I know this is an old thread; however, I've had a pair of B&W FPM5's for many years, with the optional bookshelf stands. And when I setup a 2-channel system, these were available (sitting in the closet for many years. Since they don't dig into the lower frequencies, paired them with an old/extra DefTech sub and a Denon AVR-X3000 receiver that was replaced with Denon AVR-X6400H in the home theater system. I thought they sounded very good, but for the short entertainment center in the 2-channel system, maybe I could find better sound and not so high (FPM5's peak above a window sill). What I didn't realize was how hard it would be to find something else as good...
I read many good things about Elac Debut 2.0 F6.2, and purchased a pair (very fair price). AVR-X3000 has speaker A/B feature, and used that to compare F6.2 to the baseline B&W FPM5. And I can't believe how much better the FPM5 sound compared to F6.2. My 13-yr old nephew was visiting, and we enjoyed setting them up and demo'ing together. During the A/B session, he was the first to speak (after just a few minutes of listening), when he said, "The old ones sound way better". Score one for B&W FPM5.
Because the price of the Elac is so good, I kept those speakers, and hooked them to an old Sony AVR in the garage. They are more than sufficient for that purpose, and have excellent bass - so no need for sub taking up floor space in the garage.
So, not to be stopped in my quest, continued searching for the bookshelf that could defeat FPM5. I found a worthy contender in the SVS Ultra Bookshelf. Hooked them up yesterday, and sat down for a 2-hr listening session. The SVS Ultra Bookshelf is very good - much better sound overall than Elac Debut 2.0 F6.2, especially for 'airy' detailed highs. However, SVS Ultra Bookshelf is still not playing on the same level as B&W FPM5. I could tell instantly which sounded better, but to the credit of SVS, it took a few hours listening to many different genres to figure-out what exactly was the difference. The B&W FPM5's have a more natural midrange sound AND there is more detail at the same time. There was a track, where a voice sings in the background (my son happened to be listening with me, and he said it was vocal reverb/reflection), but the point is B&W FPM5's voiced it, while it was barely noticeable on the SVS Ultra Bookshelf. FPM5's reveal the sound of the pick hitting the guitar string, you can hear the vibration of the wood on the violin body, the subtle nuances of drum heads, etc., and in the end (to my ears) the FPM's are the more accurate and natural sounding speaker. Score another for the B&W FPM5.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, since (I just learned from the posts above) FPM5 were priced $800-each, and I'm comparing them to $100-each (Elac Debut 2.0 F6.2) and $500-each (SVS Ultra Bookshelf). Is this just a case of "you get what you pay for"?
Do I really have to get $1,000-each to outperform FPM5? These very old second-hand speakers (that spent most of their life sitting in a closet) are really surprising me. Funny thing is, I don't even like the sound of most B&W's, I usually think they sound too bright with shrill highs (not a fan of aluminum tweeters), but this particular set is proving hard to beat when compared head-to-head against new highly-rated modern-day alternatives.
I'm looking for typical-shaped black (gloss or woodgrain) bookshelf speakers to oust these FPM5's - any suggestions?