Finally ... B&W

In search of a pair of speakers to match his Leak system, Chojiro has been trying no less than eight different makes in the last few months. In order of succession, these speakers included Philips, Ampex, EMI, KEF, Rogers LS3/5a, ITT, Morel and Ram. The speakers Chojiro had tried the longest were a pair of Rogers LS3/5a (one month). Rogers was OK; but the bass below 70Hz was notably absent. For some reason, the mid-range where LS3/5a was supposed to be best at was weak. Chojiro suspected that there was something wrong with the particular pair of LS3/5a he was using. Eventually he returned the Rogers LS3/5a speakers to his friend.

During the month when the LS3/5a was hooked up to the Leak, Chojiro had replaced the original four Russian 5881 tubes with four British Mullard EL34 tubes. The improvement in sound quality was so dramatic that Chojiro could not believe his ears. Yet he was told if the EL34 tubes were further replaced by KT66 tubes the sound would be even better. Chojiro had already spent a fortune for the EL34 tubes. He decided that enough was enough. He was content with the state of the Leak Stereo 60 power amplifier; but the sound from the speakers left something to be desired.

Chojiro ventured with a pair of ITT bookshelf speakers, a pair of Morel speakers housed in homemade cabinet and a pair of Ram speakers. The Morel speakers were the best among the three. Compared to Rogers, the treble from Morel was not as good but the bass faired better (though still not deep enough). The mid-range was fine. Chojiro had borrowed these speakers from another friend who would let him keep the Morel speakers indefinitely. The Morel speakers were now connected to a tube power amplifier handmade by this friend and the combination is used for causal listening pleasure.

Then one day this other friend suddenly recalled he had a pair of B&W Matrix 2 Series 2 speakers stacked up somewhere. After some effort this friend located the B&W speakers and lent them to Chojiro.

B&W Matrix 2 Series 2 speaker (front)

After connecting the B&W speakers to the Leak, Chojiro was pleasantly surprised that they delivered arguably the sound he had been waiting for - deep bass, full mid-range and clear treble. Apart from the mid-range being a tiny bit thinner than it should be, the overall sound was well balanced. The speakers were able to unleash almost the full potential of the Leak system, delivering gentle, detailed and sophisticated "British" high end stereo sound.

B&W Matrix 2 Series 2 (label at back)

Chojiro had happily purchased the B&W Matrix 2 Series 2 speakers from this friend. He expected that the B&W speakers would stay connected to the Leak Stereo 60 power amplifier for a long, long time.

B&W Matrix 2 Series 2 speakers (back)

Technical highlight -
Nominal Impedance: 6.5 ohms
Frequency Response: 70Hz - 25k Hz +/- 2dB free field
Sensitivity: 88dB spl(2.83V 1m)
Power Handling: 40W - 150W at 8 ohms