B&W Owner's Thread - Page 427

My cousin owns the $200K Focal Grande Utopia speakers & some $30K Krell pre-pro & amps.

He would say "If you have no issues with the SQ performance of your cheap B&W, MAC, Bryston, & Classe, then good for you. Save your pennies and be happy."
Edited by AcuDefTechGuy - 2/2/13 at 5:42am

When I was trying to decide on a AVR or Prepro I could have got a great deal on an Arcam and feedback I got from the UK folks was to look at Anthem instead due reliability issues with Arcam. I don't doubt that the SQ of the Arcam being superior to the standard AVRs.

im looking at Anthem MRX 500 or 700 myself. then maybe upgrading my amp from an NHT Power5 to an Anthem A5. But at the same time the Marantz 8801 looks awesome too, but its in a different price zone. I could buy both Anthem Pre/Pro and AMP (Used of course) for almost the same price as the Marantz 8801.

So IDK.

Can one of you all adopt me please. I really want in on these family reunions.

I love the look of those Focal Utopia's, and I am sure they sound magnificent. But man are they heavy and bulky. Once a speaker gets so heavy that I can't lift it, I know I need not even ask the price because there is no way I would be able to afford it.

To me it's pure statement pieces and not so much pure SQ. It's like my Grande Utopias & Krells are better than your B&Ws, Revels, MAC, Bryston, ATI, etc, because they cost more and if you disagree and think your less expensive gears sound as good, then I'm happy for you.

Krell amps are fantastic. I considered the 402e but it wouldn't fit in my rack and it was 2x the price of the Mac so maybe in a few years. the most impressive amp i heard were dartzeel. makes the krells look cheap

the grand utopias are very impressive to look at buy never heard em, but im sure they are impressive. if i were spending that kind of money i'd look at vivid audio or raidho as i do like their sound more.

Hi,

Need some help .. I posted this on the speaker forum as well:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1456015/need-confirmation-single-wire-termination-on-biwire-capable-b-w-speakers

Thanks
Pc

Suck is a strong word, how about even better with a sub.

How about this.... 804d alone or 805d + sub?

i would take the 804d over 805d+sub but im sure others will disagree. some may even suggest two subs and one 805D over a pair of 805D+single sub

How about three capable subs and 5 805D's, is that an option?

For me capable subs are a must for movies but if it is a music only system there's a strong argument for the 804d. Is it not an option to go with the 804 and add a sub or 3 down the line? For me I grow the system over time but try to buy quality enough when I upgrade so that particular component is not in line for upgrade for a long time. I'm pretty sick of cheaper compromises costing me more long term because I have to completely replace the compromise and it becomes throw away money. The weakest link is always in the back of my mind saying "replace me".

this is a music only setup. I have a cm9 setup for movies with a sub

Well, only those who have actually experienced some of the greatest subs in the world from Funk, Seaton, JTR, SVS, Rythmik, HSU, Epik, etc, for themselves in their own homes will know.

The rest can only guess.

If it's good enough for you, then be happy.

It depends on the music, your taste, and room size. For example, for Eagles's Hotel California from "Hell Freezes Over" and many other pop/rock/alternative/blue grass/soundtracks, even the 800D suck to me.

But for non-organ music from Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, or Bach, sure it's fine.

Hi Everyone,

Is it a sin to run CM8/CM9 speakers from a HT receiver?

Speaking to a dealer they are recommending that the CM8/CM9 speakers be run from a dedicated Stereo amplifier to get the best out of them for music. I was hoping to run them from the HT received and consider putting in a power amp later on but he was saying that power amps are mainly good for movies. He was suggesting a Speaker amp for music and then route the pre amp from the receiver to the stereo amp.

I would like to know people's opinions on this.

Thanks,
Alex

hi

i would like some opinons what would be better.

i currently have B&W CM8 for fronts, CM Center and mission satellite for the rears (will be upgraded to CM5 later on) and its currently powered by a pioneer VSX-LX50.

I headed down to my B&W store to ask them about upgrading to a Marantz SR7007 but they said i would be better off adding a Marantz MM 7055 power amp to my system instead of changing the receiver.

what do you guys think? SR7007 or MM7055?

thanks

I was advised to power amp the LCR (cm9+cmc2) with anthem mca30 and let the receiver power the surrounds (ds3) with anthem Mrx300. Install is in a week so will let u know how it works out

What receiver? Some good receivers can power them fine.

Do you care about Music performance or movie performance more? what kind of music?

if mostly movies and you have sub, then a receiver with true 80 wpc with all channels driven is probably enough. if music is primary concern then most receivers will probably won't get you the best possible sound external amp or not some.

Hi Akhter,

Currently using a Yamaha RX-A820. I tend to listen to Alt Pop but also enjoy watching musicals and concerts as well as watching movies. So undecided on which is more important.

The dealer is the very last person you should take any advice from.

They will also tell you to spend $1,000 on a pair of speaker cables, $500 on a power cord, and another $500 on a power conditioner. Or more.

You will always hear different things from people. Those you claim amps and stereo preamps have night-and-day significant differences in SQ say so because they believe it and have absolutely no proof whatsoever except their own words.

Those who claim that differences in amps SQ are insignificant have a lot more proofs from double-blinded studies.

The biggest difference in amps is the voltage gain. A higher gain means higher volume. Lower gain means lower volume. A difference of only 1dB in volume will favor the louder amp. Somehow the louder amp has wider and deeper soundstage, clearer midrange, sweeter treble, and tighter & faster bass.

Those with more expensive amps and gears will say their components sound much better. If Yamaha, Pioneer, Marantz, etc, cost twice as much as MAC, Bryston, Classe, Parasound, etc, people would say Yamaha, Pioneer, & Marantz sounded better.

So of course, a $30K Krell sounds much better than a $20K Mark Levinson, which of course sounds better than a $10K MAC, which of course sounds better than a $7K Lexicon, which of course sounds better than a $5K Parasound, which of course sounds better than an $800 Emotiva, which sounds better than a $300 Crown, etc.

Why? Because people like my millionaire cousin own the more expensive gears and if you disagree, then that's fine and you should save your money and be happy with what you have.

One of these days my cousin will probably upgrade to $60K amps & maybe he'll sell me his $30K Krell for some dirt cheap price. Then I'll be able to say those things to you biotches.
Edited by AcuDefTechGuy - 2/4/13 at 6:09am

What's more important is the actual speakers, setup, speaker placements, room acoustics.

What's less important is what type of amps and how much they cost.

Yes, it's good to have a good quality 100wpc or more to be safe and have a subwoofer to handle the bass which requires most of the power and is usually the area with the lowest impedance below 8ohms.

Your Yamaha is just fine for the speakers you own. But for future reference, it's probably a good idea to have a 100wpc+ AVR with pre-outs just in case you want to try external amps.

Well I have just swapped out my HTM2D for the HTM1D. I was expecting a small improvement but I am shocked at how much better the HTM1D is.

Firstly having 3 8 inch woofers its got some serious punch and weight behind it. Massive soundstage.

But mainly it's the way the front soundstage with the 802d for left and right is completely transparent and invisible. I thought it was before with the htm2d. But with the mid and tweeter system being exactly the same as the fronts there is no timbre differences.

If you have a pair of 802 / 800d speakers, and you see an htm1d come up for sale. Do yourself and your av room a favour and take the plung. Yeah the coffin as I call her is a beast at 98kg and fairly expensive but IMO. Its worth all the money and time it's taken for one to show itself in my country.

Now, does anyone have an htm1d box they want to sell me. I hate having no boxes for my speakers, and the previous owner had no space for the htm1d box! B&W will not sell me one as its discontinued.

And all these sound great powered from my AB cinema 3x500w se amp. Poss soon to be replaced with the Datasat 7300 amp, if I can scrape the pennies together.

Oh, I currently have 2 x ASW 850 subs. I am thinking of moving to a pair of Aerial Acoustic SW12 subwoofers. They are only 12 inch drivers. But many reviewers rate these subs as some of the best. Anyone ever heard the sw12 and the ASW 850?

I am also thinking of putting a pair of Mark Seaton Submersive F2 in the rear of the room. Again, anyone compared the asw850 to the seaton submersive f2s.

Congrats on the beast! I sure wish it didn't get discontinued because I would have bought one for the current generation lineup.

First, make him prove it. He's the dealer that is trying to get your money. Make him earn it by proving to you his idea is correct.

Second, I have CM9s and I run them through an AVR, I'm searching for a 3 channel amp for the L+C+R. I am already very happy with my current setup, but I have demo'd CM9s (and other speakers) after my purchase and I've seen the difference when you throw a more powerful AVR behind tower speakers. I bought it with music in mind as my priority

Third, he's wrong I'm almost certain

From the yamaha website:
Powerful 7-channel surround sound, 100W per channel (8 ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.09% THD, 2ch driven)

This amp will be fine up to moderately high volumes. you can upgrade the receiver 6months or a year later when the upgrade bug hits again. i like to wait between upgrades so i can tell a difference in sound between components.

I don't think you need an amp right away btw. too many upgrades in one shot makes it hard to find out what component is making positive impact and the type of impact.

If you do want to upgrade, I would use something like Anthem MRX 300/500 or Arcam AVR 360/400 but for now just keep the yamaha and get used to the sound and enjoy the new speakers
Edited by akhter - 2/4/13 at 4:28pm

 

Cool Cousin :)

 

Focal they are really overpriced they do sound really good, but we are talking 8.3 times times the price of the 800Diamonds!!!  Please that is not even a comparison? 

On an other note what do you think?

 

 

I also, like some previous posters, run CM9s from an AVR Yamaha RX-A2010, and I am really pleased with music quality. Somehow I do not feel like buying separate amps for that. In my opinion there is no sin, but salesguys will tell you otherwise.

What it really means is that there's no possibility of the two amps interacting.  The limitations of passive bi-amping remain.

Edited by Kal Rubinson - 2/5/13 at 10:25am