British Bookshelf Battle Royal!!! B&W 685 vs KEF Q300 vs MA RX2

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So this is the battle of the British bookshelf speakers. Yes, the market moving British speakers, who have won more stars than the flag of the United States.  They have filled the American, European and East Asia market with success, who could doubt their quality reputation? 

Which one of the three can be called the best?

Which Bookshelf am I referring too? B&W 685, multiple winner of Sound and Vision Best of awards. The KEF Q300 recently dethrones the B&W 685 as the new Sound and Vision Best of Award. The Monitor Audio RX2, quietly in the corner, but with breathtaking performance.

My wife is half British, and proudly so. Even though she is 25% French, 25% German, 25% stiff upper lip British and her choice of origin, Cornish, bloody pirate blood runs in her veins. Even her great uncle was Sir John Matthew, survivor of a second class Titanic ticket. Where am I going with this? My wife got a lot of stuff, old yet intriguing bits and pieces from her British and Cornish grandmothers. All of which was of high quality. The wooden furniture were of good, strong material and particular attention was given to details, the clothes were beautiful, many poor animals had to give their fur to do so. Fact is, when the British make stuff, it is fancy, of good quality… or it is the biggest rubbish human kind...I might rather stop at this point.

Now if the British made cars like they make speakers, they might have over thrown the Germans in quality, the Americans in quantity, and the Japanese in reliability. And I thank the Hi-Fi gods for not allowing British automotive engineers to design Hi-Fi speakers.

KEF Stand at IS Europe 2012

So now I am sitting in my shop at the brink of winter, staring at three speakers from the small Island that used to rule and govern most of the world. Now I have spoken to the KEF and Monitor Audio designers and managers. I  had the opportunity to speak to the B&W guys, well, let’s say they remind me of my wife’s stiff upper lip grandmother.

It is three totally different mind sets that these people have. From listening to the KEF guys, it’s as if they got kicked in the butt for sales being low (which I can not speculate about, being true or not, I do not know), or just a new passion arriving from management of the product. KEF’s focal point is more on the detail of the sound. It’s very detailed, like a fisherman detailing the enormity of a record size fish that he caught, but which got away.

Monitor Audio on the other hand, they are more focused on making the sound neutral and accurate, but also gives a lot of attention to the design. They do not only make speakers , they make attractive speakers. The design is no more Anglo Indian of origin; it is just purely made to accommodate those who like to have a beautiful speaker, and not just a box, which your wife will choke you for with the very polystyrene that protected it if you dare bring it into her house!

B&W at Apple Store Grand Central Station

B&W is just plainly clever. While KEF used their R&D on new product lines, and Monitor Audio spent their budget on wood veneer, B&W took the money and gave it to their marketing crusade. It paid off! No new equipment to mention really from their stable, they just focus on marketing, which in the end worked for them. Using Apple as part of that campaign, who could have thought about that? A recent report now is that B&W owns 28% of the speaker market, which is a significant share.

My Setup:

Rotel RCD-1520

Rotel RA-1520

Audioquest Sidewinder Interconnects

Audioquest Speaker Cable

Looks

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