B&W 685 or 686 for a rear surround system??

[beanbag]

I've finally got permission from my wife to buy my rear surround speakers however I need a little advice before I hand over my money.

I currently have a pair of B&W 684's with an HTM62 centre unit. All of this is driven by a Yamaha RX-V1900 HT amp.

The question is whether to buy a pair of 685's or 686's for the rear surrounds?

My living room space is 28m2 and the rear surrounds will be placed about 2.5m away from me, directly in line with my ears on either side, although I can change this and place them further behind me, (although it would require substantially more cable as I have a door-frame to contend with).

What's the recommendation?

[beanbag]

Anyone?

I'd actually like to order the speakers today......

[jimmyjimjim]

I'd go for the 686's; I've the 685's and an HTM62 for the fronts and centers, and a pair of LM1s for the rears, which are perfectly adequate for the task, at a similar distance, in a similar size room. Your results may vary, natch.

685's are noticably bigger in the flesh, this might be another consideration for her indoors.

[Mr_Yogi]

Post on AVForums hifi forums, however not having heard the B&W setup, my uninformed view would be if you are going to be listening to multi-channel music then the 685's might be worth the extra over the 686's, but for mostly movies I would think the 686's would be fine. Assuming you room isn't huge and the speakers far from the listening position.