B&W 701s

[Push]

I have a chance to pick up a pair of B&W 701s for a good price ($600Cdn) and was wondering about peoples thoughts on them. I can't seem to find much online about them, just the 702s and 800 series. I'm not really concerned about deep lows, just tight bass and the upper and mids cannot be too bright. Thanks in advance.

 

[everettT]

I have a chance to pick up a pair of B&W 701s for a good price ($600Cdn) and was wondering about peoples thoughts on them. I can't seem to find much online about them, just the 702s and 800 series. I'm not really concerned about deep lows, just tight bass and the upper and mids cannot be too bright. Thanks in advance.

I'm assuming series one and yes, the upper mid/low treble is hot on those speakers.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have a chance to pick up a pair of B&W 701s for a good price ($600Cdn) and was wondering about peoples thoughts on them. I can't seem to find much online about them, just the 702s and 800 series. I'm not really concerned about deep lows, just tight bass and the upper and mids cannot be too bright. Thanks in advance.

With few exceptions, tight bass and B & W is an oxymoron.

 

[Push]

Well, the lack of information about 701s is because the 701 doesn't exist. The seller sent me some pictures, and it turns out they are 703s. I see quite a bit more information about those, but would like to hear what others have to say...

 

[TLS Guy]

Well, the lack of information about 701s is because the 701 doesn't exist. The seller sent me some pictures, and it turns out they are 703s. I see quite a bit more information about those, but would like to hear what others have to say...

At $600.00 that is very good value. You won't get anything new close to as good for that price.

I have heard those speakers previously. For some strange reason B & W tuned their bass slightly over resonant.

The other problem is that B & W correctly in their three way speakers aimed to have their midrange drivers cover the speech discrimination band, which is a very worthy aim. So the mid driver is covering the 350 Hz to 4 KHz band.

The problem is that that yellow Kevlar cone, is starting to break up before crossover. This makes it beam at the upper end of the range, and the FR is not as smooth as it should be in the break up region.

All said and done though this speaker represented good value for money at the time, and still does really.

At the price you won't go wrong. If you don't like them, you can sell them on and get your money back, with a good chance of a slight profit.

Their new carbon fiber mid is a significant improvement over the Kevlar driver.

 

[Push]

At $600.00 that is very good value. You won't get anything new close to as good for that price.

Thank you for your input, it's much appreciated.

Could you compare the B&W mid and top end to my current Paradigm Atom SEs? The Atoms were bought as a stop gap measure until I found a set of loudspeakers that I really liked, but at higher volume levels I'm finding them too be much too bright. I've auditioned some other loudspeakers, but the price range I'm finding myself in is not one I can handle right now, so I'm watching the used market in the hopes of getting something a little closer to the laid back mid range that I'm seeking.

 

[everettT]

Thank you for your input, it's much appreciated.

Could you compare the B&W mid and top end to my current Paradigm Atom SEs? The Atoms were bought as a stop gap measure until I found a set of loudspeakers that I really liked, but at higher volume levels I'm finding them too be much too bright. I've auditioned some other loudspeakers, but the price range I'm finding myself in is not one I can handle right now, so I'm watching the used market in the hopes of getting something a little closer to the laid back mid range that I'm seeking.

Where are you located?

 

[Swerd]

I have a chance to pick up a pair of B&W 701s 703s for a good price ($600Cdn) and was wondering about peoples thoughts on them. I can't seem to find much online about them, just the 702s and 800 series. I'm not really concerned about deep lows, just tight bass and the upper and mids cannot be too bright. Thanks in advance.

Do those 703s have the infamous yellow Kevlar mid-range driver? At that price, they probably do. If so, my short answer is don't buy them.

In the long run you will not like them, and put them up for sale. Their bass is far from tight sounding, but that can easily depend on the room they're in, where they're located within the room, and where you are located too. Their upper and mid range sound will be too bright sounding. It may seem tolerable at low to moderate volume, but at higher volume they will sound harsh, ear-fatigue-inducing harsh.

While it is true that used B&W speakers do sell for decent prices, it is also true that many B&W owners become disappointed with their speakers. The used speaker market is full of them. The main reason is those yellow Kevlar mid-range drivers. They should never be crossed over to the tweeter at such a high frequency of 4,000 Hz. They make harsh noise at that frequency. B&W has tried a variety of ways to suppress that noise. Most of those efforts don't work well, except in the much more expensive 800 series speakers.

Here is a visual comparison two mid-range drivers producing a 3,500 Hz signal. On the left is an unnamed (B&W?) yellow Kevlar 6.5" mid driver, and on the right is a similarly sized driver made by Revel. The cone of the left is clearly in what is called 'break-up mode'. I'm rather certain people would not like its sound.

 

[Mikado463]

all good points made here but again for 600 bucks............

 

[everettT]

all good points made here but again for 600 bucks............

I'd hold out till I found some deal like these. The BWs are close to 20 years old, I wouldn't pay anything for them all 5hings considered.

Paradigm Premier 700F Floor Standing Speakers (Sale Pending)

Sale PendingPair of Paradigm Premier 700F speakers in excellent condition. Conservatively rating them a 9/10. They’re in the same condition they were when unboxed.Zero abuse - played at reasonable volumes in a child and smoke free home.What I really like about these is they don’t have that...

www.usaudiomart.com

 

[Push]

Where are you located?

I'm in Northern Saskatchewan.

I've only heard 4 sets of Pardigms. My Atoms, an older floor standing set (sorry, don't know the model), a set of 3000s and a set of 6000s. Every one were harsh to my ears at higher volumes. I haven't been able to audition at home, so perhaps it was setup, but I have concerns that the range is overall very bright. Living where I do, auditioning is not always an option.

 

[everettT]

I'm in Northern Saskatchewan.

I've only heard 4 sets of Pardigms. My Atoms, an older floor standing set (sorry, don't know the model), a set of 3000s and a set of 6000s. Every one were harsh to my ears at higher volumes. I haven't been able to audition at home, so perhaps it was setup, but I have concerns that the range is overall very bright. Living where I do, auditioning is not always an option.

Unlike most BWs, the Paradigms (most of the new ones especially, I haven't heard their entry speakers from years ago) are EQable, the BWs and their chosen crossover to the tweeter, not so much.

 

[TLS Guy]

Do those 703s have the infamous yellow Kevlar mid-range driver? At that price, they probably do. If so, my short answer is don't buy them.

In the long run you will not like them, and put them up for sale. Their bass is far from tight sounding, but that can easily depend on the room they're in, where they're located within the room, and where you are located too. Their upper and mid range sound will be too bright sounding. It may seem tolerable at low to moderate volume, but at higher volume they will sound harsh, ear-fatigue-inducing harsh.

While it is true that used B&W speakers do sell for decent prices, it is also true that many B&W owners become disappointed with their speakers. The used speaker market is full of them. The main reason is those yellow Kevlar mid-range drivers. They should never be crossed over to the tweeter at such a high frequency of 4,000 Hz. They make harsh noise at that frequency. B&W has tried a variety of ways to suppress that noise. Most of those efforts don't work well, except in the much more expensive 800 series speakers.

Here is a visual comparison two mid-range drivers producing a 3,500 Hz signal. On the left is an unnamed (B&W?) yellow Kevlar 6.5" mid driver, and on the right is a similarly sized driver made by Revel. The cone of the left is clearly in what is called 'break-up mode'. I'm rather certain people would not like its sound.
View attachment 56806

I think you are overstating it a little Swerd. I have found an FR of the speaker on axis and 45 and 60 degrees off axis.

So it is line with my impression of years passed. It is not pretty, and if it were one of my designs I would not be happy. However, you can see there is a rise in response of the midrange on axis, and it really looses it right at crossover. Because of the break up you can see there is beaming on axis. However, if you combine those responses, then the in room response is probably reasonable.

The unforgivable fault is you can see by that hump that the bass is miss tuned.

This is why I design and build my own speakers, then I only have myself to blame.

 

[Swerd]

I think you are overstating it a little Swerd. I have found an FR of the speaker on axis and 45 and 60 degrees off axis.

Those 6.5" B&W Kevlar mid-woofers can sound awful if they're driven with the frequencies that stimulate a resonance in that ~4 kHz range. Once I learned to notice it, I could never unhear it. It's downright ugly sounding. Even at lower, more tolerable volumes, it becomes irritating to my ears.

I've heard that problem in all the 600, 700, and CDM series speakers I've heard. Only the B&W 800 series speakers I've heard manage to avoid that. I don't know whether B&W achieves that with different drivers, or whether they use more elaborate filters in the crossover to block the noise.

… However, you can see there is a rise in response of the midrange on axis, and it really looses it right at crossover. Because of the break up you can see there is beaming on axis. However, if you combine those responses, then the in room response is probably reasonable.

That frequency response curve only shows loudness vs. frequency. It doesn't distinguish whether the sound at 4 kHz is due to the audio content, or if it's from the Kevlar driver's break-up resonances.

The unforgivable fault is you can see by that hump that the bass is miss tuned.

Agreed!

 

[everettT]

I think you are overstating it a little Swerd. I have found an FR of the speaker on axis and 45 and 60 degrees off axis.

So it is line with my impression of years passed. It is not pretty, and if it were one of my designs I would not be happy. However, you can see there is a rise in response of the midrange on axis, and it really looses it right at crossover. Because of the break up you can see there is beaming on axis. However, if you combine those responses, then the in room response is probably reasonable.

The unforgivable fault is you can see by that hump that the bass is miss tuned.

This is why I design and build my own speakers, then I only have myself to blame.

The infamous 'bat wing', shows up in so many of their designs sadly