Yesterday, I was lucky to get a sneak preview of two of the speakers in the new B&W 68x series. Since I've been planning to buy a pair of DM602S3 for some time, listening to the successor (685) should have been like an extra Christmas. Unfortunately, the preview was given after a long high-end session and, for me, directly after a session with a pair of B&W 802D speakers. Needless to say, the 68x sounded bleak and crude in comparison. However, at a price of less than 1/20 of the 802D, that comparison isn't really fair...
My impression was that the 685 provides several improvements over the 602s3. Especially with regard to precision where the 602s3 can be somewhat "boomy" from time to time. But, still, I couldn't really push the sound of the 802Ds out of my head so I mostly heard annoying details in how bad they preformed compared to the high-end alternatives...
Anyway, what I meant to ask was if any of you have had the chance to audition these speakers and could give a non 802D-infected review/opinion.
They haven't been released yet! I know we're waiting for them to arrive but B&W hasn't been doing many rounds yet either. I think they're not quite completed yet, but they are nearly there.
I know for a fact that the first shipment of 685 (and, if I'm not wrong, also 683) arrived to the main storage for "HiFi klubben" in Sweden, two or three days ago. They will start selling them in Gothenburg by the end of next week. The 684 will arrive on the (Swedish) market in late August or in September (the rep wasn't really clear on exactly when). I never got any info on when the 686 will be released.