B&W Speakers (1 Viewer)

[ChipD]

I recently demoed some B&W speakers and loved what I heard. I've also listened to Infinity, Paradigm, Definitive, Klipsh, and Kef speakers. I think I've made my decision on the B&W speakers (although I may give Paradigm another listen), and would like thoughts on my questions below.

Here are the speakers I am thinking about purchasing:

dm 603 s3 (2) - front
lcr600 s3 (1) - center
dm600s3 (2) - rear
asw600 (1) - sub

cost: $2150 + tax

First of all, does $2150 seem like a reasonable price for these speakers? Retail comes to $2350, but I'm not sure what a "good" price would be. $2150 is about the limit of what I want to spend.

What do you think of the asw600 sub? It sounded good to me in the store, but I haven't compared it to any other options.

In the store I listened to these speakers with an Arcam 100-120 watt receiver. However, I was planning on purchasing the Yamaha rx-v1400 receiver (they don't carry Yamaha in the B&W store). Will Yamaha matched with B&W still sound okay? I used the Yamaha receiver when listening to Infinity speakers and liked the sound.

Any other thoughts/pointers before I make the plunge? What about wires? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Chip

 

[CharlesD]

I have DM602/601s and the LCR60 center speaker. I have a cheap Yamaha receiver and it sounds great through the B&Ws (I am planning on upgrading it soon however). Most B&W dealers will give a 10% discount from MSRP and with any luck they'll give you a little more for buying all of them at once.

If you want to save a little money think about getting the 602s for the fronts. With a good sub you won't miss the extra bass response of the 603s and in any case the 602s do pretty good as it is. Just a thought.

This forum seems very high on direct marketed audio equipment so I'll go ahead and recommend the SVS subs even though I've never heard one I've asked before here if anyone had directly compared the ASW600 to the SVS but got no response. Unless there is some way to audition a SVS I personally am not going to risk it and will likely upgrade my current sub to the B&W eventually.

 

[steve nn]

I saw a Thread the other day where someone had the ASW600 and upgraded to a SVS and it wasn't even a close match at all if I recall correctly. I think it was the PB2+ though. I will do a search for you and see if I can dig it up and if so? I will post the link.

Here is a list that you might be interested in taking a look at for a good starting point also??> http://members.cox.net/frankcarter/T...Sub%20Data.htm Definitely not a tell all, but we need to use what is available for consideration purposes.

I run B&W 602's up front with the LCR 600 along with multiple 25-31CS+'s.

http://members.cox.net/frankcarter/SteveAV15/3SVS.JPG

 

[Shane Morales]

I've heard that sub at the B&W dealer. I have an SVS 20-39PCi (one of the cheaper SVS subs) and it, IMO, sounds WAY better than the B&W sub. I don't know what the SVS sub sounds like with the B&W speakers, though.

When I was demo-ing B&W speakers I heard them through Yamaha, Marantz, Sony, and Rotel receivers. The Rotel was leaps and bounds better with the B&W speakers. Bookshelf, floorstanding, didn't matter. When the sales guy switched to the Rotel from any of the other receivers you could tell right away.

As for price, the dealers sell at the retail price: $2350. Anything under that is a good price. Getting it at $200, basically 10% off, is pretty good in my book.

 

[Dan Halchak]

I got this for $2470 (tax included)

DM604 S3s (2) - Front
LCR600 S3 (1) - Center
DM602 S3s (2) - Rear L/R
DM601 S3s (2) - Back
--------------------
then purchased the SVS PCi 20-39 of SVS's website. - SVS sounds unbelieveable with B&W...I'll personally buy the SVS off of you if you think it doesn't sound much better than any of the B&W subwoofers. Don't spend the money on the B&Ws.

I would highly recommend trying to get the DM604 over the 603 (give you that little more oomph), and DEFINITELY get either the 601s or 602s over the 600s for the rears. You will definitely be much happier with either of those. My friend has the 600s, I brought the 602s over and showed him the difference, he went out the next day, traded his 600s in and got the 602s. It's amazing the better imagining quality and frequency response...really opens up the rear soundstage.

I agree though that you could do (ideally) 5 - 602s with a good sub and it would sound unbelieveable! I like though having the floor standing speakers and if I want to play music without the sub (like at night) it still sound really really good - hence why I went with the 604s.

 

[steve nn]

Dan do you think the 604's handle the front better with movies? I have plenty of sub performance with more planned, but I have heard the 4's will handle the front better. Would you agree with this? I am contemplating moving my 2's to the back as good as they sound and going with the 4's up front.

Thanks for letting me cut in Chip.

 

[george_k]

What type of crossover do the 6-series use?
2nd-order/4th-order, butterworth/linkwitz-riley?

 

[CarlosM]

yeah, the 603s are meant for people who dont want to throw a sub into the mix.

Im running two 602 S3s in the front, and my god theyre beautiful.

I loved the sound much better than the 603s or 602.5s. Once the STF-2 comes and theyre set to small, the extra cabinet space from the floorspeakers would be wasted.

also, maybe going for the 601s in the rears... the 600s kind of have small drivers and they may not match as well (but hey, if you demod them and cant tell, more power to you).

and yeah, bargain w/ your retailer.. if possible, try to bring cash or check, that saved me 5% from CC charges theyre forced to do.

I was able to get my 602 S3s for 275 a pair, which is not astounding at all, but its a price i was comfortable paying, and told'm if they could meet that, our discussions would end and the cash surface.

at any rate, im just constantly blown away by them. Watched the italian job tonight, and the way these speakers were able to handle the music, action, and all the while create a beautiful sound stage just continues to impress me.

 

[Frank_S]

Chip, IMO, the Arcam is a far superior piece of gear. I've owned 3 different Yamaha receivers, in fact I had an RXV-793 powering B&W 603's 4 years ago. I never liked the way music sounded with this setup, sounded really bright. I traded in the 603's for 7NT's, much better image and soundstage with the NT's, like night and day, tight bass too. The 603's provide more low bass but just never sounded good to me, YMMV.
I would make sure if you buy the 603's that you get a 30 day return/exchange with them. I know this is a bit off track here but would you consider purchasing used NT speakers? I know when I traded up to N804's(my current speakers)the dealer only offered me $700 for the 7NT's.
I would also recommend the SVS sub over the B&W.
I own a 20-39PC and I also own a B&W AS6(older version of the ASW12 I think). The SVS is a much, much better sub.
Good luck!

 

[Francois]

ChipD,

The new B&W subs are much better than previous ones. Audition the 675, it is awsome. I use it with 603 fronts, lcr600 center, and 4 x 601 for rears. Just beautifull

 

[Dan Halchak]

Steve -- Do the DM604s handle the sound better for the front stage. All in all...I would say, "Yes." Is it a big notice... that's a tough question. I think with the 604s being a true 3 way and having the 7" woofers, it's adds a little something that the 602s don't have. Would I miss it if I had never heard the 604s and only had the 602s...with a good sub...probably not. Am I glad that I have both the 604s & sub...resounding yes! I think I just like the fact that I don't "really" need to have a sub and the 604s hit pretty darn hard...

My school of thought...if you can afford it, you won't regret it. If you can't afford it, you won't miss it. But like your thought process, I am much more enjoying having the 602s behind me and the 604s in front. The only other thing I would have to say is that for music, I'm much happier with the 604s than I would've been witht he 602s...but by no means are the 602s shabby by any regards!

Francois...I had the 675 for about 2 weeks, it definitely was not worth the price (close to $1K) once I compared it to the SVS...for my money the SVS PCi 20-39 performs better (hits deeper and more accurately). The PC+ outperforms the 675 without question and is still cheaper than B&Ws.

I'm a big fan of B&W, I definitely like their speakers, I'm just not super impressed with their Subs...especially when both SVS & HSU blend flawlessly with the B&Ws. I'd say save the money and get a SVS or HSU anyday.