WHY PERFECTION DOESN'T MATTER! La Scala Review! Klipsch La Scala AL5

Id love to see the 801 series in person, the big one with dual 10 inch but id settle for the dual 8 in

Dang…I was looking to pick up a pair of 702 S2 to replace my old Energy C6 mains to sonically better match my HTM71 S2 center. I’m running a Marantz SR 8012 and I just don’t think there is any way that receiver (or even my old Adcom 125 WPC amp) can power these things adequately. Back to the drawing board 🤦‍♂️

Just got some 704 S2s, and what's said here must be typical of B&W speakers. They are definitely revealing (GIGO), require an slightly elevated listening volume to really engage, and need to be driven with something powerful enough to do them justice. So they tap the potential my old hi-fi always had, but I believe they would be ineffective at making a less robust system sound better.

Do you plant to test the new 702 S3's?

I have found the 702 s2 to be a great speaker tied to a 200w rms Rotel system. I found the soundstage improved with a class a valve preamp. Looking at the schematics of the crossover systems of the 702 s2 and signature they have been very mildly tweaked by slightly changing the values of the upper and lower resistors. B&W has charged a premium for these small changes although the exterior finish is far superior. Tried high end Yamah amp just didn't make the grade. You are very correct in your assessment of these 702s they are unforgiving. If recordings are inferior they let you know but with good recordings they are incredible and the detail is stunning. Very much an audiophile speaker as you mentioned. A great review.

I own Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium Integrated amp, do you think 702 s2 is a match I should at least listen to, or should I go for other options? Right now, I'm using MA Silver 500 under this amp, but looking for speaker upgrade.

Dear Andrew, thank you for your fantastic videos. I purchased the concept 50 due to your review, but they are on back order and am considering cancelling the order, because recently the b&w 703 s2 have gone on sale ($1500). I have emotive XPA gen3 amps. Do you think these amps would pair well? Would you recommend that I just wait for the concept 50? Thank you so much for your time and aside!!

Great review. As an evolving audiophile, my understanding of electronics may be limited, but would not driving the 702 speakers past their rated watt rating damage the drivers over time? Using your favored Musical Fidelity m8xi amp delivers 550 watts to each speaker. The speakers are rated at 30-300 watts. (Admittedly may be missing something in this regard).
I was able to acquire a pair of B&W 702S towers. I'm searching for the best amp, as well as DAC and AVR to drive these speakers. ANY input would be greatly appreciated.
Incidentally, really like the design of your media cabinet. Can you provide make and model? (Looks like a Salamander but couldn't find a match on their website)
Thank you! Greg

as the years go by... the pricing goes down.

hi, these speakers need first at least 100 hours playing to run in for good sound and need very good tuning because of the enormous detail !!

Just picked up a pair for less than $4k. No brainer. Awesome speakers

Sounds to me like this is a money pit speaker . Either buy high-end or I won't perform for you if a speaker could talk . Instead of going down that rabbit hole I would definitely try another brand . There's definitely a lot of speakers out there for less than 6,500 dollars a pair that would sound as good in my opinion . Great sound doesn't mean that it has to be from a big name and you have to spend a ton of money to achieve it . The Polk , Jamo and more are up to the challenge in my opinion.

I would think my McIntsoh MC152 amp would be a good amp to bring out the speakers details? However if you have to play music loud to have it sound great, the Focal Aria's appear to be a better option.

Seem to be a plethora of caveats to this speaker. Keep it.

Your review is really important for me. These are not for me anymore. Thank you.

Great review - I ended up getting the Formation Duo's as got a headache trying to figure out which floor standers combined with which amp, cabling etc. etc. would be right for me and the 702 signature / 702 s2 were top of my list. Very happy indeed with the Duo's and don't wish for anything more.

Will an Onkyo rz 50 bring the best out of the B&W signature floor standing speakers with tweeter on top both of which I just purchased. Thanks

To me it sounds like these speakers are far too difficult to sound like the $11,000 AUD that they cost. They look great but not worth the fuss, there are better options available.

Damn I had to stop watching the video. I got bombarded with commercials 🤦🏻‍♂️

Might be a stupid question but how is this speaker compared to Polk R700? Can’t find these speakers where I am currently living. I saw your good review on that Polk specially the price.

Hi Andrew I have just purchased a pair of 702 I am b&w fan, question these are for a home theatre front mains I can buy an amp for them possibly electrocompaniet but have a pair of rotel 1075, yes they are old but was thinking of bi amping them thoughs?

Hi Andrew I have just purchased a pair of 702 I am b&w fan, question these are for a home theatre front mains I can buy an amp for them possibly electrocompaniet but have a pair of rotel 1075, yes they are old but was thinking of bi amping them thoughs?❤

I have a pair of 702 S2's about three years old (obviously not the signatures) Originally I drove them with a Yamaha AS-2100 amp and they sounded great. Anyway, that amp died in an accident. Afterwards I purchased a refurbished Yamaha AS-3200 at half of the new retail price. I had compared them to a similar size and priced pair of Paradigms and I chose the B&W's This Yamaha/ B&W combination sounds spectacular. I listen to my music mostly at medium/high volumes so my comments are when playing with a little gusto. Vocals especially female are accurate acoustic guitars and drums are also impressive. I've owned many systems since the late 70's and these are the best I've heard yet. I never buy speakers without auditioning them first and I try very hard to make sure they are the only speakers in the room when I do the audition. I would like to hear them paired with a suitable Rotel amp as both companies are under the same "roof" nowadays. Anyway my 2c - I like them.

IMHO, any loudspeaker that sounds “like garbage” or “trash” until paired with a “mega watt” amplifier is a poorly designed loudspeaker, and I would stay away from it!

First of all, while these are far from cheap, and it can make some sense for them to benefit from better amplifiers, they’re not 1,8 meter high loudspeakers (from the likes of Wilson Audio) in order to justify it.

Then there’s the engineering side of any loudspeaker, and any properly designed loudspeaker has impedance and phase into account in order to avoid being a nightmare to the associated amplifier, and the prospect owner.

There are several high-end loudspeakers that sound amazing with almost any amplifier, even if benefiting when paired with better and more powerful / expensive units.

Unfortunately, you weren’t making your in-room measurements at this time, as I would like to see the comparison between that very expensive and the less expensive amplifiers used in this review.
It’s like two opposite sides of performance, with more fails than wins with amplifier pairing.

I didn’t listen to these loudspeakers, but I found out previous versions of the 700 series to sound bad (thin, overly bright), and your great and so honest review of the 605 and 606 were cristal clear on how bad B&W loudspeakers can sound (even if none is really inexpensive in their segment).

So far, only the 800 series really impressed me in the last 20 years, and it’s fair to notice that B&W has all the resources to design excellent sounding loudspeakers, making loudspeakers like these or the 605/606 feel like a group experiment…🙄

I’ve been losing respect for the brand over the last years with products like these, and this loudspeaker looks like customers have to pay an insane amount of money (compared to what they get in return) for the “privilege” of having that iconic shaped design of the tweeter on top of the cabinet (even if it presents way more challenges to integrate with the midrange than more traditional designs).

If these were something remotely close to the Infinity RS (which were know to blow up amplifiers - even some powerful ones - with their ultra-demanding load), I could make a case for them.

Those are still huge loudspeakers, with an insane amount of drivers, in the true sense of “high end” after all these years.
In many ways, they were “no compromise” loudspeakers, and it should be expected that they would be demanding with the amplifier (or amplifiers 🙂).

If these B&W can sound that bad with less than “megawatt amplifiers”, someone really messed up while developing this model (just like they did with others that you reviewed, interestingly enough). 😉

Cheers






It’s a bit hard to believe that a loudspeaker that sounds that bad with some amplifiers can turn into an amazing loudspeaker, no matter how good or expensive the amplifier is.

Hello Andrew, I have found a pair of these speakers in my budget, and I'll be using either a McIntosh MX 123 OR MX 160 with a McIntosh MC 255 amp. Do you have any thoughts if these components would get these speakers to perform to their fullest? thanks

Love this video and your channel. I just got a sick deal on these speakers and picked them up. I got the pair for $3K brand new. I agree that an amplifier is needed to drive these speakers. I have a 7.2.2. setup. I am researching Amps and looking at the Emotivo XPA-5. I also have a marantz cinema50 AVR. From your perspective, is the Emotivo XPA-5 a good amp to run these speakers? I am planning on running the left, right, center and rear speakers on the amp and the front height speakers and surround speakers run on the AVR.

i got the b w 704 series 1 speakers on special years ago and it cost me a lot in amplification. i ended up with a bryston amplifer and i still run this setup to this day so im elated with its performance. i was totally shocked that i needed 120 watts per channel to drive the speakers though. if i went with the 3 way that was selling at the time instead of my 2.5 way speakers i remember they were selling them with the big Mcintosh integrated amps.

Focals, warfdales, kef???

back in 2020 i working for short time in a audio video shop and these was first speakers i sold it was a father and son they wanted hear 3 diferent speakers side by side the amplifiers in testing was a top line technics su r 1000 and a advance paris it kinda looks like a french mc intosh with blue lights and vu meter i saw these amp first time in a french movie called The Intouchables. i still remember how i helped carry the 702 signatures into the clients car later unfortundly i get back and leg problems and had to leave the job one day a week whe had a 11 hour shift.

When you go with The Signature from B&W can't go back.

Save your money a little bit longer and get a 800 series with diamond tweeter, new or used....it is worth it!
800 series you buy once and will keep it for a lifetime....or maybe almost....

702S2 Signature with Parasound A52+, sounds incredible!

we dont all listen to music or movies at loud levels, if it doesnt sound good thru all power levels it is rubbish

What kinda review is that? You pair B&W flagship speakers with toy amps? There are unwritten laws in the audiophile society and you definitely should start getting some experience with B&W speakers - they need at least 200h playtime, CAREFUL positioning, the right amount of damping underneath the speakers (MDF podiums on carpet) and they need at least 200W @ 6 Ohms of power to warm up for 4 hours. Then you will see what B&W is - it's an opus magnum of audio reproduction.

The Amplifier has to be reference class, anything else is unworthy. This does not mean that the amp has to be very expensive. My Denon AVC-A1SE with SR Upgrade is still a phenomenal reference for 500~600€ which has brought the best out my B&W CM10 pair.

Spot on Andrew! Considering my own journey with my 702s2, I would have to totally agree with how picky they are regarding power. I heard them in a Best Buy Magnolia and was absolutely moved. I bought them up and plugged them in to my 28 year old Harmon Kardon (200wpc) and was somewhat dissapointed. When the HK bit the dust, I plugged them into my Denon AVR-x3800 (105wpc) and wondered what had just happened. They sounded like an old set of cheapy Polk I had years ago. So! I ordered a Rotel 1582 mkII (200wpc) and immediately realized a huge improvement. I also shored up the bass with and SVS SB16 Ultra. The 702s2 have decent bass, but miss the mark when your looking for something you can experience with the SB16.

In your opinion do you think and anthem Mrx720 would drive these okay? Considering moving away from paradigm studios from 2009…

Do these speakers not have the downward facing port which is why the base is there?

Hi Andrew. I am looking at a set op 702 S3's to pair with the Synthesis A100 Titan amp. Would you consider this enough power to get them to perform? Will mate with Naim ND5 XS2.

702 S2 linked to a 30 year old Accuphase. Sounds top.

The best amp for these ? Simple: Michi X5

All you need is Rotel ras-5000

Rotel amp or.Denon amp.would sound great on those speakers

I realize this is an older post, but a speaker shouldn’t need a special amp to sound great. The 702 S2 Signature speakers, rated at 30-300 watts, can be driven by a modest power amp, as confirmed by several reviews. One review states, “702 S2 Signature is easy to place and not very demanding to operate,” contradicting this review. Pair them with a Mcintosh 75-watt tube amp, and they will sound great.

The 702 S2 Signature is essentially the CM-10 series in a different cabinet, with Aerofoil woofers instead of Kevlar and an updated midrange driver. The visual appearance and minor hardware updates, like the binding posts, tweeter assembly, and crossover components, account for the added cost. B&W speakers have predictable crossover points (350Hz-4000Hz) due to consistent driver technology, except for the high-end diamond tweeters. The crossovers use custom Mundorf capacitors, similar across their lineup, with minor tweaks in the 800 series for steeper roll-off and better efficiency.

Reviews are often opinionated, and the audio industry can be very misleading; pure snake oil and lots of smoke and mirrors. I’ve built systems on a modest budget from eBay and similar sources with great results. You don’t need to take out a second mortgage or go broke to achieve audio bliss; you just need knowledge, time, and patience. 😉

Bom dia
Excelente video... Só faltou testar a amplificação da marca, ou seja Rotel 6000, Michi x3 e X5 !?
E uma comparação com monitor audio gold 300 , e 805 ou 804 .
Eu penso que o preço não justifica a quantidade certamente inferior á serie 800 .

Made in Britian for British opera and pop music tastes. They sound okay in the USA, but I wouldn't buy one.

Hated mine. Sold them. I was playing them on a 400 wpc Anthem and also a 200 watt McIntosh. You think with 3 bass drivers there would be bass. IMO, B&W bass has never been a forte.

I live in a apartment

I want to buy them in Dublin for €6,500

I love bass