My mini-audition of B&W 705 vs. Phase Tech 3.1 II
A month or so ago I got the chance to hear B&W 705s and Phase Tech 3.1 IIs, side by side. Both pairs were driven by the same receiver, a Rotel RSX-1067. The sub hooked up to the system was turned off. A pair of 705s costs $1500, MSRP. MSRP for the Phase Techs is $1200/pair.
Though we'd like to upgrade our audio system, we plan on waiting a couple years at least. We'll probably wait till we get a different house, and that's up in the air. But since I have a long list of speakers I'd like to audition, I took advantage of a trip to a part of my city I don't frequently get to that has one of the area's three good audio shops. For this visit I just wanted to see what the shop carried, so I didn't bring my own test CD. The shop provided a jazz combo CD.
I heard the B&Ws first. The initial sound was impressive, but within a minute or so I felt that if I spent much time listening to the pair at moderate-to-high levels, my ears would bleed. They were far too bright for my taste. The Phase Techs were sweet--nice, rounded tones throughout, with nothing glaring.
I must admit that since I'm new to my new hobby, I hadn't heard of the Phase Tech company before walking into this shop. After hearing the Phase Tech speakers, I went home and looked them up on the web. Impressive!
In my brief audition, I discovered something else about these two pairs, but I don't know enough to describe it properly. Let me try, and if any of you can help me with my description, I'd appreciate it. Both sets of speakers sounded full at medium and high listening levels. But when the volume was turned low, it's as if the B&W pair's sound collapsed. All of a sudden it became a mere shadow of itself. It got thin and reedy. The Phase Techs, on the other hand, stayed rich and full. Soft, yes, but you could tell they were the same speakers. With the B&Ws, it was as if the speakers were switched to an inferior copy when the volume got to a certain low point and below.
This puzzles me, because I'm sure B&W wouldn't make a speaker that would drop its richness from one volume setting to another lower one. (Or would it?) Though I'd never want a pair of 705s, I recognize that the speakers have good engineering behind them.
Here's some extra info on the 3.1 IIs: One of the shop's custom installers told me that he has drilled into the bottom of 3.1 II cabinets to fit them to wall-mounted brackets. I asked, because if I were to put these 22"-high speakers on weighted stands, I'd want the speakers to be attached to the stands, in case one of my cats decided to jump on top of the speaker. (Please, no comments about selling or otherwise getting rid of our two cats. Not gonna happen.
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I still have a long list of speakers I'd like to listen to. And I want to go back to this shop with my own test CD and give the 3.1 IIs a real workout. But wow, they're on my short list.
Chris
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Edit: I misspelled "Phase Tech" in the title. I made it " Phase Teck." Sheesh.
