An aging man looking for his youth again I looked at the pile of aging Hi-fi equipment left in the garage & wondered WHY?
So when the opportunity presented in came the hifi stand and the Denon Mono-blocks my old Rotel pre-amp, my cd840 and my Bose speakers. In no time I was up and running but then inside a week the Bose had packed in. What now? I checked out those 901s I always wanted but £1600 before I could even hear them..... Hmmmmmm I want to be sure of what I spend my money on.
I tried a mates CVs but bass was good but the rest got very muddied after I listened and they got warmed up.
As I live on a wee island off the UK mainland then it wasnt gonna be easy toaudition a lot of speakers (not helped by the fact that all the local hifi dealers have become surround sound/home cinema specialists)
I read a few reviews and was impressed by the b&w reviews for their 685 speakers but if I was going to spend that money I would have to but the correct stands and this made it look like the bigger floor-standers would be cheaper. Hello eBay.
After a few weeks I got a set of 684s for £400 off some hi-fi dealer in Scotland and within a week I was the proud owner. That was till I wired them up. They just didnt hit the spot.
I checked out the sponges but didnt want to go through the rigour of some in some out so I put the full sponges in. Yipee the Bass was finally what I wanted but maybe a little over the top, drowning out some of the mid-range detail. Not a happy bunny I was ready to ebay the blighters and then I took out the sponges and tried them with the central core removed leaving just the outer sleeve and 'Hey Presto' they were sorted.
At last. They can take anything I throw at them and the louder the better. They are incredible.
The 684s dont fill the room as the Bose did but they sound so much better.... much better.
The wife hasnt got so attached to them but if I let her play Bon Jovi loud on them then theyre growing on her too. What more of a recommendation do you want, even my wife can listen to them, hahaha

owned a pair of B&W 602 S3 (bookshelf speakers) prior to purchasing my B&W 684 and one would have thought that option to purchase the 684 was natural one having been accustomed to the B&W brand previously, however this was not the case at all and the process proved to be a rather difficult considering the high quality of speakers currently available in the market. Using the What Hi-Fi speaker reviews as I guide I finally shortlisted my preferences to the Monitor Audio RX6 and B&W 684 which I planned to audition with my some of favourite recordings, needless to say both speakers offered the best sound quality one could expect at a particular price point. Finally and after weeks of deliberation I finally decided to buy the B&W 684 simply because I felt that it shared a greater synergy with my new Rotel RA1520 amplifier. I have since spent many hours listening to the B&W 684 and have NO reason to regret my purchase, they are beautifully built and have a natural sound that will please the most avid listener, they also have great affinity for detail and are willing to “let loose” when required.

Buy with confidence as the 684 is great package that offers excellent value for money

I have this wonderfull B&W 684 speakers since April this year and before I had a Mission 702e.

This is such an improvement over my old speakers and also now I have a NAD C355BEE amplifier with a NAD C545BEE cd player connected to them. Before I had QED speaker cables but now changed to Atlas Hyper 3.0 for bass and Hyper 1.5 for treble.

First this is excelent speakers, and not like this guy is saying here that they are not good, please go to the doctor and make a treatment to your hears!

It's true that it must be carrefully matched otherwise it can sound bright, but all systems needs carefully partnering, don't they?

This B&W's deliver great great bass, open clear midrange and nice treble extension, and they sing best at high volumes, so crank your volume to get the best of them

I have been exceedingly happy with my B&W 684's in combination with my Cambridge Audio 640 v2 amplifier, CD player, and DAB radio.

I am not be an audio expert, but I am someone who loves music *a lot*. I mainly listen to classical music, and I frequently go to actual concerts so I know very well what those sound like. When I finally decided to get a good audio system, I spent considerable time going to different stores, bringing CDs I know well in order to listen to different systems. After having listened carefully to quite a number of different systems, I can only recommend others to do the same thing. Ignore (no, seriously!) everything you read, and go out and listen!!! You have to find out which systems sound good with the music *you* listen to (there are major differences), and you have to find out what you get extra in terms of enjoyment for which amount of money, and figure out where the sweet-spot is for *you*.

For me, the sweet spot was this system - doing considerably better (at least for my purposes) than anything below, at, and also quite a bit above this price point that I could find. Yes, I did find better systems, but the cheapest of those was 6000 DKK (800 eur, 1200 usd) more expensive than this one, which I felt wasn't within my budget. I got the system (speakers, CD player, amp, DAB radio, cables, and delivery, plus Danish taxes *sigh*) at almost 15000 DKK (2000 eur, 3000 usd), (I reckon it's way cheaper outside of Scandinavia.)

At this point, I would like to expose 2 ideas to you (you might already know them).
1) Q: what's an audiophile? A: someone who listens to the equipment. (as in: not the music)
2) There's no point in owning a good system if you don't also have a good music collection.
I decided to save part of my budget (some 5000 DKK = 667 EUR = 1000 USD) for expanding my CD collection.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I *really* love my system. It's the best *I* could find for the music *I* like at a price point that still made sense for *me*. Seriously, if you've read this review this far, try to listen to this system, and then also to many other systems as well. Then figure out what's best for you. What works for me may not work for you. But man, do I enjoy Beethoven's 7th (and LOTS AND LOTS of my other music as well)!

These are exceptional speakers. I bought them locally off of Ebay for $800. I play mainly: Classical, Christian Hymns and then occasionally blue grass. My receiver is a Denon AVR-687 and my CD player is a lower end Denon as well. So, my equipment doesn't do these fine speakers justice. However, I must say that I'm still very impressed. For example, after I bought the 684's, the first piece I played had some strong Cello / Double Bass tracks. These 684's actually made my family room floor vibrate. With all my speakers, I never felt anything like that before.

I wanted a set of speakers that would sound good with the equipment that I have now and would grow with me as I can afford to move more upscale. The B&W web site lists the 684's low impedance as being 3 ohms, which was a real concern, However, in actuality they rarely dip below 6 ohms impedance. This means that my little Denon can drive the 684's fine and my Denon stays surprisingly cool (even with these speakers cranked way up.) Further, from what I've read, higher end equipment really make these beauties sing.

By far, I think acoustical and grand piano's sound the best with my system. My wife was shocked at how much they sounded just like our own grand piano. Also, the 684's bass sound great, as well. My favorite bass piece is the Scherzo from Tchaikovsky's Symphony #4. In this piece, all string instruments are just plucked staccato; to which these 684's sound so tight! It's lots of fun to listen to.

I do have some complaints, as these speakers are now revealing the weaknesses in my current setup. But, that the fun of this stuff. As you learn you enjoy more and more nuances of the music.

I have five children, and they can be a bit rambunctious at times. It's important that my speakers be really stable. For example, a week after I bought them I found small foot prints *ON TOP* of the speaker. It turned out that two of my kids were helping each other climb up on top of the 684's and then jumping off. Thank God these speakers are real stable so that they did not kill themselves.

I've heard that B&W had a mid-term correction with the 684's. The 684's were the first version with both speakers being covered with Kevlar. I heard it said that the first models didn't sound as good as compared to these newer version of the 684.

Finally, I'm starting to think about a new receiver for these speakers. Any suggestions on reasonably priced setups would be appreciated.

Ok, If you really like to listening your favorite recordings WITHOUT bad way: harhs highs, poor low-end ... DON'T BUY THESE !!! i Swear It was a waste of money, time and...(just like the Marantz SA7001 compared with my actually far way better Sony SA-CD player)
The B&W 684 floorstandigs loudspeakers sounds metalic, harhs, agressive , light bass compared with my current DYNS...
Please dont be deceived with the big marketing of the BOWER&WILKINS GROUP corp:
TRUST YOURS EARS BEFORE BUY AUDIO GEAR!!!: GREAT VALUE AUDIO GEAR IS REAL , EXIST, EVEN YOUR CURRENT AUDIO DEALER DON'T OFFER YOU