B&W 600 series or Paradigm Monitors which of the 2 are better sounding... (1 Viewer)

[EddyObregon]

wait so i cant put them close to the wall. Then what do I do i really cant have them sticking out way to much. Will it sound horrible if its up agaisnt the wall. What shelf or brackett do you recommend.

 

[GrahamT]

Eddy,

I have the cc370, mini monitors and monitor3s. The minis and 3s are very similar but basically my opinion is that the minis have a more detailed midrange and the 3s have a much better low end. If you are getting the sub then go with the minis. As for surrounds the ADP170s might be a good fit for you since you are close to the surrounds.

 

[EddyObregon]

would the adp 170 be better than the atoms and im sure the adp 170 are more expensive. Do the atoms need to be seperated from the wall though

 

[EddyObregon]

by the way is the cc370 a nice clear speaker. Since it has to 61/2 inch drivers wouldnt that make the dialogue a little muddy. How good is this center

 

[Ernie Estrella]

Eddy,

Again, I've got the CC-370 with Mini-monitors and they work great together because all of the drivers and tweeters match. Home theater is seamless. I'm more into 2.0 music than 5.1 music so the minis really sound good for that. Bottom line I went for the value with the dollar spent and for me and the bargains I got, This set up was best for me and my ears AND my wallet. If you're by Canada, or in Canada, definitely look at Paradigms or Axioms. I will not be upgrading for a long time and made sure I got what I always wanted. I am still waiting on the surrounds which will probably be atoms but gotta save for this wedding...

Thing is Eddy, this center is a workhorse and believe me, I built my system around the ability of this center speaker.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Are the new B&W 705s out of your price range (about $12-1500/pair? A local B&W retailer (Spearit Sound) was raving about them recently, but didn't yet have a pair in stock. And there's an absolutely glowing review in this month's Stereophile. As I recall, these are the replacement for the CDM-1NT line, and brings that Nautilus technology/design into a lower price-range. Worth checking out if these meet your budget, I'd think.

(Here's a link to B&W's page for the 700 series speakers: http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/...20700%20Series

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Didn't care for the 705s, and I don't think they are in his price range anyway, it's quite abit more than the monitor series... way more. Superior certainly, but if he likes the oomph of the digms, he may not like the thinness of the B&Ws.

 

[David Judah]

Thinness by B&W's? That's a first.

DJ

 

[cabreau]

Look at my home theater link and you'll see how they can be wall mounted. It's easy. I'd got with Atoms instead of the ADP-170's. I don't think it's worth spending all that money on surrounds (man, Evan M. convinces me of so many things, thank God).

Atoms for surrounds and whatever sounds good to you up front.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Thinness/brightness, forwardness, obviously words are a poor way of describing things, but depending on your musical tastes and speaker tastes you may or may not like this.

I personally found the B&W 705s very nicely detailed, however, they are forward/bright/detailed with a thinness in the bass, which sounded amazing on sparse recordings, and especially classical music, jazz, etc. However, I listen to a very broad range, and so where I need some oomph and bass extension to be there, I felt it was lacking. This is one case where I would violate my normal "better bookshelf over a tower at the same price" preference, and would probably get a floorstanding version with some more drivers to help with the low end.

FYI, I ended up with Dynaudio Audience 52SE which are perfectly everything that I want in sound. It was quite obvious to me that the 705s, while nice, weren't for me. I would have preferred the new studio 20s over the 705s, though I definitley felt the 705s had much better imaging, and less muddy in the lows, just not enough oomph, i guess you could say. Oh I give up with the words...

 

[Paul Rosen]

Eddy:

I was in roughly the same position that you are in about a month ago, although I was also auditioning Klipsch's reference series as well. I was basically towrn between the Paradigm monitors and B&W 600 series.

In the end, I went with the B&W 600 series. I went with the LCR60 for the center and 601's all around for the L/R and surrounds. After about 2 weeks I loved the B&Ws so much, I went out and upgraded the fronts to 604's, which are absolutely incredible.

Paul

 

[EddyObregon]

cool. By the way let me thank all you guys for being so helpful. You guys have answered all my question. These forums are the best.

 

[EddyObregon]

by the way where did you by those wall brackets for the atoms

 

[Bob*S]

I auditioned both the Paradigm MiniMons and the B&w 602s today. I listened to them at different stores so it was a less-than-ideal comparison.

The B&Ws were driven by a Yamaha 2400 and to be honest I was not very impressed. At modest volumes listening to a variety of music, the 602s sounded "congested" through the lower-midrange. I may take a listen to them again but at a different store since I feel that may have been part of the problem.

The Paradigms were another story. I had almost allowed myself to be talked out of auditioning them.

The dealer had sold out of them so these were new speakers with only about 30 hours of break-in time. They were mated with the CC-370, Atoms for the rear with a PDR-8 sub. They were driven by a Denon 3803. I was really impressed with the overall tonality and the solid imaging. I did feel, however, that the CC-370 was a little too present which I am guessing kept the fronts from providing much depth. To be fair, I came in and they needed to get everything set up so I'm not certain how carefully everything was balanced. The speakers did well with a variety of music and DVD but I feel like I need to spend some more time with them to see is they can achieve more depth. I do suspect that these speakers do better much with a power source that can throw a few extra watts their way.

Since my media room is small(only 10x10)with the listening position about 7.5' from the fronts and only a couple feet in the rear, we agreed that using the ADP-170s might be a better option for rears even if it means giving up a bit for discrete multi-channel music.

I think that I prefer the Paradigms to the Monitor Audio Bronze setup I previously auditioned but am going to give this another listen, as well.

I also plan to audition the KEF Q series and the Phase Technology Velocity series. Both of these are said to have very good imaging and to create an expansive sound stage. The KEFs with their Uni-Q system have particularly good dispersion I am told which should be beneficial in my small space.

Anyone, have have thoughts or suggestions on any of this.

Thanks-
Bob

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Regardless, it looks like you're going about your auditioning as best and thoroughly as you can, so whatever your choice, you should be happy.



Though i'd probably go for a sub better than the PDR8, an SVS would kick some major rear.

 

[WayneO]

I think stores never cabibrate the speakers right when testing centers and rears so that's probably what caused the problem with the center IMO. I think you'll like the Phase Techs, they were a close second behind the Paradigms when I auditioned them.

 

[Bob*S]

Chris-

I should have mentioned that I've pretty much decided on the SVS 25-31 PCi. I think a cylindrical sub would be give me the best trade-off od deep bass in a small footprint. I'd considered the HSU subs too but their cylinders are much taller and make too much of a physical statement in a 10x 10 room.

I'm going to re-audition the Paradigms with the ADP-170 and will make certain I know how they balanced out the system.

Thanks for the input about this and the Phase Techs, Wayne. Unfortunately, I have to trek well over 2 hours to a place I would typically only be near if on my way to Yosemite.

Bob

 

[Bob*S]

I went back to the Paradigm dealer today to take a listen to the same setup I auditioned yesterday. The center channel was not so nearly pronounced and the depth improved considerably. They said that they made no adjustments in the setup but they did confirm that the center had been in use considerably longer than the mains. Is it really possible that another 24 hours of use (they said they had them running overnight again) could make a significant difference in the depth of the soundstage?

Bob

 

[EddyObregon]

hey guys i have a question. Since im going to use atoms as rears. Should i by the omni mounts to connect them on my rear wall. The atom is rear ported so shoudl i worry about having it to close to my back wall. The mounts let the atoms stay about 2 inches away from the wall

 

[WayneO]

Maybe if they came right out of the box when you listened to them, but I doubt that. Your mood and perception can easily change from one day to the next, so I wouldn't be suprised if they sounded different during different auditions even being setup the same. I know some people say the speaker break-in is voodoo intended to make you keep speakers past the demo/return period, but I noticed an improvement with my Monitor 11's after 40 hours or so of use.