B&W Owner's Thread - Page 276

[quote=Flipangle;19880517]I recently decided to treat myself to a 5.1 setup. The place I went to suggested the following. What do you guys think?

I think we would need to know how big the room is(does it open into another room?),is it a house or apartment,at what volume level will you be listening to it,what is the movie/music mix(and what kind of music),any other restrictions on speaker placement(where are you going to put the center seaker) or sub placement or size????

Come on down,tell us about your self!

I think that a bookshelf setup for the LCR would give you more flexibility.
I don't know how much will run the installation for the in ceiling/wall surround but I'd think about getting 2 CM5 for left and right and a CMC for center. that would be around 2.2K... add a decent ID sub (forget about 8" stuff.. go 10" or 12"... ) 500~

I personally have the 685 and the HTM62, the timbre isn's equal... but honestly I don't mind. and that would be quite cheaper... that would run barely over 1K and it's a hell of a good sounding system, IMHO.

If I'm not mistaken the 1120 have pre-outs... so if isn't enough to drive the b&w just add an amp and call it a day.

Thanks for your post. With some time having passed now, I would like to know your experience with the system.

I have some similarities with B&W 603 s2's as my front LR, and a LCR 600 as my center. Using a Velodyne HGS15 for my sub, and have B&W LM1's for the surrounds. I am not completely satisfied with the surrounds, and wonder if you have some advice on them (B&W DS7 perhaps, or 601's?).

Thanks

I kind of assumed that, but just wanted someone else to confirm.

I actually have that same furniture, so I might just have to mount the TV on the panel and put the speaker on top of the base.

Good idea. Do you have any idea what they have on the shelf above the CC and/or why?

Thanks so much for your reply. Was very helpful.

[quote=sofast1;19881981]
The room is about 17 x 17' (give or take) with 9' ceilings. The back of the room opens into a kitchen. I live in a house so I can blast it as loud as I want but I will probably only play it moderately loud since we tend to watch movies when the kids are asleep upstairs. I will be using it for TV and movies at least 80-90% of the time. If it sounds great, I'll probably use it for music more frequently. As for the speaker positioning, no restrictions whatsoever. The center speaker will sit below the TV on a cabinet. The whole media niche is elevated so the center speaker will actually be only less than a foot below ear level.

I work a lot of hours a week. Haven't bought myself anything for a while and figured I have to treat myself for change!

Have any you guys bought from a place that's not an authorized dealer? Would you? There's a place called ReelTime Sight & Sound near where I live in Orange County. They've been around for almost 40 years and have a really good reputation. They were an authorized dealer for 15 years but are no longer such. I asked the rep about it and he said that as of late, B & W decreased their number of independent authorized dealers in order to distribute through BestBuy. So would my warranty with B & W be void if I bought from these guys? Thanks.

[quote=Flipangle;19883234]Have any you guys bought from a place that's not an authorized dealer? Would you? There's a place called ReelTime Sight & Sound near where I live in Orange County. They've been around for almost 40 years and have a really good reputation. They were an authorized dealer for 15 years but are no longer such. I asked the rep about it and he said that as of late, B & W decreased their number of independent authorized dealers in order to distribute through BestBuy. So would my warranty with B & W be void if I bought from these guys? Thanks.[/QUOTE

the B&W warranty is valid only for products purchased from an authorized dealer. Reeltime might be nice guys, but where are they going to get parts if you need them down the road? Also note that the signature 7nt and the ccm65 speakers they reccomended have been around for 4 years and might be old stock.

[quote=sofast1;19883473]
You make great points. According to the Reeltime, they still have a relationship with b & w so getting parts is not a problem. I guess I was thinking if they can give me better pricing than bestbuy, I would go with them and if anything broke, I would get if fixed at a place that fixes speakers. We have some here on orange county. Does this sound stupid.

[quote=Flipangle;19883156]
That's a decent sized room, when you're done it should sound great! I would not go with the signature 7nt as the main speakers for two reasons.First,the 683's should sound better even if the 7nt's were installed properly. This is the second reason;to install them properly requires building an enclosure behind them. Unless you're one of those do-it-yourself handyman types,that's gonna cost some $$. Without installation,the 683's and the 7nt's are about the same price. Some would say go with the 685's and put the money into a better sub, but the 685 is a 2 way speaker,while the 683 is a 3 way;better vocals,more detail,better bass. If you add the price of stands,the 685's wont save you that much. As for the center speaker, I'd consider the htm62,htm61 or cmc. It really depends on which one you like better(go back and spend more audition time-center speakers are easy to move, so listen to all 3 with the 683's) and the price the dealer will give you(you are getting a package discount, right?). The rear speakers are going to be a hard choice, without being there(the sales guy did offer an in-home consultation,right?). ccm65 is a nice speaker,but same install situation as 7nt. Neither will sound right without a box behind it. I'd check out the ds3's or possibly other brands. Often the rear speakers can be another brand as long as they sound similar to the fronts, not as crucial as the stage(the front three speakers).I would also not go with the def tech subwoofer, you can do better. I would look at HSU,SVS,Outlaw Audio and maybe a few other on-line manufacturers. If you're not comfortable buying a sub unheard on-line, these companies are reputable and offer a 30 day in home audition, but you have pay return shipping. Or, you could spend a little more and get a Velodyne from a local dealer. The sub choice would really depend on how much money was left after the front,center and rear speaker package. I hope this helped.

[quote=Flipangle;19883622]
Any authorized independent dealer should be able to give you a better price than Best buy, and way more personalized service. The only place to get brand new B&W parts is from B&W. If you're not an authorized dealer, you're gonna pay retail. There's a lot of dealers that had been in business a long time that aren't around any more. If Reeltime goes away, so does your warranty. Feelin' lucky?

Just get something in writing and have BBY price match it.

I'm the lucky new owner of a pair of CM9s (and a CMC2) that I took possession of a little over a week ago. So far I'm loving the sound of these speakers compared to my old 602 S3s. They are quite a bit more laid back.

However the CM9s do draw quite a bit more power than my previous B&Ws. Currently I'm bi-amping the CM9s with the 120 watt per channel Rotel RB-1075. While this amp was more than sufficient for the 602s, I'm starting to get the impression the CM9s may be a bit too much for it, especially at high volumes.

First, the 1075 is running much warmer now that it's attached to the CM9s. A number of times the top of the unit has been almost too hot to touch after extended listening sessions. Second I've noticed that with certian types of music (namely orchestral and jazz), that the speakers sometimes convey a slight popping sound. This popping sound is in no way loud, but is audible on certian material. Is this related to the amp clipping since enough power is not present?

I know the CM9s are rated at 8 ohms, but can drop into the 3 ohm range. The Rotel RB-1075 has a minimum load of 4 ohms, so I'm wondering if this difficult material is causing the Rotel to go beyond its capabilities.

I'd like any opinions on the matter. Is anyone running a 1075 with CM9s? Also for those CM9 owners out there, which amp are you using to power your system?

I'm powering my pair of CM9s with an Onkyo TX-SR608 receiver. I know it doesn't sound like an ideal setup, but I've not had any problems with this setup so far. I've not yet tried bi-amping my setup either. I've also not noticed any kind of popping sound, but that could be specific to your amp and how hard you're driving it. I use my setup in a 3.1 config for extended amounts of hours, it's mainly for home theater usage, with occasional music listening.

In my experience Best Buy is unwilling to budge on B&W prices. YMMV though.

Yeah, I thought about that too but I need to have in-ceiling rears and I don't think BB carries those. I've since found a second place near me that IS an authorized dealer. I will check them out.

They do carry in-ceiling in-wall speakers for B&W.

My understanding is that they need something in writing.

Just as an example, we have a whole bunch of PC Richards opening up in my area and they are practically giving everything away. I purchased a Samsung 46C8000 for my mother and BBY price matched a written receipt of... 1200 bucks from PC R!

Really? I'll have to check BB out then. As an update, I emailed B&W directly to ask them about the warranty issue. Here's my email:

"Sir or Madam: Could you please answer a quick question? If this is the wrong department, could you please forward it to someone who can the question? I am about to purchase some B & W products from a custom installer. The business name is *****. According the the rep, they were an authorized dealer of B & W products for 15 years but as of 2011 are no longer and authorized dealer. If so, does that mean that any products I buy from them will have no B & W warranty? Thank you so much for your help. Your products are truly awesome!"

Here's their response:

"Since they were an authorized dealer the product they still have carries a full warranty."

This is cool...if the dealer still has the speakers I want.

I'm going to audition some speakers tomorrow. Paradigm versus B&W. Anyone here compared the two directly? What should I know about the differences. I recently compared some DefTech in-walls versus B&W in-walls. No offense to any DefTech fans here (if any) but I couldn't believe the difference. I actually turned to the saleman and asked: Are the two samples set to the same equalizer settings? I couldn't believe how much clearer the B&W were! I could separate the voice from the instruments clearly, not so much with the DefTechs. Maybe more expensive DefTech's or DefTech towers will be better.

Just curious, why would you rather buy your tv from Best Buy when P.C.Richards gave you a better price up front?

Both B&W and Paradigm have several product lines and models. If you told us what you are considering then we could tell you how they compare.

I have B&W cwm 800's (4 pair), cwm cinema 6 (single), and CDS6 S3 (pair). Room size is 15 x 20 u shape open 2nd floor plan. Only have 2 walls to use since one side is open to balcony and other side has wall to wall windows. I plan to hang tv and put two 800's on the side, and don't know if I should use a 3rd 800 or use the cinema 6. I had one person recommend using the CDS6 S3 for my LF and LR, which I don't feel comfortable with.

Next I installed a pair of 800's for the side left and right in the ceiling (again I don't have any other option. I was considering using the CDS6 for this spot instead of the 800's, but need some advice here.

Lastly, since its a smaller area I thought about using an 800 for the back to make a 6.1 set up.

Variation: Use 800's for the ceiling and the CDS6 for back left and back right. Only concern here is I could be crowding the set up since there may be less than 5 feet from main sofa (center ) and back wall with 800's already in the ceiling.

Please forgive if I was supposed to start a new post here... any help or advice would be great thanks!!!

Robert

36 months no interest.
Customer Service was better.
My mother lives in Puerto Rico and there are no PC R's in P.R.

I actually had just stopped in since it is a new store. I didn't appreciate all the lies he used in attempt to close the sale.

The kids at BBY aren't the most informed, but they believe they are telling you the truth. Not their fault they don't get the proper training.

PLEASE HELP ....would you use a cwm cinema 6 or cwm800 for the front center (using cwm 800 for front left and right)

Just ordered the following speakers for my HT/Music system
CM9, CMC2, Rythmik F12SE subwoofer. For now everything will be powered by Denon 4311ci.

I am trying to finalize the surround speakers. Planning to use 50/50 for HT/music.

Bookshelves won't work because of lack of space. My dealer recommended B&W DS3 for surrounds. I like the fact that these can be switched from dipole to monopole mode. Any one has experience with these surround speakers and how well they will work with CM9?

Another surround speakers I am considering are PSB Imagine S (http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/...ine-S-Surround). Tri-mode surrounds which can be switched betwee bi-pole, di-pole, dual monopole (for 7.1 configuration)

Any other surround speakers to consider around $1k budget?

Finally a part of the B&W family!



Still working on doing something about that center channel... (mounting the tv won't work... wall behind it is made of plaster, furring strips, then cinderblock)

Edit: Sorry jastone7373, I just realized I confused your pictures in your post with the components in rawhit's post! Congrats on the nice setup!

rawhit, can you post a picture of how you fit the CMC2 in your setup once you get it? I'm curious how you managed to fit that beast. I went with the CMC because I couldn't figure out where to put the CMC2 due to its size.

Please help...need to clarify my question....

1. will I be disappointed if I use the cinema 6 center instead of the cwm 800 for the center (using CWM800's for the front right & left)?

2. will I be disappointed using CDM6 S3 dipole for ceiling placed side surrounds instead of CWM800's? or should I use them for the back right/left for 7.1 keeping CWM800's for ceiling side surrounds?