Speakers: B & W 704 S2s vs Dali Opticon 5s vs Dali Opticon 6s

My set up currently chugs away reasonably well with a pair of Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers. For info, the power plant is provided by way of a Rotel RA-1572 integrated amp (including DAC) which is likely to stay put for a while.

The Concept 20s have done a perfectly reasonable job but I just have "the urge" to move up a little. Having done a bit of homework, but not yet demoed, the following three floorstanders have stubbornly stayed on the list of possibles:

B & W 704 S2 Floorstanding Speaker | Bowers & Wilkins [circa GBP £1,999.00]
DALI OPTICON 5 – Experiences every detail in music [circa GBP £999.00]
DALI OPTICON 6 – Precise and powerful [circa GBP £1,199.00]


Obviously, there are myriad other speakers out there but I wondered if anyone had first hand experience of any or all of the three listed and, if so, what was impressive or not impressive about how the speakers conveyed the music?

I have heard the Rubicon 6s and really liked the overall sound - big sound stage, more than ample detail, great depth. But, the Rubicons need a significantly larger physical space than those listed and it just won't be possible to reconfigure the space I have to accommodate them.

For info, rock music makes up the majority of listening (melodic (e.g. Floyd) to heavy, even the odd piece of metal (e.g. Metallica / Evanescence)) but pop-rock and classical also need to be catered for.

 

I own the 704 S2s but haven't heard the others. I've had them for 16 months. Here's some thoughts:

1. Nice, full bass you can feel, freaky realistic midrange and detailed but almost never harsh tweeter.
2. Images well, I have them toed in to fire over each shoulder.
3. Using the spikes gave me a tighter bass.
4. Replacing the metal jumpers with a good aftermarket jumper gave me more detail, smoother mids and highs.
5. They need a min of 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms, with an amp that is 4 ohm capable, as their impedance drops down to 3.1 ohms.
6. They took a long time to break in for me, like 150+ hours, but then I live in an apartment and can't play them super loud.
7. They sound better with the grills off.
8. They are quite revealing, I am able to pick up subtle differences in masterings easily.
9. They sound great for classical, jazz, rock and pop.

 

I’ve have 702 S2 for about 18 months. They sound great with some good power and needed a good hundred hours to really break in and open up. I have an 18 year old Rotel RSX1065 which amply powers them.

Sorry but haven’t heard the others.

 

I’ve owned my 704 S2s for about 10 weeks having upgraded from CM8 S2s. I have no experience with with the others you mentioned.
The 704s give much more detail and instrument separation than my previous floorstanders. The break in period is fairly lengthy (100+ hours) but worth the wait. I’m listening to mainly prog rock, metal and classic 60’s and 70’s rock/pop.

 

I think for your musical tastes you can't go wrong with either the Dali or B&W.

 

Thanks for the responses which have been helpful both directly and indirectly.

Having done some more donkey work, a slight change of direction! For now, the search for replacement speakers is on the back burner until I've sorted out the amp set-up. Once I've settled on the amp, then I'll refocus on the speakers.

 

Final update... Well, the amp search didn't quite end up as expected. In short, it came full circle back to speakers ending with the purchase of a pair of Monitor Audio Gold 100 G5 speakers. I also demoed the KEF R3s but, to my ears, they had a bit of unwanted "zing" to the higher frequencies. Stand options included the dedicated MA stands and the Atacama HMS 1.1s but, after some research, the prospect of identifying appropriate fillings and messing around with the filling process didn't fill me with joy. In the end, I went for a pair of all-wood (solid oak) Hi-Fi Racks X50 (small) stands with a custom top plate.

MA Gold 100 | Bookshelf Speakers | Monitor Audio
Hi-Fi Racks X 50 Small Speaker Stands (Pair)