Mickey242 wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:58 am Have any of you bought or demoed the Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 anniversary edition speakers? I'm debating between those and the KEF LS50 meta in the not to distant future (Next Sunday A.D.)
While the forum was MIA I bought a Cambridge audio AX100. Running it with my B&W 685's. This thing has the worst Blue tooth connection I have ever used in my life. 100 watt's sounds good. The eq is fixed, meaning the bass control turns up 100Hz. Why 100Hz? Seems kind of arbitrary don't you think?

I have not heard either speaker, although I am a fan of English speakers in general, and KEFs and B&Ws specifically. The LS50 Meta is kind of the hot bookshelf at the moment. They are much more expensive than the B&Ws. The equivalent B&W as far as price may be the 707. The KEFs are less efficient. I don't think they go quite as low in the bass. KEF does make a (quite expensive) powered subwoofer that matches. And I have heard great things about the setup with the sub. That said, B&Ws almost always have some nice tweeters, so who knows. Try and listen to them somewhere if you can. Good luck, looks like you cannot go wrong.

I will say that either speaker will benefit greatly from a rigid, solid metal stand, with spikes on the bottom (coupled to the floor) and spikes on the top (coupled to the speaker). Eliminating unwanted cabinet movements/vibration/resonance and giving vibration a path to escape to the floor will dramatically increase clarity throughout the frequency range and improve imaging as well.

^
Thanks for the input. I have hockey pucks under all my speaker stands!

motorbike guy wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 11:48 am

Mickey242 wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:58 am I'm debating between those and the KEF LS50 meta in the not to distant future

I have not heard either speaker, although I am a fan of English speakers in general, and KEFs and B&Ws specifically. The LS50 Meta is kind of the hot bookshelf at the moment.

I have listened to these speakers and they sounded absolutely stunning. Can't recall what they were paired with. It was at some audio show years ago. Made me want to replace my Dynaudio Focus 140. I have not compared them side by side.

Plus the L550 look great. Oooh that Titanium finish is nice.

Question:

Front vs rear ported loudspeakers? Totally dependent on the room or some other advantage one has over the other?

enframed wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:36 am Question:

Front vs rear ported loudspeakers? Totally dependent on the room or some other advantage one has over the other?

as you said, it depends on the room. if they are going to have a wall directly behind them, rear ports are troublesome because the sound can get reflected off the back wall and muddy up the bass you hear from the woofer. So if they are going to be up against a wall or within a foot or two, front ports or sealed box is a better bet. Some rear ported speakers do come with plugs to seal off the ports if they are going to be near a back wall. Not sure how well that works.

motorbike guy wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:21 pm

enframed wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:36 am Question:

Front vs rear ported loudspeakers? Totally dependent on the room or some other advantage one has over the other?

as you said, it depends on the room. if they are going to have a wall directly behind them, rear ports are troublesome because the sound can get reflected off the back wall and muddy up the bass you hear from the woofer. So if they are going to be up against a wall or within a foot or two, front ports or sealed box is a better bet. Some rear ported speakers do come with plugs to seal off the ports if they are going to be near a back wall. Not sure how well that works.

Yeah mine are rear-ported, and I keep em 15" from the wall with the foam plugs they came with. In my small place it's the best I can do. Definitely takes the mud away, but also diminishes the bass a bit.

My setup is finally installed and working, after the mains were on backorder for 3 months.

Revel W893 in-wall mains
Revel B28W in-wall sub
Revel SA1000 subwoofer amplifier
Sansui 771 amplifier/receiver
Sanyo TP-600 SA turntable

This is in our den, which is one of the most used rooms in our house. My wife was very sensitive about visible audio component sitting around, which is why we went with the in-wall system.

Even in the untreated space, I'm pretty pleased with how it sounds.

Nate Dort wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 1:08 pm My setup is finally installed and working, after the mains were on backorder for 3 months.

Revel W893 in-wall mains
Revel B28W in-wall sub
Revel SA1000 subwoofer amplifier
Sansui 771 amplifier/receiver
Sanyo TP-600 SA turntable

This is in our den, which is one of the most used rooms in our house. My wife was very sensitive about visible audio component sitting around, which is why we went with the in-wall system.

Even in the untreated space, I'm pretty pleased with how it sounds.

that's some wild shit. a lot of speakers in the walls. I have never fucked with serious in wall speakers. talk about infinte baffle/sealed box!

Next upgrade should be electronics, no doubt. That is a lot of resolution power in those speakers for a 40 year old 30 watt power amp section.

motorbike guy wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:28 am Next upgrade should be electronics, no doubt. That is a lot of resolution power in those speakers for a 40 year old 30 watt power amp section.

I'm in no rush. It's fully recapped and has had a bunch of transistors replaced with lower noise versions.

I design audio power amps for a living, and I'd put the Sansui up against a lot of modern designs, at least in terms of musicality. It may not be the most transparent or have the best bench specs, but I like the way it sounds.

Nate Dort wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:04 am

motorbike guy wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:28 am Next upgrade should be electronics, no doubt. That is a lot of resolution power in those speakers for a 40 year old 30 watt power amp section.

I'm in no rush. It's fully recapped and has had a bunch of transistors replaced with lower noise versions.

I design audio power amps for a living, and I'd put the Sansui up against a lot of modern designs, at least in terms of musicality. It may not be the most transparent or have the best bench specs, but I like the way it sounds.

cool. if it makes you happy it is doing its job.

half the fun of the audio hobby for me is always planning that next step, the next upgrade, the next component that should get swapped out. maybe that's just me.

I'm sure you are aware, but in the past 10 years in the audiophile world, DACs and Power Amps (more than any other component category) have made significant advances in sound quality, especially at lower price points. Its where I would go next with your component list. Then a source upgrade would be truly dramatic, as the electronics and the speakers would allow you to hear all the extra information a new source component can give you.