Getting a new center for my B&W 603 S2´s (1 Viewer)

[Carl Philip]

hello guys
i have a pair of B&W 603 S2´s as fronts and an old crappy center from my old system before this upgradeitis came to me
however, i borrowed a B&W LCR60 S3 the other day and watched some movies and also the Eagles - HFO concert and i liked it a lot and i tried setting it as 'large' and it improved the voices a bit. but i wonder if i should consider the more expensive B&W LCR600 S3 with my fronts. When I compared the 2 of them in the store, the smaller LCR60 sounded better, but that was mostly due to the fact that the LCR600 wasn´t broken in yet :frowning:
they gave me the price of $300 on the smaller center and about $470 on the bigger one.
what i want is peoples voices in the movies to become more realistic, more powerful and more bass than before. got a little of this with the LCR60, but i guess i would get more with the LCR600.
oh and btw my amp is a Yamaha RXV-795RDS, approx. 5*85W in 8ohm.
well i need your advice, i don´t know which one to get.
/Carl Philip

 

[Arron H]

Hi Carl,

They are both nice center speakers. I would recommend the larger LCR600 if it fits within your budget. I have 603 S2's matched with an LCR6 S2 (the larger of the S2 center speakers) and this combo sounds wonderful in my 16x14 living room.

You may also want to look for a used LCR6 S2. I am not sure if there is a huge difference between the S2 & S3 center speakers but it may be better to go with all S2 or all S3 in order to assure that you have exact timbre matching.

 

[Carl Philip]

yeah i can afford the bigger LCR600 S3 center, but i wonder if i really would benefit from it.
i´m gonna borrow that center and try it at home as well before i´ll make up my mind. however the LCR600 is somehow more tempting than the smaller one

 

[James Bergeron]

What about a shielded 602?

 

[Arron H]

i´m gonna borrow that center and try it at home as well before i´ll make up my mind.

Very good idea. It always helps if you can audition at home before you make a decision.

 

[rodneyH]

the CDM is what I would recommend, I was looking at the LCR6 to match my 602s, I ended up getting the CDMcNT for only 100$ more, I liked it so much I ended up getting the CDM7NTs later. Give it a listen (and check your e-mail)

 

[Carl Philip]

rodney: hmm, you have a point there. honestly i´ve been thinking about auditioning that speaker for some time now but never done it yet.
just checked the price on that one at my dealer and he said $550. that´s almost outside my budget though but on the other hand it´s the most important speaker in the HT
but that´s just a thought, maybe i´ll stick to that LCR600. problem is that i will probably want to upgrade the speakers again pretty soon :/
right now i´m leaning towards the LCR600 and looks like a buy isn´t too far away

 

[kevitra]

I have the same dilema as you. I auditioned the LCR60 and LCR600 today.

My room is 20x22. My main speakers are ACI Sapphire IIIs (yeah, I know they won't timber match..the only B&Ws that compete with the Sapphires are in the Nautilus line which is way above my range). ACI dosen't have a center, so I have to try to match as closely as possible. B&Ws always 'sort-of' had the same sound.

I listened to both centers with all of the other speakers off. I listened to both movies and music. The only real difference I could hear was the LCR600 has more bass (as expected from the larger drivers). Treble and midrange were very close.

My dealer offers 10% off of everything. That puts the LCR600 at $450 and the LCR60 at $315 (if $500 and $350 are the correct MSRP..don't remember at the moment).

I am leaning toward the 60 for now. This dealer offers 100% money back for trade up if within 1 year.

I am also considering the DM600 S3s for surrounds. I need to wall-mount and they come with the brackets. Any opinions on this?

 

[Carl Philip]

kevitra: thanks for that comparation info. i´ve been thinking a lot about it and i´ve decided to get the LCR60 after all. i guess it would give me the most bang for the buck.

one downside with the new centers from B&W is that they´re very badly shielded. i can´t put the LCR60 on top of my tv without getting magnetic interference :/
so i have to put it underneath to make it work (not that it matters very much, but still..)