Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: B&W 703 Speakers by mschlack

Model:	703
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$3000
Description:	3-way floorstander
Manufacturer URL:	B&W
Model Picture:	View

Review by mschlack ( A ) on August 05, 2005 at 14:59:30
IP Address: 68.239.48.39

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for the 703

These speakers replaced B&W CDM1s as my L/R speakers. I auditioned both these and 704s in my living room prior to buying and have had them for several months of listening to jazz, rock, classical, blues and whatever.

I'm quite pleased with them. Compared to the CDM1s, the full range makes the bass much more "there" in the music. While not rated below 30Hz, the room gives them a boost at the bottom and I never have any problems with low notes, although I don't listen to a lot of pipe organ stuff. Kick drums, standup bass, hip hop bass tracks all stand up very well through these speakers.

As has oft been pointed out with B&Ws, these speakers are great for midrange stuff: vocals, saxophones, acoustic guitar. With the right recording, very realistic.

On the whole, these are speakers that tend to disappear. Unless it's in the recording, you'll never feel beamed at by these. There horizontal soundstaging is wonderful. Back to front they don't give as much depth as some I've heard, but that could easily be my room.

The tweeters are capable of delivering all the highs the music has. I wouldn't say they're sweet. If the recording is harsh, you'll hear it. If not, it's a treat. For example, although I'm not a huge classical fan, I've taken to listening to some old Heifetz recordings. He doesn't play pretty violin -- he's often violent and dramatic. The keening, the power that he brings to the fiddle is all there. That said, compared to something like the Spica, which to me is too etched and clinical, the B&W strikes a nice balance between accuracy and tonality.

If Maggie-like floating in the air, huge soundstage is what you're after, these may not be for you. The soundstaging is solid, realistic and as big as the engineers wanted it, but it's not that room filling magical kind. Again, you won't be sitting around thinking "these are the coolest speakers," because they disappear. It's just the music, as delivered by the rest of your system and as the source presents it.

As mentioned, I did A/B them with the less expensive 704s. For the $400-$500 difference, these are well worth it. The 704s are a good speaker, but the overlap between the low mid and the upper bass works against them and I definitely heard a slight raggedness in that range that is simply not there with these.

In addition, unless bass is just in one channel, you effectively have four 8" woofers delivering your bass. That's pretty close to what a live bass player would have in terms of a lot of driver and so you do get real slam (when it's there) with the 703s that I didn't get at all with the 704s.

Product Weakness: Not much. Maybe a little shallow on the back to front soundstaging. Very transparent -- not much "wow" factor if that's what you're after
Product Strengths: Accurate, nice soundstaging, good bass extension

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Stratos Odyssey
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	B&K Ref 30
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Pioneer DV59AVi universal, Bel Canto DAC 2.0, Pro-ject 1.2 turntable
Speakers:	B&W 703
Cables/Interconnects:	Speakers: double runs of Groneborg Quattro Reference for biwiring; Kimber DV-60 to DAC, AQ Diamonback from DAC; AQ King Cobra to amp
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	jazz, blues, rock, classical, folk
Room Size (LxWxH):	12 x 25 x 10
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster 2500
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Not much. Maybe a little shallow on the back to front soundstaging. Very transparent -- not much "wow" factor if that's what you're after
Product Strengths:	Accurate, nice soundstaging, good bass extension