The rolloff on the 703's is -6db at 30hz. My personal taste would be for a bit stronger deep bass presence. I love the forward sounding B&W midrange (especially with horn sounds), and it was an easy decision to plan on adding a sub later to satisfy my bass preference.
I would also desire more punch from drums and a silkier, less harsh sound from cd's. I've already spent a lot of time placing the speakers properly, and the Tara Labs cables dramatically improved the soundstage as well as the overall fullness. Im thinking the problem may be the Marantz and I'm considering upgrading to maybe a Cary(?) cd player to deliver a better timbre and a silky smoothness. I welcome opinions.
I agree, for multi channel sources the center speaker is very important. I plan to add the matching 7 series B&W for a center channel.
The BP-8's were my former main speakers, and they are acting as rear speakers until I can afford better. They are a bi-polar design and tonal balance changes a lot depending on how close to the wall the rear firing drivers are. I have them set as 'small' speakers on the processor to minimize the effect.
