I had a chance to hear these today and thought they sound excellent! Nice open sound on top, tight bass and overall a lovely balanced sound. I compared them to the B&W 683 S2 and found the 683 to pale next to the 704. Not even close. I think I am going to pick these up on Saturday.
I use my 15 year old Rotel RSX 1065 Which is a good and powerful match. I may change that at some point , not for 2 channel but for some 5.1 options. For 2 channel I’m extremely happy with my set up right now. A reminder to be patient for break in time. Maybe up to 100 hours.
OK, usually there is a switch on the back of your amp. You probably just never noticed it. Mine switches between 6 ohms and 4 ohms.
I was able to hear the 704 S2s in another shop today and they sounded even better! The color I wanted (Rosenut, the color in my OP) was luckily in stock. I was able to get them for 10% off list and free delivery. They arrive this afternoon!
I love the look of these speakers. B&W seems to have put a lot into the 700 line. Both the white and the rosenut look spectacular. Congrats on the new speakers. My favorite part of my system has always been the speakers. I wonder if you will end up updating your Yamaha integrated. The 704's have a similar driver configuration to my 804's, which means they are likely power hungry. Mine certainly are. I did what you did and bought new floor standers. The speakers were so good I ended up overhauling my whole system to match them.
I asked about this at two different hi end stereo places in NYC. Both people swore up and down that my 100W per channel would be more than enough to drive the 704s.
Honestly, I have never considered it. My old speakers had bi-wiring capability, but they worked fine with just one set of wires.
Maybe someday, but for now I am sufficiently overwhelmed. Plus, the gentleman who set up these for me to listen to did not bi wire them. He used just one set of cables.
Well, a 4 cylinder Pinto would be enough to get up a steep mountain, but there are other more powerful cars that can get you up without straining. To unleash the full potential of your new B&Ws, power will be your friend. imho.
I haven’t listened to the 704s yet, but right now I’m leaning towards them for a room I’m renovating. I have listened to the 703s and I was seriously blown away. I’ll first do an in home audition with a pair to make sure they work out, but I have a feeling that they will be awesome. I’ll be powering them with an older Rotel stereo receiver, but my audio dealer assured me it will be fine for these speakers. Anyway I’m not worried about that as I’ll be able to test the combo before buying.
Since you are going to do a home audition, try to make sure they are a pair the dealer has that is somewhat already broken in. They do need the time. I play my new 702s through a Rotel RSX 1065 which has about 200W in 2 channel and that receiver works fabulous with these speakers.
Enjoy the new speakers, very nice ! My Salk HT2-TLs and 1801TLs have bi-wiring posts and I have no interest in trying it. If I had speaker cables that had bi-wire terminations I'd give it a try. But they are not and I'm not replacing them just to try it. I do agree that additional amp power is a good thing. Doubt that I'm using the full capabilities of my Wyred 4 Sound amps. But when the system is cranked there is no sign of any strain or distortion.
