Hi everyone,
Couldn’t wait to share my happiness on here 
. They’re finally here, after much contemplation, listening sessions, and cigarettes money savings and head scratching!!!
My 705 s3 just landed at Bouba’s chateau !!!
My pockets were not deep enough to acquire a pair of 805 D4 but I’m happy I waited a bit longer to see what was coming next from B&W.
Just received them this very morning, so can’t wait to set these up !!
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Pm1’s! Your old speakers are great too!
Yes the PM1s are definitely keepers, great lows and huge soundstage from something so small.
Have Just perched the 705s on the PM1s stands, they’re definitely much larger and sounds much larger too.
Listening to some Dogg Pound album right now 
, sounds very promising, can’t wait for these to be fully run after to see what they’re capable of. But right from the box, level of details, resolution and soundstage wide and depth is literally night and day Vs the PM1, unsurprisingly so.
The tweeter on the 705 is really something special and I think the real star of the show, absolutely wonderfully detailed and intoxicating 
.
I’ll wait a few more weeks before judging but so far, couldn’t be happier.
I’d be very interested in your thoughts - I have the s2 version.
I guess you have moved the new loudspeakers further away from the wall?
I sure will share my thoughts. Also owned the 705 Signature version for a year or so. Sold them to finance these.
Can already tell The S3 are in an entirely different: the tweeter details and refinement is way, way ahead. The S3 boxes sounds and feels also far more inert. Love what I’m hearing from El Debarge albums . That bass is meaty without being to boomy. The mids and highs are so punchy and that tweeter really digs out bags of details. My lounge has heavy Iranian rugs on the floor and full of furnitures. However, I guess that in a less heavily furnished room that tweeter might sound bright to some. I personally would just call it refined and very detailed without ever sounding forward.
I absolutely love what I’m hearing
@Ardbeg10y : why would I ?!! I’m living in a Parisian flat mate.
I’ve never bought this “move the speakers further in the room” thing. Can’t afford having my speakers right in the middle of my lounge. Ok I’m exaggerating a bit saying that but I’m very pleased with the way they’re sitting right now.
I’ve placed the foam bungs in the ports, and I don’t feel that has flattened the sound even by a bit. But again, my living is heavily furnished here, in a 5x5 meters room.
To everyone’s their own, but to me they sound just meaty enough without losing details and that Raphael Saadiq joint I’m listening to right now tells me there’s nothing wrong with their placement, the beat is intoxicating !!!
. Don’t know how they did it, but there it is: this to me is the antidote to all that retro/vintage bug that speakers manufacturers got into lately.
Interesting to hear. I had considered trading mine for the signature version, but it sounds like the s3 are a step further.
That said, I am still letting the NC250 settle in, so let’s see where that gets to first. One change at a time and all that!
Compared vs. the Signature, and from my recollection of the later, this new iteration is far less picky of partnering kit, easier going. And something I’m pretty sure about is that the S3 seems less forced, in my room these sounds far more natural and lifelike than the Signature. The difference is clearly “audible”. I prefer the S3, no contest but again that’s my personal taste. I’m pretty sure some people would rather prefer the Signatures.
To me these just click-in with my kit. My sources are a Core, a Mac mini both through a DAC V1. The streamer is an Atom.
Amps are Musical Fidelity A5cr feeding the lows, a Nap 100 feeding the highs and finally a Musical Fidelity X-150 for when playing directly the Core through the Dac v1.
The Nap 100 is temporarily there for the highs, as I sent out the MuFi X-P200 that normally serves that duty in for service. Can’t wait to have it back.
The speakers just sound unforced, lively without any brightness. Compared vs my lovely PM1s there’s no comparison: the S3 just dig deeper and the lows in particular is a “tour de force”
One thing to notice though, I’ve been playing music reasonably loud so far.
And one thing across the entire B&W speakers I’ve owned so far that’s also true for these is this: these are not made for late night listening, turning down the volume below the 30 on the Atom, the speakers still sound good but much less engaging.
This was already the case with my PM1s but even more so with these, music really comes to life passed 35-40.
I personally don’t mind that, volume in here is rarely below 40 on the Atom and -40db on the X-150. But looks like B&W is tuning its speakers to sound their best when played loud, not to deafening levels either, but ever more so than the competitors.
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Why is your hifi wearing a jacket?
(I am actually quite trepidatious of the answer, please do not say for audio reasons)
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Gary,
Your question just killed me 
. Rest reassured I haven’t lost my mind yet !!! And your question makes perfectly sense.
I’m a cleanness freak ! That’s the reason why. You could also say lazy cause I don’t wanna make my life miserable, dusting the kit off every now and then.
The components are sitting on these shelves 365 days a year; and although I’m a very clean person and like to keep things tidy @ Bouba’s chateau, dust still finds a way to set on and in the rack.
My flat is vey clean, but just picture this: the minute you open the window bay in my lounge, to freshen up the atmosphere a bit, with fresh air also comes with some dust in, especially when it gets windy.
These cloths are there to help keeping it off my gear and I can assure you it’s very effective. I also cover the A5 amp when it’s not being used. It’s the only component here with vents on the lid cover and under the amp for cooling purpose.
The rest of my kit are sealed boxes. I’m very concerned that dust settles in because of these vents on the A5
Every time I’m done listening, I take a thick microfiber cloth and put it on the amp.
I know it’s not very aesthetics but I found it bloody effective to keep the dust off it.
The atom huge and gorgeous volume knob though is impossible to keep clean, it’s a real dust and finger print magnet. So I take a very fluffy swiffer to clean it from time to time.
I’ve always done the same with my speakers whenever I’m living home for vacations. I had some special dust bags made by an artisan nearby, with very soft cloth, large and deep enough to not only cover the speakers itself entirely, but also the stands they’re sitting on.
I just can’t stand getting back home finding dust sat everywhere and especially on my hard earned hi-fi kit.
On another note : the 705 are still playing, since this 12 noon, and I just can’t get enough of the poised, absolutely intoxicating medium. They’re already sound fuller and it’s been only a few hours since I got them out of the box. I’m really amazed at what hi-fi manufacturers are capable of these days.
If I dare say it, these to me, are by far, the best sounding speakers I’ve ever owned.
That tweeter is really to die for. It’s radically different from what you get from the PM1s. When I had the 705 signature I already noticed at the time that Bowers house-sound had radically changed across the years.
These are definitely special, won’t be for everyone. Because playing recordings with very different qualities showed that if you play poor recordings you immediately get a meh sound.
That said though, these sounds much more forgiving than the Signature version in that regard. The later could make my ears bleed when I was listening to a very distorted punk or ska song. The S3 are less picky But still, very revealing. Mostly, they’re more ballistic, the low-mids are absolutely gorgeous.
I’m listening to a live performance by Johnny Clegg, Savuka period right now, I got goosebumps listening to the drums and his voice. It’s absolutely stunning. I’m really really happy
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Congrats on the new B&W’s @Bouba - they look lovely, and bet they sound good (I’ve never heard the 705’s).
Your positioning is almost like mine - my 805’s are a little further out - I call it the ‘parked’ position as they’re like that for most of the time. But… when I have our flat to myself for a couple of days (rare), I move the 805’s out into the room more. Everything improves. Try it at least once, just for the hell of it!
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It reminds me of people who cover their sofa in plastic lol.
Thanks @steviebee. Guess what, I’ve followed your advice this afternoon and took the speakers around 40cm away from the front wall. I agree with you all, it does make a difference. Not to the extent I’ll leave them permanently there though.
I’m living alone in my lil flat with no kids around here so I guess I could compromise a bit but I’m not really comfortable having them always positioned that way. Anyway, I’m thankful for the advice 
.
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I dont go that far. Won’t judge people covering their sofas but I don’t do that. Simply put, trying to take care of my belongings, especially when it took me long to have it. Wanna keep my kit pristine and I’m proud of it. Ladies coming at Bouba’s chateau would every time be like “love your place, so clean and tidy ”, that’s until I pump some Jodeci joint on my system while heading to the couch right next to her 
But let’s not get carried away and back to the subject, im very, very impressed with the speakers. They sound absolutely fantastic. I won’t be able to describe it all in detail but so far, I’ve really been floored by the sound. And the speakers don’t cheat : they won’t try to sound like something they aren’t. They’re far from being neutral, especially because of that tweeter In that regard.
But those low mids and treble are truly mesmerizing.
Listened to some Anthony Hamilton (Coming from where I’m coming from album) this noon, couldn’t believe my ears. In comparison, the Signature would almost seems muffled or at least kind shut in in the lower mids and highs.
I’m very happy and glad indeed.
‘That’s how I like you, dear’
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