B&W Owner's Thread - Page 92

nice setup :P looks like mine lol, is that a samsung 4671 1080p lcd

check out mine

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1029340

The Wyred 4 sound amplifier comes with high pass filters that cut off at 80 hz for the front left and right channels which are feeding the midrange and tweeter drivers on my 802d's atm. To activate them, all I had to do was press a couple of buttons at the back of the unit.
As I stated before, I'm no audiophile and I have no expertise in critical listening so please bear with me. I tried listening to some music in stereo with the high pass filters on and off to see if I could hear any noticeable difference. My source is the Oppo 980h and the pre/pro is the Integra 9.8 connected through the hdmi port. I played a recording of the Adagio in G minor performed by I Musici, , then a recording of Jupiter from The Planets suite by Holst conducted by Gardiner, then a couple of tracks off a Patricia Barber CD, turning the filter on and off with each recording. Anyhow, the one obvious thing was, with the filter engaged, the volume got louder so I had to adjust the volume each time I engaged or disengaged the filters. I thought perhaps the sounds were more defined with the filter on in the orchestral pieces. I also thought I could hear the texture of the sounds better with the filter engaged eg. the timbre of the organ on the Adagio, and the tambourines in the Jupiter recording. I didn't notice any significant difference in the Patricia Barber recording.
I should also state, I was coming from a Rotel 5X100 amplifier driving these speakers for the past 6 months until I had the money for more amplification and the difference in sound was very significant. My previous speakers had been Proac 150's.

I got 21% off on CM1's, CMC, CWM 650's, Rotel Amp, and CD Player.

I upgraded from the 602.5 S3 in the front to the 683's recently (along with the center). The S3 series is really a fine set of speakers, you should be very pleased with the results. While I am very happy with the 683's...those 602.5's were definitely some serious speakers!

Also, you're spot on about powering these puppies with Rotel. I first picked up the 602.5's on sale and powered them with a decent Yamaha...results were good (living in an apt at the time). When house (and the man-cave) was ready, I started powering them with the Rotel...and the world was a different place!

I've seen some killer pictures lately. I'm not a photographer, but it's a nice system:

Front: B&W 683's
Center: B&W HTM 61
Surround: 4 B&W DS3
Sub: B&W ASW675

Rotel 7 ch 1067
Rotel power filter
Mitsubishi Projector
Stewart screen
PlayStation3
Toshiba DVD (not so good)

finally got my 683's and HTM61 center in the other day...the front right speaker is slightly less sensitive than the other 2...when i was calibrating everything i had to raise the right speaker by 1.5db...never had this problem with any other speakers ive ever had...does this mean anything? or am i just worrying about nothing? only reason i ask is cuz i find that the imaging is slightly more to the left of the two speakers when listening to music...cant seem to get rid of that effect no matter what i try...they do sound good though! anyone know whats wrong, or not wrong?

Is your room have no wall on the right, and a wall on the left? Left-right asymmetry in the room is most likely the cause of this problem.

If not, then I can think of two other things: the amplifier is attenuating the signal, or the speaker is. Swap the left and right speakers. If the problem does not follow the speaker, its no the speaker's fault at all.

Swap amps/receiver with a buddy's amp/receiver. If the problem still persists, it is the room most likely as I mentioned earlier. If the problem disappears with a different amp, reset your amplifier settings to brand-new stock settings just to make sure there isn't something accidentally switched. If problem persists with stock settings on amplifier/receiver, then I would strongly consider an in-warranty exchange if possible.

yes my room is 18 x 20...the speakers are exactly where they need to be...there are no openings in the room....it is a room all by its lonesome self...and i did just get a new onkyo 805 for my other room...it with stock settings and the arcam i own with stock settings does the exact same thing...i will pull out the tape measure just to be sure their where they need to be...i have noticed these are pretty sensitive speakers....when i first un boxed them they didnt sound just right so i moved them about 1 foot farther apart on each side and tilted them about 6 inches inward towards the seating postition and they really came to life...seems how that made such a difference maybe the right speaker needs to be moved just about 6 inches or so farther away...i do notice when i sit down and simply move my head about 6 inches to 1 foot to the right the imaging is perfect.

so since my room has nothing to do with this problem what could be the cause of the right speaker being less sensitive than the center and left?

Swap the right and left speaker to see if the speaker on the right side always has a problem. We need to make sure that the speaker itself is or is not messed up. If there is something wrong with the speaker, the problem will follow the speaker and be independent of the position.

What do you mean that the speakers are exactly where they need to be? Are they placed according to the Golden Ratio method as suggested by George Cardas? Did you use a software like one found on Rivesaudio? Is your listening position in a proper location to minimize the room mode stacking? Are there windows on only one side of the room?

Basically, we dont really know if the room is not contributing something for some reason. There are many variables that can enter the picture, so its easier if we knock out the easier ones first

Substitute your left speaker for your right speaker (I know moving it around is gonna be a pain ), and report back with your findings.

i got it all figured out...there was nothing wrong with the speaker...i switched the left speaker to the right and the right to the left and still had the same problem with the right speaker...so i pulled out my tape measure and realized that where i was sitting in the room was exactly 1 foot closer to the left wall than the right wall...i had everything off center in my room! hehe....kinda embarassing...so i had to move everything 1 foot to the right, projector, seats, and speakers...hehe...but i kinda have an excuse since i just repainted my entire room and i had stuff all over the place for a while...but after i moved everything over the imaging problem was gone as well as the problem of the right speaker being 1.5db less sensitive than the others...stupid me!

I finally did it. I bought a pair of B&W 683s and HTM61 in Wenge finish from Alma's HI FI in Birmingham, MI (great group of guys there). They should be here in a week. You should see the smile on my face...

Now I wonder if I should break my first set of HI FI speakers in, or just start using them....

All is well that ends well! Enjoy!

LOL, I just realized the size of the can of worms that I was trying to open. Nevermind guys- I've got it.

are the 683's bi ampable? my manual said nothing about bi amping, only bi wiring...only got em bi wired for now...B&W doest seem to like returning e mails and the place i got em from is surprisingly clueless!

They are, you just have to void your warranty and rip out the crossovers and add in your own external active crossover in front of the amps that you want to use. In this case, you would have to tri-amp them.

If you want to keep your warranty, they are not multi-amp capable.

very untrue...This would be the case in passive biamping vs. active biamping, but biamping in general DOES NOT call for ripping out the crossover

I currently have two B&W 685 for my front speakers in my home theater, and I have a Definitive Technology Mythos Three center channel speaker. I realize that the center should generally match the fronts (at least the same tweeter), so I'm thinking of buying the B&W XTC center channel to replace the Def Tech. (Space is at a premium in my apartment.) Would it be worth it to do this? Thanks for any advice.

I'm not sure there would be an advantage to doing this. The XTC sounds more like the CM series than the 600 series the last time I heard it.

Wow, how long have you had those B&Ws?

I have the B&W DM603's as the mains, and they are about 8-9 years old. Two years ago I added the Outlaw LFM-1 Plus sub and could not be happier. The black color matches well, and the sound quality from the sub is excellent. They have a newer model, the LFM-1 EX that goes 2Hz lower than the Plus, but cost another $100. I would say that wither unit (Plus or EX) would be a good match with your B&W speakers. There has been a lot of talk in here that B&W's Sub are a bit 'over rated' and other brands offer better quality at a lower price. By the way, the Outlaw sub are based on the HSU subs.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I purchased the B&W 804S and HTM3S this weekend to replace my older B&W DM603 and CC6S2.
The cost of the speakers were $4000 (804S pair) and $2500 (HTM3S), $255 for the Sound Anchor 804S stands and $255 for the Sound Anchor SDACC center stand. After tax the grand total was $7500.
One of the main reasons I went with the 804S and HTM3S was because they had the best sound quality in the B&W line that I could afford, and the dealer was offering a 'No payment, No Interest for 18 months' on purchases over $400.
I would of liked to of tried the Paradigm S6 and C3 speakers before making a final decision, but none of the Paradigm dealers in my area have them.
One dealer is moving and has nothing to demo, and the second dealer only had the S8. I guess I could of tried the S8 just to see how it would sound, but still is not an S6.

I also upgraded my Outlaw 7125 amp (125x7) to the Outlaw 7500 balanced amp (200x5) three weeks ago.
That alone made a significent improvement in the sound quality while using my DM603s.
Hopefully I'll get the new speakers by the end of the week so the break-in process can begin.
I got all 3 in Black, since all my other audio gear is black, and the center stand will be black.
I was thinking about the rosewood color, but wasn't sure how it would look if I changed my furniture in a few years.

In my experience, passive bi-amping does nothing (that is statistically relevant) to improve the sound quality and instead, creates headaches especially when the output gain of the respective amplifiers is not adjustable. Therefore, it was not considered in my response to the original poster of the question.

with rotel, the world is a different place indeed

Ok guys help me with this setup options:

1- 683 and 6 series center plus two svs sb-12 sub
2- 703 and 7 series center plus one svs sb-12 sub
3- 805N no center for some time (have to save some $$ for the 8 series center) and a svs sb-12 sub

I like the sb-12 because of their size and price, i think that at the end i´ll add two in any of those setups.

Always loved the 703 (they look and sound very nice for me) buy don´t know how much of a difference this will make agaist the new 600 series setup.

The system will be powered by a Rotel 1075 Amp and a Denon 3808 as pre. I would say 75% movies, 25% music.

Thanks a lot for your input.

i would do option 3 if you had the patience

It's been said a few times in the past the the HTM7 isn't that great of a center channel speaker. I've heard it, and tend to agree. The 703 would be OK if you were just doing 2ch, but for HT setups, go with the 600 or 800 series.

Between those options, I would suggest going with the 805S (the 805N is older), the HTM4S for the center and a sub.

Since I'm one of those folks who has said that, I'll briefly repeat what I said before:

I have the 703/HTM7, and I'm quite happy with them. My opinion has evolved over time, as I've experimented and made adjustments in positioning and eq. And perhaps they've "broken in" some.

The HTM7 has some minor shortcomings: particularly at low volume levels, its a little muddy compared to the 703's. Some people actually prefer this sound vs the 703 sound (I don't). On the other hand, the imaging is very good - they project a really great soundstage. At higher volume levels, the muddiness problems tend to disappear (for me).

After listening to mine for a year, I looked at the 805's to see if I could hear a difference I was willing to pay for. I could not. The 805S/HTM4S are better, but to me the difference in price isn't worth it.

Your mileage may vary. At the end of the day, you have to listen and evaluate for yourself, and everyone else's opinion doesn't matter. Its your ears/money.

-Reid

I would also lean toward the 800 series...especially since it is your money I'm spending and not mine. When it was me staring at that same dilemma, I went with the 6 series. Another consideration...how long before you get the center? If it is a few months...8 series. If it is a few years...will the 8 series center 2 years from now match as well with today's speakers? That is a risk that I, personally, wouldn't take.

got ya. But again i disagree. I will say bi-wiring does nothing, and is statistically relevant, but passively bi-amping can definately help if using a separate amp.