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Great sounding B&W Floorstanders with Kevlar Drivers 684 - Image 1

Great sounding B&W Floorstanders with Kevlar Drivers 684 - Image 2

Great sounding B&W Floorstanders with Kevlar Drivers 684

Great sounding B&W Floorstanders with Kevlar Drivers 684 - Image 3

B&W

Great sounding B&W Floorstanders with Kevlar Drivers 684

Name: Great sounding B&amp;W Floorstanders with Kevlar Drivers 684
Brand: B&amp;W
SKU: 9236
Price: 895.00 CAD
Availability: OutOfStock

$895.00

Out of stock

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Categories: Used/Vintage, Speakers, Towers / Floor-Standers

Description

Great sounding B&W Floorstanders with distinctive Kevlar drivers

The 684 makes a typical Bowers and Wilkins sound, with a twist or two; very clean, extremely neutral and very, very competent. Exciting too, the combination of taut, surprisingly deep bass and bright treble makes for a speaker with a zing to them.

The 684 is a ported, two-and-a-half-way design. It sports the now standard B&W issue Flowport golfball-pitted port both fore and aft, a 25mm aluminum dome tweeter and a pair of 165mm Kevlar mid-bass units with hard ‘bullet’ phase plugs in the acoustic centre of each driver. As with most modern, quality speakers, they are equipped with dual pairs of gold plated 5-Way bindings, suitable for bi-wiring / bi-amping.

These are deceptively heavy loudspeakers (thanks in part to the B&W trait of a healthy amount of internal bracing). And they are efficient and easy to drive too; 90dB sensitivity, with an eight ohm impedance (although the company also claims a three-ohm minimum impedance).

Bass is exceptionally good, and not just ‘for the money’. Bass is both deep and taut, and that easy drive means it will be like that irrespective of the amplifier used. And this is one of the most important plus points for the 684 – it’s remarkably unfussy as to its business partners. It will deliver a remarkably similar performance whether it’s the most expensive part of the signal chain, or the cheapest. Differences are still apparent, but not as marked as many designs. And yet, this doesn’t come at the expense of the musical presentation. It’s a remarkable leveller of equipment,. I suspect that might disenfranchise those who want the sound of their expensive CD and amps to be immediately apparent, but for many others this is a handy bonus. Arcam, Cambridge Audio, Marantz, NAD and (obviously, given the company connections) Rotel would be logical choices for electronics happiness.

These are attractive speakers as well, we think they look better with grilles off, highlighting that distinctive off-centre Bowers & Wilkins tweeter surround logo, and characteristic kevlar drivers.

Technical Specifications
Bowers and Wilkins 684 floorstanding loudspeaker

Type: Two-and-a-half way reflex loaded floorstanding loudspeaker

Driver Complement: 1x 25mm aluminum dome tweeter, 1x 165mm woven Kevlar® cone bass/midrange, 1x 165mm woven Kevlar® cone bass

Bandwidth: 44Hz–22kHz ±3dB on reference axis, -6dB at 34Hz and 50kHz

Sensitivity: 90dB (2.83V, 1m)

Impedance: 8 ohms nominal (minimum 3 ohms)

Dimensions (WxHxD, not including feet): 198 x 910 x 300mm, Weight: 18.2kg (40.1 lbs)

Retailed new for $550 USD each, nearly $1800 Canadian with tax for a pair. Asking just $895 for these great sounding B&W towers.

Additional information

Weight	85 lbs
Dimensions	16 × 22 × 40 in

About brand

B&W at Radique

We service B&W, too. Bring us your own B&W speakers and subwoofers for repair, servicing or restoration (speakers up to 80 lbs each), with a 90-day warranty on the work. See our Audio Service page

Bowers & Wilkins began in Worthing, England, in 1966, founded by John Bowers. The name comes from the Worthing electrical shop he ran with Roy Wilkins. Its 800 Series monitors have been used at Abbey Road Studios since 1980, Abbey Road says. We carry B&W towers, bookshelf speakers, centre channels and stands. We've had more than 200 B&W listings so far. Every used B&W here is inspected, tested and serviced as required, then photographed in-house and covered by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Don't see the model you want? Tell us on First Dibs and we'll email you when one arrives.

The Bowers & Wilkins story, 1966 to today

John Bowers founded B&W in Worthing, England, in 1966, after hand-assembling speakers at the electrical shop he ran with Roy Wilkins. Its first speaker, the P1, used B&W's own cabinet and crossover with bought-in drivers, and the DM1 and DM3 "Domestic Monitors" followed in 1968.

Kevlar and the 801. B&W identified Kevlar as a cone material in 1974, and the DM6 of the mid-1970s used Kevlar cones. The original 801 monitor of 1979 to 1980 made its name in recording studios: Abbey Road says it was the first studio to use it, in 1980, and has used the 800 Series ever since.

Matrix and Nautilus. The Matrix cabinet bracing arrived in the mid-to-late 1980s. John Bowers started the project that became the Nautilus, the spiral-shell flagship, before he died in 1987, and it launched in 1993. The first 600 Series followed in 1995, and diamond-dome tweeters arrived in 2005.

New owners. EVA Automation bought B&W in 2016, Sound United in 2020 and Masimo in 2022, and in September 2025 HARMAN, a Samsung company, completed its purchase of Sound United. The 800 Series Diamond D5, unveiled in June 2026, is built in Worthing.

A Canadian connection. Classé Audio of Montreal was part of the B&W Group from 2001 until B&W closed its Montreal headquarters in 2017.

Which B&W is which?

DM (Domestic Monitor), 1968 onward: from the DM1 and DM3 to models such as the DM6 and DM7. The DM prefix carried into early 600 Series names.

600 Series (1995 to today): B&W's entry hi-fi line; the 2020 Anniversary Edition was its seventh generation. The 606 belongs here.

CDM (mid-1990s to about 2003): such as the CDM 1, with a metal-dome tweeter and a Kevlar cone.

700 Series (about 2003 to 2006): Nautilus technology at mainstream prices, such as the 703 and 705.

CM Series (2006 to 2017): such as the CM1 and the CM4 towers, replaced by the 700 Series S2 in 2017.

800 Series (from 1979 to 1980): from the original 801 through the Matrix, Nautilus 800, Diamond, D3, D4 and D5 generations.

Nautilus (1993): the spiral-shell flagship, still made in small numbers.

Buying used B&W: what to check

Tweeter domes. B&W used metal-dome tweeters in the CDM, 600 and CM lines, and owners report squashed domes. Inspect each dome closely.

Original tweeters. Some CDM-era tweeters are discontinued, and rebuilt or substitute tweeters change the sound. Ask whether the originals are fitted.

Woofer surrounds. Owners report rubber surrounds that have hardened with age. Press each surround gently: it should feel supple.

1970s DM models. Expect crossover capacitors in a 40-year-old DM to need replacing.

Where it was made. The 800 Series is built in Worthing; the 600 and 700 Series are made in China. Check the label before calling a B&W "made in England".

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.