Bowers & Wilkins 704 S2 - Anyone else hear these?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by George P, Nov 28, 2017.

  1. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Thanks!

    Really looking forward to getting them, getting this room set up is really proving to be a lot of fun. Bikes, beer and high quality audio: that ticks all the boxes for me!
     
  2. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yeah, they are nice out of the box, but for me the bass took a long time to smooth out. For quite awhile the bass was thumpy.

    I also discovered that they sound best with a lot of toe in, pointed behind my head in the listening position. And plenty of room between the speaker and the wall behind it.
     
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  3. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    OK, just to update, I have new speakers (B&W 704 S2) that have over 200 hours of play time on them. While breaking them in, I have often thought they were a bit dull on top and heavy on the bass. (They are more than 2 feet off the rear wall and that's as far as they can get.) While breaking them in, I had them on the 6 ohm tap on my Yamaha amp listed in my profile. The only other option is a 4 ohm tap. The speakers are rated 8 ohm.

    So today I was listening to a James Taylor CD and it sounded a bit bassy and like JT was behind a veil. For the heck of it, I switched to the 4 ohm tap and sure enough, the bass was tamed and JT was much clearer! I tried some other recordings and found that the 4 ohm tap gave me less bass (or perhaps tighter bass) and a more open midrange and treble. I finally can hear the famous B&W midrange!
     
  4. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Some more info:

    and

     
    wgriel likes this.
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
  6. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    The original 703 (which I own) is also a fairly tough load for an amplifier. Though it's more sensitive than the 704S2, it also dips into 3 ohm range. I've found no problem driving it with my Rotel RB-1070, which is rated at 130 WPC in 8 ohms and is 4 ohm stable.

    I'll power my new 704s with a Rotel RA-1570 integrated amp which has similar output (120 wpc). I don't anticipate any problems using this combo.
     
    George P likes this.
  7. I run my 702s with a 16 year old RSX-1065 that delivers 5 x 100 watts per channel RMS, all channels driven, and up to 200 watts per channel under dynamic conditions. It works great. Plenty of power for them.

    The only reason I am considering upgrading the receiver is for an updated 5.1 system. I am considering a pure stereo receiver with surround pass through next time.

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I wouldn't say I had any problems using my 8 ohm tap. But it sure sounds better (more even tonality) using the four ohm tap. That's why I posted the info above, in case others have the same experience.
     
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  9. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Yeah, it's certainly worth noting - the speaker is a bit of a tough load and treating them as 4 ohm speakers is probably a good idea. I could see some amps not having enough current to really make them sing.
     
  10. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Finally, the 704s are in the house!

    [​IMG]

    I’ve got to say that they sound fantastic right out of the box! Looking forward to these breaking in...
     
  11. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Early impressions: remarkably good sound, but I do notice that the bass seems a bit congested at higher volumes right now, just not as clean as I expect or what I heard in my demo.

    Of course, I have only about 1 hour on them so I’m not worried about that just yet! At low to moderate volume levels I can’t find fault with anything I’m hearing though. I’m very happy with these :righton:
     
  12. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Bass was a big issue with mine. Some factors that helped tame/tighten up the bass:

    1. Burn in time.
    2. Getting them a few feet from the rear wall.
    3. Getting the plinths on spikes.
    4. Setting my amp to the 4 ohm taps.
     
    wgriel likes this.
  13. 100 hours. Get your records lined up. :tiphat:
     
    wgriel likes this.
  14. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    How are they doing? Have you listened to them a lot this weekend?
     
  15. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    I haven’t got as much time listening as I would like, but I’m loving what I’m hearing. I know they have a long ways to go to fully break in, but they sound magnificent in that space!

    Very detailed, huge soundstage and fantastic midrange. As I mentioned before, the bass could use some tightening up, but I only notice that at volumes beyond what I normally listen at. I expect that will improve over time.
     
    George P likes this.
  16. I actually left my digital hard drive and Mac playing for a few days while I was out to burn mine in a bit. Threes hours here. Four hours there. I’m in a house so dont have to worrry about neighbors below or above me.
     
    wgriel likes this.
  17. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yeah, I ran my stereo for 9 hours at a time when I went to work for a couple of weeks when my speakers were new.
     
  18. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Any updates?

    I think I finally have mine placed how they will stay. A bit of tilt upward (1/2" higher in the front), since my new couch is somewhat tall. I also solved a symmetry problem, as my speaker spikes on one side (the back of the speaker) hadn't penetrated the carpet. So I used a phillips screwdriver to make a little hole for the spikes. Now I get a more even sound with better clarity and better bass.
     
  19. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    The 704s are continuing to improve - I haven’t tracked how many hours I’ve got on them, but it’s still nowhere near 100 hours since I’ve been travelling quite a bit as of late.

    They image like crazy and have a wonderfully detailed midrange, with no harshness at the top end. I still get a bit of the phenomenon you observed, where the bass almost seems to be too much on some tracks, but I’m optimistic that will tame in time. And even that is getting rare: some tracks where that was a problem it’s no longer apparent. But I still have a few where the bass seems just slightly over-emphasized. I’m expecting that will clean up in time.
     
    George P likes this.
  20. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Cool!

    And you are on the 8 ohm taps on the amp, right?
     
  21. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Yes, well in a sense. My amp is a Rotel RA-1570 which doesn’t have separate taps for different impedance speakers. It’s got plenty of current for 4 ohm speakers though, so that shouldn’t be an issue. It’s a fairly high current amp, conservatively rated at 120 WPC with both channels driven and is stable into 4 ohms.

    I’ve heard this amp drive much more demanding speakers (B&W 804 Diamonds) and it did a fantastic job - I think it’s up to the job!
     
    George P likes this.
  22. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Gotcha!

    Happy listening! :wave:
     
    wgriel likes this.
  23. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Update: I’ve been running these speakers in for a while now, while I haven’t been exactly keeping track of time, I believe that tonight I’m really close to about 100 hours. I got tired of waiting to see if things tightened up, so I’ve been playing music on them all day long while I’m at work for the past while.

    I can say that from the lowest bass to the top end, they sound magnificent! I’m listening to some really bass heavy music right now and they are sounding clean and coherent. Not too bass heavy they way they did initially. I think they are tremendous speakers with a superb, detailed midrange, a surprising amount of bass for their small size and a very involving, musical presentation. And great looking to boot!
     
  24. captwillard

    captwillard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville
    I’m not sure if a lot of solid state amplification has ohm switching. McIntosh has different terminals, I believe...but most do not that I have seen.
     
  25. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Most don’t, but as you observe McIntosh does have different taps. I believe the amp that @George P owns is similar. None of the amps that I own do, even though several of them are quite happy with 4 ohm speakers.
     

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