B & W Speakers / Upgrade path (1 Viewer)

[CharlesD]

I recently bought a house, which meant that I could finally get a surround sound system (already have a Toshiba Widescreen TV) with out my apartment neighbors wanting to kill me. So I go down to my local high end audio store and price out an "entry level" system. Came out to around $3- 4 K. Ouch! a bit more than I want to spend at once right after getting into my first house, but in the ball park for what I want to spend overall.

Instead I go down to the local Best buy and buy a cheap Yamaha 5.1 receiver and a JBL system-in-a-box, the idea being that if I have a basic system in place and I can upgrade a piece at a time. Of course it wasn't long before I'm back down at the high-end store/crack house buying a B&W LCR60 to replace the tinny little center speaker. That made a big difference and of course it wasn't long before I was carting away a pair of 602s to replace the fronts.

Now, finally, to my point. My original path was to eventually replace the 602s with some 604s and move the 602s to the rear and then replace the receiver with a Rotel receiver or even Rotel preamp/processor and separate power amp. But I'm wondering if that is not overkill. The speakers won't have to fill a huge room, and do I really need 602s for the rears? Why not just use 601s? And maybe a Denon receiver instead of the Rotel.

So far my HT is just for DVDs. I have not tried DVD-A or the souped up CDs yet. IF I wanted to get a DVD-A capable player would that make a big difference for the speaker choice? The other factor in the decision is that I'd like to have a stereo upstairs (the HT is in the finished basement). If I don't blow all my money on the HT I could get some nice stuff for the other room.

Would I regret not getting 604s for my HT? Would I be loosing out on sound quality with DVD-A with a 602/601 system compared to a 604/602 one?

 

[Keith*D]

If you are going to be using a sub at all times just get the 600 for the rear and keep the 602 at the front. With the money you saved you can buy an incredible sub. Besides, the sub or the reciever are going to make more of a difference for DVD's than the 602/604 change.

Keith

 

[Bob Saylor]

Using the 602s for the front worked out fine for me. I have dual SVS subs and crossed it all at 80Hz. It sounded great.

The subs with the 602s easily offset what the 604s would have done and I think my setup had more flexibility. 601s should be fine for the rears.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I have had 602s in the front for 5 years and have no desire to upgrade to anything. I say stick with them.

 

[CharlesD]

Thanks for the feedback guys. 602s for the fronts and 601s for the rears sound like the way to go.

Are the B&W Subs good? or should be looking at SVS or something else?

 

[Brian L]

I run 604s in front, 601s rear, and a CC6 for the center.

My sub is a HSU 1225 (their was no SVS when I bought my HSU). I am very happy with the overall set-up (currently running a NAD 762).

And I agree with what others have said, crossing over at 80 Hz wastes a lot of what the 604 brings to the party. I bought them used, and my main criteria at the time was that I needed a tower to replace my stand mounted KEFs (we had a child, and I didn't want her knocking the stands over).

Well, she is 5 now, so I could go back to smaller speakers, but what the heck, I have 'em, I might just as well keep 'em.

As for $3K to $4K, I would think you could do a lot better than that if you are willing to buy used.

For reference, I paid $750/pair for my 604s, $225 for my CC6, and $200/pair for my 601s. All of these were mint when I bought them. I did this over the course of a few years, and just got the CC6 a few weeks ago.

As a side note, while I never doubted it, I now have concrete proof that you want matching speakers at ALL vector points. Its is uncanny how much more coherent the overall soundstage can be with speakers that are similarly voiced. Took me a few years to get there, but its is not hype.

Good luck.

BGL

 

[Matt Bloxham]

I have a very similar setup to what you are proposing. I have the 602's for the fronts, 601's for the rears, I upgraded my center to the CDM CNT and I have Def Tech 1500+ for my sub and I think it sounds great! My receiver is a Denon 2802 with a Denon DVD 1600 which also does DVD/Audio. I have no complaints at all. Music and movies are awesome

Good luck with your home theater!

Matt

 

[steve nn]

I also use the DM 602 S3's up front with the LCR 600 center. They are teamed up with the Denon 1804 and three SVS 25-31 cs+'s powered by the QSC 1450. I really like this set-up and do not feel in want except my four surrounds need to be swaped out for a pair of 601's and a pair of 600 or 601's for the S-B. I really like the way this set-up comes across.

 

[GarySI]

I agree with the idea of keeping the 602's and the 601's in the rear. I have the same setup along with the CC6 in the center. The 602's were purchased new but the other B&W's were all ebayed. I am looking for a used LCR600 to replace the CC6. That and an upgrade from the Titanic sub kit from Parts Express and I should be good to go.
If you do get into SACD and DVD-A as I have (Pioneer DV45A) then stick with one brand and model line for the best multi channel. Go give the Allison Krauss Live SACD a spin.

 

[budrichard]

604's in front, 600 center, 602's in rear and B&W sub to match with 601's for eventually 7.1. AWESOME. If I had to do it over agin I would have 604's in the rear also. As it was we upgraded the center and the rear's from smaller B&W's because they just did not compete with the 604's. Find a store that will let you try the speakers and return for an upgrade.-Dick

 

[kanian]

I have at front B&W 603 and 601 as surrounds and CC6 center. Thery are run by H/K AVR 525. I don't understand much from those conversations about bass management and crossing or not crossing some frequencies. Can you give my some advice how to parametrize my system. Best regards, Adam

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I have 604's up front, a LCR6 center and four 602's for the surrounds. For DD/DTS movie soundtracks, the 604's are overkill, since I crossover all channels at 80Hz. However, I prefer to listen to music with no processing -- my SACD/CD player is only connected to the 5.1 analog inputs of my Pioneer Elite 47TX receiver, which bypasses all processing and bass management. For both stereo and mulit-channel music listening, I am glad that I decided on the 604's. If your use is exclusively movie viewing, though, I would think the 602's would be sufficient.