I thought I had a fairly decent sound setup for my music. I was wrong. Typically, I played my favourite tracks or stations from my phone to a Sonos 5 speaker, which is also connected to my turntable for when I fancy playing some vinyl. I can also connect a second Sonos speaker and the Apple HomePod when I want big sound.
Last week, I unplugged my Sonos 5 and replaced it with a Marantz 70S amp, then connected a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 705 speakers to it. This is not a like-for-like change by any means. While the Sonos 5 costs around £500, the amp alone will cost you £900. The 705 S3 speakers are £2600 a pair, and then there’s the cables.
With such a high-end set-up, it wouldn’t do to just use any cables, so I connected the amp to the speakers using Chord cables. While you can spend a lot more, the Chord LeylineX speaker cables (£5 per metre) and C-Line RCA interconnect cables (around £60) were more than adequate for my needs and feel really premium.
(Image credit: Future)
Marantz Stereo 70S amp
The Marantz 70S is a very adaptable amplifier, with six HDMI inputs plus an ARC connection to handle all of your TV and AV needs, including 8K and 4K 120Hz. There’s also a Phono connection and RCAs for your separates, plus network and Wi-Fi connectivity to link to your home network. This allows you to control the amp through a phone app and use the HEOS platform or AirPlay for playback.
HEOS gives you access to Tidal, Pandora, Amazon Music HD and more, for Hi-Res music playback, while AirPlay and Bluetooth allow you to play direct from just about any device. All of this is delivered with 75 watts per channel to your speakers of choice.
(Image credit: Future)
B&W 705 S3 speakers
Bowers & Wilkins speakers really do look as good as they sound. What I love about the 705 S3 model is that it features that signature separate tweeter enclosure on the top, with a carbon dome tweeter, while the main case holds the 6.5-inch Continuum Cone bass/midrange driver. There are larger floorstanding models in the 700 range, but the 705 S3 are the top bookshelf speakers, with an option to add stands, if you wish.
The speakers come with detachable grills to protect the main speaker and give you a more conservative appearance, but I feel they look (and sound) better without them. On the back are two sets of inputs with a bridge connecting them. If you are using banana cable connectors, you need to unscrew the connectors fully and remove the plugs first. These connectors make swapping cables easier and neater than dealing with bare wire, so I’d highly recommend them.
(Image credit: Future)
Sound
The sound is the proof here, and while the Sonos does a great job at filling the room, the Bowers & Wilkins speakers deliver something special. There’s a signature sound to the Bowers & Wilkins that is as true for its speakers as it is for its headphones and even car audio. It’s a very natural sound, but it’s the sound separation that is most noticeable.
While I don’t claim to be a true audiophile, I’ve spent nearly 20 years testing audio devices and, before that, as a musician. You could ask anyone to listen to a couple of tracks through these speakers compared to their regular speakers and they would be able to hear the difference, even if they couldn’t explain what that difference was.
That separate tweeter gives a crisper sound than I’ve heard from any other speaker. While the full effect is most noticeable on B&W’s top-end 800 series, you can hear the same thing to an extent on the 705 S3. It allows you to discover details in the tracks that you might not have heard before, even in songs you know well.
Then there’s the bass. The B&W 705 come with bass plugs – foam inserts that fill the bass cavity at the back to reduce the bass sound when placing the speaker close to a wall. When really cranking the volume up, these are quite handy, but for regular loudness, I prefer to leave them out. Like the high end, the bass remains detailed and concise rather than a room-shaking hum.
I still use a smart speaker in my office, and in isolation, the sound is still really good – especially the Sonos Era 300. However, what this project has taught me is that a single speaker system is no match for a proper pair of Hi-Fi speakers and a top-notch amp.
(Image credit: Future)
