Six months ago I got a good deal on the 684, my first "real" speakers. After reading MANY reviews and obsessing over my perhaps too hasty purchase, I made the decision to upgrade, partly because I was kicking myself for not originally shelling out the extra $ for the 683s. This time I did it right and spent more time listening, mostly to speakers in the 1k - 3k range by PSB, Paradigm, and B&W.

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I have a pair of these 683' s and I am powering them with a Rotel RMB 1095 1000WATT AND they sound great. Considering buying two more bc I read that in a good surround sound system your surround and front speakers should be the same....I'm also considering buying 4 klipsch R140sa atoms that fit right in top of them. If any one has a better idea feel free to let me know. I just bought a Pioneer SC-LX901 also, bc my Rotel dropped the FR channel bc we have so many power outages. I am getting a Panamax m5300 surge protector....

These would have to be the worst speakers I have ever owned. The distortion and interference in the mid to upper ranges leaves listening to them an ordeal. I couldn't sell them.I would be too embarrassed. Very disappointed. Tried them on various amps but all I get is noise. The base is exceptionally detailed. I warn people not to buy them, they are rubbish.

What a disappointment. My first impression of these was "are the tweeters working"? Dull, lifeless and muddy best describe these. The speakers were well run in, driven by Arcam and Moon electronics in a well behaved room FYI. The look, feel and performance is your typical Chinese cheap.They never should have moved operations to China. It used to be the 600 series offered exceptional value as was the case with the previous, UK manufactured speakers, but no more.

running a musical fidelity p270-2 class a amp, pioneer a9 as a pre amp, project tube box 2 preamp with vintage mullard valves and of course the b & w 683s ,bi wired. great sounding system through vinyl, really captures the full sound of a band and leaves you wondering how things could be any better than this.these speakers need a load of power to work properly and a large room. they sound too full on in small rooms . highly recommend these speakers to anyone considering them as long as they have a big amp and big room, and turned up loud they sound awesome!. but hey im no expert on this subjects ,just my opinion , try to get through large chain electronic stores like harvey norman because they sometimes do crazy good deals, i got mine half price , still in the original box

Biwired 683's into Rotel RC-1580 pre and RB-1582 amp. The synergy between the B and W 's and Rotel pieces go together nice. Use to own Kef tower speakers and found the B and W to be a much smoother sounding speaker compairing the 2 with the Rotel components. Room placement is so important for the sound presentation with the 683...the supplied foam port plugs play a vital role in overall bass tightness so you must experiment with these or you really miss out. What surprised me was how much better the 683's sound with the front cloth covers removed. Once removed the sound dispersion really opens up and becomes more airey and detailed. Have listed to many different styles of music from Bach to Coltrane to Hendrix to Metal and they do Classical the best I would say... not to say they don't all genres very good. I'm very pleased with my B and W's for the price range ($1400) they were at. They are a very refined speaker for this price range. For more money I would have bought the Salk Songtowers which are incredible with the right setup. Also the PSB's are just as good if not better than the 683's,I just happened to hear them recently with Rotel components and was impressed, I probably would have bought them instead. It's too bad more stores in my area don't carry more brands of home speakers. Back in the day the stereo stores had way more diversity with speakers you could listen to....sign of the times.

This is my second review of these beautiful speakers( sound & visual). Since I've owned them I've moved into a house that has a listening room just right for these speakers. 12' X 25' room that just lets them breathe. Currently I have Rotel seperates for surround, but I have bi-amped the speakers and WOW! I know what people mean by certain speakers need power. So when the time comes to upgrade, I'm going for a hi-end Intergrated amp, something like a Krell S-300i, Nad M3, or Luxman -l-505u but I would like some info on any of these amps if anyone has spent time with them. And which would match up with the B&W's the best. I'd hate to drag my speakers all over town to audition every amp. Summery, need space and power I think to get the best out of these speakers. I hope this helps.

Six months ago I got a good deal on the 684, my first "real" speakers. After reading MANY reviews and obsessing over my perhaps too hasty purchase, I made the decision to upgrade, partly because I was kicking myself for not originally shelling out the extra $ for the 683s. This time I did it right and spent more time listening, mostly to speakers in the 1k - 3k range by PSB, Paradigm, and B&W.

Well, my ears kept coming back to the B&W 683, a true 3-way speaker, which I feel is a significant improvement over the 684 in every way. While I would describe the 684s as excellent speakers too, especially in the midrange and treble. But for bass, the 683 sounds a world apart. Such a natural sound, like Ron Carter is right in front you. Better than any speaker I listened to in this price range (the B&W CM9 was probably better all around at 2x the price at $3000, but honestly I didn't hear as much of a difference as I thought I would). After listening to these for the last few days at home, I'm finding more and more that the midrange is a huge improvement over the 684 as well, perhaps due to the FST technology that's been passed down from B&Ws 800 series. Worth every cent of the $400 it cost me to upgrade: Better imagining, soundstage, bass, and clarity. Everything I've listened to on these speakers from Bach to Stan Getz to the Stooges sounds satisfying and absolutely-musical.

By the way, I'm using a Cambridge Audio 650c CD player ($700) and 550a 60 watt amplifier ($550). (I've heard varying opinions about if I would see a performance improvement with a higher-wattage amplifier. My experience is that it sounds pretty darn good with this one and PLENTY loud even at 10 o'clock.) I don't use a subwoofer as I've come around to the opinion that music on speakers with bass this strong sounds better with out one.

the b&w 683 is totaly a great speakers with my rotel ra1070 amp, (100 wpc).
i've owned them now less then a month and they're breakin-in very well.
bass is fast and slam. yet punchy and full.
i have them in black ash and they pretty nice.
the most importent thing is that the b&w 683 is a very impresive sound speaker.

Way overpriced. I can think of about 30 speakers for the same money or less than these muddy sounding, Chinese made items.