B&W 683S2 for entery level speakers

What size room are these going in? And are they also close to the side wall, as well as the back wall, or is there room to get them out into free space?

it's a rather large room, they won't be close to the side wall but within a ft of the wall behind them

OP is the room acoustically treated?The B&W's already have a tipped up presentation,if the room is bright or hard your gonna hear it.Also what electronics are you using?If I may suggest a used pair of Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home can probably be found in your budget range.They are front ported 2 1/2 way(same as B&W) & with enough power will fill a large room with glorious sound.Also please take note.I have owned & lived with :B&W DM 601S2,DM603S2,Paradigm Studio 40S3,Monitor Audio Silver RS6,Dynaudio Audience 42,52SE & Focus 140 before graduating to Sonus Faber.Even the Chinese built Veneer series will provide a more musically satisfying presentation,especially if the room is hard or bright.JMOFWiW,YMMV.

Speedmaster20d,

A bit more info on the 683S2. It is a three-way speaker. It was introduced last year. It replaced the 683 that B&W produced for seven years. It has a new tweeter from the line of speakers above it, the CM series. It uses the Kevlar FST midrange cone that the TOtL 800 Diamond (just recently replaced by the 800D3) series uses. It also has new 6.5"woofers. The build quality is excellent.

I hope you get a chance to listen to them. If you read the reviews from Steroephile, What HiFi, and HiFi Choice you will get a good description of the sound of the 683S2.

Another speaker that is a good value and sounds great for its retail price of $1200/pr is the Klipsch RP280f. Klipsch has it on sale now for $838/pr, an outstanding value. The Klipsch are a bite bright and foward but have a balanced lively sound and play big.

Cheers,

Scott

Yes, I understand the B&W are 3-way speakers. I was actually looking at Klipsch reference premier too (2-way) , but they are rear-ported and need a subwoofer too.