[Whitestix]

I have had the B6's for a couple of weeks and felt they lack some of the inner detail of the Dali Zensor 1 speakers I have in my bedroom system, both pairs of speakers placed within a few inches of the back wall.  I preferred the articulation of the Dali's in the set-up to the B6's, but the B6's have a great deal of more LF response in comparison, no question.

In my "cheap and cheerful" quest for great monitors, I am demo'ing a pair of B&W 685 S2 speakers.  I initially liked them in my bedroom system as they seemed to have a similar articulation as the smaller Zensor 1s, with bass response similar to the B6's.  The B&W is a an award-winning speaker in the British audio press, no question. 

Tonight, I listened to the B&W's on my main system with a modest Emotiva amp and a very fine tube preamp and found them to be rather aggressive at higher SPL's.  I swapped the B6's in their place and was immediately very impressed.  They are, as I hear them tonight, imbued with good LF response and sound overall very pleasant, maybe a bit laid-back.  I absolutely prefer them over the $700 B&W speakers in my main system.  I previous posted an opinion that the B6's might be preferred by rock devotees, but I am a jazz lover and listening to the B6's with Kind of Blue and some old Gerry Mulligan from Birth of the Cool, I am now, with the B6's in my main system well away from the wall, extremely happy with them.  I conclude at their price point and a fair bit above it, the ELAC's are an extraordinary accomplishment.  I encourage you to give them a listen.  Whitestix 

[apstoltz]

Nice comparison. I am looking to make an upgrade from my ascend cbm 170 and was considering the b&w, but may give the elac's a shot.

[toxteth ogrady]

Whitestix, I've reached a similar conclusion. I've been playing a pair of B6's in a bedroom system for a couple weeks now. They are a surprisingly refined speaker at their price point. My biggest challenge has been to place them properly due to the extraordinary bass they produce. They really need to be well out into the room. I ended up plugging the ports to keep the bass from muddying up the other frequencies..far more balanced sound now.

[Whitestix]

Whitestix, I've reached a similar conclusion. I've been playing a pair of B6's in a bedroom system for a couple weeks now. They are a surprisingly refined speaker at their price point. My biggest challenge has been to place them properly due to the extraordinary bass they produce. They really need to be well out into the room. I ended up plugging the ports to keep the bass from muddying up the other frequencies..far more balanced sound now.

Good for you.  I am really quite in awe of the overall sound of these speakers at this point,now that I have them off the bass wall a ways.  I initially hastily judged them without enough time on them.  I have Linkwitz LXmini's in my main system which are quite holographic but rather lean in the bass end of things. Also, they don't pay all that loudly.  I have the B6's playing now and the sound is immense, as is the bass response, and I think they are very poised.  I honestly can't find anything to fault in their performance and much to love.   I think these produce extraordinary sound for $300, truly.  I'd prefer to have a pair of Dynaudio C-1's or Pulsar Pearl's, but can't fathom parting with 15X the dough for the upgrade.  Of course, the best thing to do is to do a comparative audition of the B6's with other speakers to see what you prefer.   AND, as another poster noted, don't judge them until you get them run it.  I might have not given the B&W speakers a complete run in and still think they would be worthy of audition for anybody looking for the "cheap and cheerful" monitors.  Whitestix

[I.Greyhound Fan]

So which speaker has a more refined, detailed and airy sound, the B6's or the B&W's?

[Whitestix]

So which speaker has a more refined, detailed and airy sound, the B6's or the B&W's?

I ran the B&W's in for 20 hours, and while I preferred them to the B6's right out of the box (they were very unusual in that they sounded very good right out of the box, which no monitors I have had ever did), but after more run it, they sounded more aggressive and discordant to my ears.  Swapping the B6's back, I was struck by the HUGE sound from them and a very balanced tonal sound with perhaps a more laid-back response.  The bass is outstanding and the delicacy of the HF extension is shocking.  Maybe with 100 hours on the B&W's, they might shine, but for the money, I took the B&W's back and am delighted with the B6's.  I reiterate my amazement at how big and lush of a sound the B6's have.  I am completely amazed by what I am hearing. YMMV, so demo them with other speakers and let your ears be your guide.

I have attached a screen shot from my DSPeaker, an equalization component that corrects frequency response for room anomalies.  The red curve is the "before" response and the black line is the equalized frequency response.  The DSPeaker clearly corrects the B6's for the typical "mid-bass bump" that my room exhibits.  I much prefer the sound with the DSPeaker... it is smoother and more coherent and enhances the already great sound of the B6's to a noticeably extent.  Whitestix

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Very interesting and intriguing.  I am considering buying a pair of B6's for my daughter.  I really liked the B&W 685's when I listened to them about 6 years ago paired with Rotel gear.  I found them dynamic with great air and transparency with excellent detail and very good, tight bass.

How would you characterize the general tone of the B6's?  Warm, neutral or bright?

[Whitestix]

Very interesting and intriguing.  I am considering buying a pair of B6's for my daughter.  I really liked the B&W 685's when I listened to them about 6 years ago paired with Rotel gear.  I found them dynamic with great air and transparency with excellent detail and very good, tight bass.

How would you characterize the general tone of the B6's?  Warm, neutral or bright?

Good question, Greyhound Fan.  I have had a bunch of monitors in the past several years, including Ascend, Usher, GMA, KEF LS50's, Blumenstein, GR Research, Dali's and many more floor standers, and I am just amazed at how fine the B6's sound in comparison.  They have truly outstanding bass for their size, and very good inner detail and seem to my ears very well balanced.  They are not aggressive sounding in the least, even when pushed hard.  They have an unusually large sound stage and what might I might characterize as a rather laid-back sound, although not like so many of the well-regard Brit speakers.  I would surmise that to my ears they sound rather neutral-to-warm sounding with excellent detail. This impression was revealed to me only after further run in and maybe the brilliant B&W's would get there with more run in, but I am loving the sound of the B6's so I am going to hang with them.  I don't want to sound like a "homer" for AJ, but I think they are quite amazing speaker at their price point, absolutely, and think others would hear the same thing I am hearing.  Whitestix

[Whitestix]

Very interesting and intriguing.  I am considering buying a pair of B6's for my daughter.  I really liked the B&W 685's when I listened to them about 6 years ago paired with Rotel gear.  I found them dynamic with great air and transparency with excellent detail and very good, tight bass.

How would you characterize the general tone of the B6's?  Warm, neutral or bright?

A further thought. It is hard to find speakers that you can audition at home, but BestBuy has the 685 S2 speakers available for a 15 day trial, with a full refund if you are not happy with them.  Plus you can hear then in their Magnolia stores to get an initial impression.  The B&W speakers are highly regarded and well reviewed so they are well worth the demo, no question.  I am listening to the Dali Zensor 1's  in my modest bedroom system at the momentand I think they join the pantheon of excellent "cheap and cheerful" monitors for less than $500.  However, the Zensor 1's ($400), which have a very sophistocated and overall lovely tonal balance, can not equal the huge sound and excellent LF response of the B6's, however, they might be more detailed than the B6"s.  Be aware that my impressions are filtered through the ears of a 62 year old guy so you may need to take that into account.      Whitestix

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Thanks for the update. 

I would like to hear the Elac floor standers.  My son has a pair of PSB B6's monitors and is wanting to upgrade to floor standers.  He likes the bass, full midrange and warmer sound of the PSB's but they could have a little more detail and resolution.  I gave him my Parasound A21 amp and my AVA tube preamp.

[Whitestix]

Thanks for the update. 

I would like to hear the Elac floor standers.  My son has a pair of PSB B6's monitors and is wanting to upgrade to floor standers.  He likes the bass, full midrange and warmer sound of the PSB's but they could have a little more detail and resolution.  I gave him my Parasound A21 amp and my AVA tube preamp.

Well, let me say that there at least a dozen worthy competitors of the ELAC's at their price point and I would honor anyone who likes one of them more than the other.  I think the B6's are outstanding and are my new main speakers. (Note that a year ago I had $7500 Tyler Acoustics speakers and now my main speakers are the B6's.)  As I think I mentioned previously, I am a great lover of my Dali Zensor 1's, their smallest monitor with a 5" woofer.  My ears tell me that they are a more detailed speaker than the B6's that sound vastly better than their price might indicate.  However, they can't touch the voluminous sound stage and LF response of the B6's, at least to my ears.  The ELAC floor standers would very interesting to hear.  If possible, I would urge you to give a listen to the Dali Zensor 3 and the Zensor 5, a floor stander.  They are a bit more costly than the ELACs, but the inner detail, composure, and tonal correctness of the Zensor 1's have might be similar in pedigree to their larger bethren.  I will be checking out a pair of the Zensor 3's in the near future to compare to the B6's.  BTW,  your son has a heck of a fine front end system with which to enjoy any speakers he chooses!  He is a fortunate lad. 
Whitestix 

[OzarkTom]

My buddy Rex is thinking about the floorstanders, but since he is in Hawaii, shipping will be $110 from Music Direct. Free if he was still in Missouri.