Suggestion needed on B&W used Speakers price and matching amplifier

mehtaurvesh

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Hello,

I am new to this forum. I need a sincere suggestion. I have talked to a seller for B&W 603 S3 in INR 60000. Is it worth it, considering its market price was USD 1000/pair, 12 years before when it was launched? This will be a huge jump as I was thinking of Boston Acoustics A26 or A360, with Norge Gold 1000 amplifier. Will Norge's neutral presentation match with B&W's signature?

Thanks
 
hifishark.com is an excellent site to check for current international prices of used AV equipment.
 
Hello,

I am new to this forum. I need a sincere suggestion. I have talked to a seller for B&W 603 S3 in INR 60000. Is it worth it, considering its market price was USD 1000/pair, 12 years before when it was launched? This will be a huge jump as I was thinking of Boston Acoustics A26 or A360, with Norge Gold 1000 amplifier. Will Norge's neutral presentation match with B&W's signature?

Thanks


Hi,

Firstly welcome to the Forum.....

You will definitely find views and tons of information around AV components ...all this in organised discussion threads to be tapped and explored by all.....

Speakers are speakers....some will differ in built quality, materials used and ofcourse the distinct sound signature......it is best to audition what fits into your budget and actual requirement....factor in the appearance, size, placement in the room and what you intend to use the speakers for...music, movies, gaming or all of these things......

There are many dealers who offer good prices, you need to patiently look around, audition and then finally decide what you want to have.....mind ...after some years there is a tendency for the UPGRADE bug to bite and you may get inclined to try another brand or model.....all depends on your interest levels and urge to have the best....

What is your current system at home? What is it used mainly for?
 
@mehtaurvesh No doubt 603 S3 are one of the best speakers I have used especially for their musicality. It goes good with any decent integrated.

After seeing my below thread couple of our forum friends from Calcutta have hunted down these speakers and bought it they are absolutely happy about it.

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/66969-my-b-w-speakers-journey.html

I will try to get their hifi handle and post it here for better reviews which can guide you.

Regarding price point please pm me the details so that I can pin point the right price for the product.

Thanks

R. Balagopalan
 
@rbalagopalan , @efernand1 , @Naturelover ,

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I just had the audition of these B&W 603 S3 at a second-hand equipment seller. We played these speakers through NAD230, Cambridge Audio Azur 851, and one Arcam AV receiver (I do not remember the model number, but it was really huge. I guess more than 100W per channel). Before going into the sound details, the physical aspects I would explain. One mid-range had got damaged, so it was replaced with a new original mid-range unit. One woofer was little depressed, but no change in the bass quality. Rest seemed fine. And yes, there were no spikes.
Now the sound quality. The speakers sounded too bright and harsh with NAD 230, especially at high volumes. I could not even continue after 5 minutes, it was so fatiguing. Although NAD was just the entry level amp, still such sound quality I had never expected. Then I played through Cambridge Audio. The sound was remarkably better, but the bass was less punchy and overall presentation was smoother. The mid-range was smooth and good for Jazz kind of music. At high volumes it tended to go harsh again, but still better. The problem was when I played it at low volume. I could clearly hear the distortion at the high frequency. The highs were not clear and mixed up. I played a song with high bass with high treble, and I heard the vibration noise. It was coming from both the tweeters. I thought the problem is with the amp, so I asked the seller to connect with the Arcam. Arcam's presentation was more like of home theatre ones. But, it was smoothest of all. I checked again for the high-frequency distortion, it was still there in the same magnitude. I immediately rejected the speakers. I was not all impressed. Either the tweeters had got damaged because of some reason, or the tweeters in 603 S3 were always bad, as many of the reviewers have mentioned. 683 s2 was clearly better on almost all fronts costing INR 1.35 lakhs at Decibel, Chennai. Let me put a more humble example. My father is an electronics hobbyist. He had made an amplifier himself on Crescendo circuit. Speakers were also made by him manually, with Bolton 40W 8ohms tweeters. And those insignificant and cheap tweeters were at least 5 times better than this pricy bullshit tweeters.
Then I saw B&O Beolab 4000 active speakers (I guess MK1), which have not been put on sale through advertisements. Small speakers with 4-inch woofers and small tweeters, with 50W per channel. I just wanted to check these cute looking lifestyle speakers. The seller played these speakers through Arcam. And what a surprise. These speakers were really magnificent. Well rounded sound. Although not as loud as B&W's, not as transparent as B&W's, but what a pleasant performance. Treble was remarkably better with limited quantity. Mid-range was smooth like butter. But, the bass was the most surprising factor. Never felt that it is lacking in picking any frequency till 60Hz. Close your eyes, and you can never tell that the speakers are so small. The cohesion between two units was so good, that it was able to produce a significant amount of soundstage. I tried with Bluetooth to check its performance in the digital content. And it was equally good here. Loved listening each genre. For the comparison, even B&W 683 s2 was pathetic with the direct Bluetooth content and aux-in connection. I understand Hi-Fi systems are not supposed to be used in this manner. But still, if something performs better in every condition, in my opinion, that system is better. After thoroughly listening, I felt these B&O are better than B&W, Monitor Audio, Focal, Energy, Jamo etc in sub 1.5 lakh range, which I have auditioned till now. Not to mention, there is no need to waste time, money and energy in finding the right amp. The best thing was, all genres were presented beautifully, no skewness. Perhaps the sellers are not having adequate resources or they just don't bother, but they do not match speakers with the perfect amps. I am saying this because I have checked B&W 604 series at my friend's place with a DAC, Quad pre-amp and some Power amp, I do not remember. He played through a laptop, still, the sound was mesmerizing, although lacking bass. I must mention these are purely my perception, people can have a different opinion.

Some user reviews:
http://www.audioreview.com/product/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/bang-and-olufsen/beolab-4000.html

The new B&O Beolab 4000 unit costs GBP 1800 (Around INR 1.8 lakhs), but the seller quoted a price of INR 32 K, without wall mountings. Quite reasonable, I guess.
Now, the confusion. This situation changes whole thinking process for me. If I buy B&O, I can not think of traditional systems. No integrated amp, no power amp. One pre-amp with phono-in will be needed, that's it. And I am not sure if such an old speaker set (10-20 years old) is worth spending 30 k plus. Besides, in-built power-amp means more trouble, if something goes bad with the inner circuit.

Thank you for patiently reading my opinion. Would really appreciate some guidance from your experience.
 
We are all in a continuous quest to find a system that we like/love listening to. If you have found one, buy it. Why does it matter what exactly it is?
 
The seller is getting B&W 704 in some days. After checking that out, I will take the decision. Meanwhile, another person is ready to sell 2 years old B&W 584 s2 in 35 K. That can be another option.
 
INR 60000 for a 12 year old B&W 603 S3 appears to be too high a price to me, and then the piece had been damaged and repaired too. B&W's are bright but not a harsh speakers. NAD (do you mean 320 and not 230?) is known to be warm and full. So there seems to be something wrong with the speakers. For instance, the replacement drivers may not be the original parts, or the tweeters too have been replaced with something different. Just my guess, no offence, as I would expect a pair of B&W 603 S3 in good condition played through NAD C320 amp to sound warm, smooth and full.
 
@smedhavi , B&w 683 S2 seemed to be more musical and easy on ears as compared to 603 S3. Not sure if the speakers had specifically some problem. But I was not convinced at all. It could be possible that tweeters were also changed. Amp was NAD C320, and the combination was too bright. This was first time testing NAD, so not sure if other NADs have different sound signature.
 
Clearly something was wrong with the setup you heard, so why not look at other options?
 
Hi mehtaurvesh...Am I reading this right...60k for a pair of damaged speakers , which retailed for 44k 12 years back . Please don't even consider this purchase. Only take them if the seller gives it for free, and pays you for transportation :)
 
Last year we have three B&W speakers pairs for sale on our classified section. All units were well maintained and reasonably priced. Non of the unit was serviced or repaired. Wear and tear due to aging is part of any speakers life. Any thing more than 3 years old and serviced/repaired need to to ignore for peace of mind unless until you are getting for a price which is consider as free. Today most of the speakers have decent sound quality depends upon the price bracket and has greatly improve in last decade. It is true that some speakers have build quality which last for decades but usage, improper handling and todays depreciation price can't be judged . Take audition and decide wisely else go for new one......
 
I think 60000 is a good budget to buy a new speaker. Why to invest in a used speaker specially if u know that it has been repaired.
 
I think 60000 is a good budget to buy a new speaker. Why to invest in a used speaker specially if u know that it has been repaired.

That’s right buying used bad condition speakers for 60k is not worth as you are starting to build your system. If you can wait for sometime pls Keep watching the forum sale posts, you could find good worthy deal.
 
The seller is getting B&W 704 in some days. After checking that out, I will take the decision. Meanwhile, another person is ready to sell 2 years old B&W 584 s2 in 35 K. That can be another option.


There are ample brands out there....I know B&W are good speakers....oflate built quality has deteriorated with certain brands.....the good built quality is the higher models which are expensive....

I strongly suggest, carry your music which will serve as a reference....check the specs of the speaker before auditioning so that you know what to expect roughly...see some youtube videos to get an idea and then go for auditioning new and pre owned speakers.....

Check the current prices and age and then decide to purchase or not. Bear in mind the climatic conditions of your place and where you will place these speakers......pre owned speakers will have signs of wear and tear......exposing them to a different environment can also cause further fatigue with time...so its a calculative gamble....
 
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