Convince me! (1 Viewer)

[James Gurney]

I went out to audition speakers this evening. Based on recommendations, I listened to some Paradigms. Then, switched over to some B&W speakers (700 series, specifically, the 704 - I'd post a link, but I haven't made 15 posts yet so it won't let me - they're pretty easy to find on the bwspeakers.com site).

Anyway, to me the B&W speakers sounded absolutely superb. Noticeably better than the Paradigms, but they do push my overall HT budget up considerably.

My thought on this is.. maybe I buy a slightly lower end projector. The speakers are going to last me years, right? Projectors, on the other hand, are advancing all the time, and 2 or 3 years from now, I'll be able to buy a much better projector than the one I get now, for the same or less.. Does this sound logical to those of you who have been doing this for a while?

Cheers!

James

 

[SethH]

Your thoughts are very logical. I would suggest either doing as you mentioned or continuing to save money until you can afford the things you want. If you buy lower-end speakers now you'll never be satisfied with them because of the "what if" factor.

 

[Scott Oliver]

I think your thought process is right on, speakers should definately be thought of as the longer term purchase.

You might want to keep checking out other lines of speakers at other stores in Seattle. Who knows you may be able to find a brand that equals, betters, etc. the performance of the B&W's at a price that falls in your budget.

Also, don't know what projector you have your eyes on right now, but the Panasonic AE700 is a gem at a great price.

 

[Drew_W]

What Paradigms did you compare to ?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

And you'll probably find the budget projector to be good enough, and not want to replace it for a few years anyway.

 

[James Gurney]

Drew, I listened to the Studio 60 Paradigms:

(Grr, this URL posting limitation is annoying - here are the specs, but you'll need to add on www and copy/paste the rest of the URL)

paradigm.com/Website/SiteReferenceProduct/RModels/StudioSeries/StudioSpecs.html

Don't get me wrong - they sounded great.. but when we switched to the B&W 700 series, it just sounded so much better.

This evening I'm going to another place where they use Triad speakers, so I'll have a listen to those as well.

 

[Drew_W]

This is why we audition...different people different tastes. Your patience will be rewarded I'm sure!

 

[SethH]

Quick question: what was powering the B&W's when you auditioned? I ask because B&W's (especially the 700's and 800's) are usually hooked up to some pretty high-end amps in showrooms. You might want to take your receiver amp to the showroom to demo, if possible, so you'll know exactly what you're getting.

 

[James Gurney]

It was hooked up to the same receiver I'm considering buying, which is the Rotel RSX-1056..

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I own the RSX-1056. I also have the B&W 602 bookshelf mains, LCR600 Center and 601 surrounds. It all sounds amazing. I've never heard the 700 series, but I'm sure you will be satisfied. The 700 series was out of my range.

 

[Drew_W]

And you heard the Paradigms on the same Rotel?

 

[James Gurney]

Yup, all through the same receiver. I'm by no means done auditioning yet though. Got a few more places to visit first!