you listened to the new polk RTI A7? Compete with B&W for sure. Many polker here got them instead of many more expensive speakers out there after A/B listening to even martin Logan, BW and others.

Bright highs are gone, bass has more impact and speed and mid gained definition and imaging is superb. In my opinion, way better than the B&W 68x series.

I would like to listen to these B&W beauties, but money wise they are expensive and its sometime difficult to find a place to listen to them...

I can have the 704 for 1300$ can..used

Yes I heard them the day they came out, I heard them after a week of playing in our sound rooms, I heard them many times in customers house with many different kinds of gear. I have heard the entire line including all the inwalls. I perfer B&W over all of them. The Cm7's for the price are a incredible sounding speaker. Good speakers cost good money. There isn't a way around that unless you buy used. Even then for a good pair are going to cost you some coin.

I like the CM7's over the 704's. For 1300.00 thats a good deal. They are well worth it as long as you can power them well. Rotel is like magic with em. I perfer Rotel with all B&W speakers under The N series or 800 series I believe they are called now adays.

I don't care for the Rtia new speakers. I think they get better every upgrade and they look fantastic. Best Rt speakers looking wise (except the rt12's from years ago, they have a special place for me.)

venomclan

SolidSqual wrote: »

If we're adding, then I'm 60", Butthead
(I was trying to think of a cool gang name but the only thing Emerald Physics seems to inspire is references to the Wizard of Oz. I don't like the sound of = Lollipop Mike "the Kid").

What are you talking about! Lollipop Mike "the Kid", is a perfect name for you. Here are a few more suggestions:
Munchkin Man Group
The Cowardly Kid w/Weird Speakers
The Ruby Slipper Posse (Sounds Badass)

Or, The wooden plank speaker dude.

polkseller wrote: »

hi guys, I went to listen to the B&W today... what can I say ??? Solid Squal is right :The polk sure sound better. I listened to the new 683 B&W and They are not what people on the internet says they are. I didnt have the chance to listen to the 704.

Speaker sound is very subjective and I have pretty good hearing, so I can definitely say that this 683 B&W is not worth it for the price. I listened to many brands of speakers in my life because I'm a seller of Energy, polk, athena, jbl, Infinity and other speakers, I had never listened to So called ''Hi-fi speakers''. Now I'm happy that I did.

I compared the B&W side by side with Dali Ikon 6, Dali is a closer match to polk sound, with better inner details in the treble because of the ribbon tweeter. The b&W sounded bad in comparison. Night and day difference. Midband was not clear and many mid and treble details were LOST. Norah jones voice was not clear. For the asking price of the B&W, I seriously consider the Ikon, but for the polk A7 asking price, polk is surely a winner with its better lower bass and real wood veener ( look good too). I must say the polk sounded more balanced, even if the Dali has more treble inner details, bass on the Dali was like a sharp knife but was missing little weight. ( ADDED MESUREMENTS TO PROVE MY FINDDINGS, this DAli need to be RE-EQ to sound flat)

http://www.regonaudio.com/DALI%20Ikon%206%20speakers.html

polk has all the details, without the bad of the Dali freq spectrum and also has better sound and midrange than B&W.

I advise you to always listen before buying speakers, the B&W reputation or hifi quality has almost makes me ordering their speakers before even hearing them....

Sound is subjective and I agree that one should always listen to speakers and gear before buying. One question though: Were the 683's broken in for 200 hours? If not, you did not hear them. B&W speakers are known for long break in times. The kevlar impregnanted drivers are very rigid and take time to open up, same with the tweeters that sound blurry out of the box. I have noticed this on every new B&W speaker. When broken in, they sound a lot different and better. IMHO, the only speaker Polk has to compete with the B&W's are the Lsi line. I am not knocking Polk, it is just that they cater to a different type of listener.

B&W's are expensive, and they are raising prices due to the devaluation of the U.S. $ since they are a UK company.
Venom

polkseller

yes the B&W were broke-in already and also the speaker cable, I asked the question before auditionning and the seller said they were having 3 month run of 2-3 hours/day, sometime all day long. I took me only 10 second of listening to know that the sound coming from the B&W was not on par with what i'm used to with my friends equipment, mine and may other testing I did in my store with other speakers.

I'm sorry to say but the guy almost told me that the 68x serie was not their best and that he has better speakers to offer to me including some Dali and PSB alpha. When he saw that I was an knowledge audio person, he also said that the bad sound was coming from the speaker wire and equipment to excuse the bad performance of the BW. I dont think so. He also said that the BW were very forgiving with electronic and bad recording but at the same time he said that the wire and equipment were bad that was the cause of loss of details, but why the dali sounded ok ??

The system was bi-wire on both arcam and Rotel integrated. The rotel 1072 gave a much better clearer sound but still the B&W sounded muffled in the midband and Norah jones voice was heavy and with a loss of delicacy because of the missing details. I just cant hear the acoustic guitar vibrating and hand picking on the bass clearly. The dali remove that, but a little bit too much and the mid sounded a little like you boosted the EQ little too much on the mid and highs.

This B&W serie is not what I was thinking of B&W sound. I hope to hear the 704 soon. I prefer the Paradigm studio 60 to these for sure.

I can say that my opinion it that the new RTI A7 is better than the B&W 68x serie for now. If polk is right, and I thnik yes, LSI could compete with more expensive b&W speakers I think, because I never listened to the lsi line.

venomclan

Ok, it could be that you just do not like B&W sound. I have never heard the new 600 series so I cannot comment. I really liked the old 704's I had but fealt that they needed more bottom end with a 2.5 way crossover. When I hooked them up to a Krell amp, it really opened them up. Maybe the Arcam amp does not mate well with them. I demoed a Lexicon/B&W 803D combo at $30K and it sound like crap due to poor synergy.

I did not like the Paradigm flagships when I heard them, they were ok but Sonus Fabre Cremonas killed them, as did the PMC's. I was going to upgrade up the B&W line but when I heard the Gallo's it was all over.
Venom

polkseller

Interesting...

Close match with speaker and amp is very important and time/money consuming.

but again, I tried the Rotel too..no luck on these B&W

look like we dont like the same type of sound reproduction!