Good receiver match for B&W 602S2's (1 Viewer)

[Pete Jennings]

Hello all,
My out of warranty Pioneer Elite VSX26-TX has started experiencing problems with the DSP board. Sound started cutting out and sometimes it takes 10+ minutes after powerup to finally output sound. I am going to have a local shop re-solder the DSP's (I found the locations in another thread) in a cheap attempt to fix it, but will not shell out $400+ for a new DSP board if it is going bad.
What receiver would YOU mate with the 602S2's? I'm trying to narrow it down to three or four before auditioning, and I will have a maximum of $1500 to spend. I don't plan on going past a 5.1 surround setup, and have B&W 600 series 2 speakers all the way around.
I do like the way the Elite sounds with the B&W's, but wonder about Marantz (specifically the SR-19EX) or Rotel or perhaps the NAD model lines paired with them. I don't have a local dealer that can demo the Marantz or NAD with 602's, so I will have to road trip it.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Pete

 

[Philip Hamm]

I like my Onkyo 919 with 602s.
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Philip Hamm
AIM: PhilBiker

 

[Pete Jennings]

Thanks Philip, I'll have to keep an eye (ear) out for the Onkyo.
Pete

 

[Carl Philip]

i´ve been auditioning the 603´s and 604´s with both a NAD and a Marantz receiver and i must say the NAD didn´t sound good at all together with the B&W´s. the sound was harsh with a lot of treble and not much bass at all.
but when i auditioned with the Marantz (7200) it was a totally different thing

the treble was wonderful, not harsh at all and the bass/mid was great. it was a greater soundstage with better channel-separation with the Marantz. The sound was a lot warmer than with the NAD
I´m having a Yamaha 795a which is driving my 603s at the moment, but i´m gonna upgrade to a Marantz as soon as i can afford it
good luck
[Edited last by Carl Philip on October 23, 2001 at 06:54 AM]

 

[MarshawnM]

Pete,
I have the 603S2 in front and the 602s2's in the rear witn the LCM center and a Velodyne sub all this with my new 797 Onkyo (upgraded from the 787). I think that this setup sounds great. I think you can't go wrong with the Onkyo 797 or 898, or the Denon 3802 or 4802. All four are quality pieces. Good luck and spread the word about those B&W 602S2's...
Marshawn

 

[george king]

How about going separates? You could get a Parasound HCA885 (85 watts X 5, which should be enough unless you have a large room or like it really loud). The MSRP dropped, so you should be able to find it for $400-500 new. Then you could pick up a preamp at a reasonable price. Rotel has the RSP 976 which could be had for around $1k, give or take.
Hope this helps.

 

[Russell _T]

For $1500.00 you could try the Outlaw 1050 as a pre/pro mated with their 750 amp. Good sound.
Russ

 

[Dennis B]

Pete,
I also have 602-S2s hooked up to my Marantz SR-7200 and it's just amazing. Way to go.
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[Pete Jennings]

Well, I ended up picking up a Marantz SR-7200 from a local B&M a little over a week ago. Two channel stereo is absolutely amazing! I didn't realize how poorly my Elite 26TX actually sounded in stereo... The imaging and sound (using source direct) on the Marantz is just incredible. I am picking up on details on CD's that I have never noticed before. Movies sound about as good on the Marantz as they did on the Elite (which was very good.)
However... The Marantz SR-7200 has problems and will go back to the dealer. I am getting major switching noise (loud pops) through the speakers occasionally when I switch sources, and minor ones when I skip songs on CD's or chapters on a DVD. These are not, I repeat *NOT*, the sounds of a relay switching on. Also, I had friends over for a poker game last night, and was demoing "Hotel California" on the Eagles Live CD when a friend asked me to raise the volume slightly higher than my usual "jamming mood" volume. The Marantz started sounding constrained. It basically ran out of headroom and choked. I was very shocked. I realise that I was pushing the unit hard, but the Elite 26TX would NOT have choked at this volume. The dealer wants to replace the unit as defective, at this point I am leaning toward asking for a refund.

I did travel to Metairie LA today to hear a Rotel RSX-972 setup with my identical speakers. I was VERY impressed! I have never heard so much bass come out of a pair of 602's! The only reason I didn't walk out of the showroom with the unit was that $1299 for a non-DD 6.1/DPLII receiver with only 75wpc (yeah, I know, high current - but I have a BIG room!) this late in the feature wars race is pointless. If I had been able to wrangle the dealer down off the $1299 price I might have bought it anyway. After I picked up a Rotel brochure I noticed the new RSX-1065 - yum!!! Luckily (?) he didn't have one in stock or I would have probably brought it home. Gulp! Did I actually say that? $2000? Arghhhhhh!
I think I will probably return the Marantz Monday, and take another road trip... searching for the perfect audio solution for me...
So the quest continues!
Pete

 

[Norm Strong]

You don't "mate" receivers with speakers. You just pick one that can drive the speakers.

 

[Dennis B]

You're twice right there, Paul, as the 7200 both sounds great and have problems. However, mine so far only has the CD dropout problem, so I'll stick with it for a while to see if I get this fixed. On the other hand, Rotel rocks, on another price level. Hope you can get what you like better. :smile:

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Also one needs to be very wary about comparing how speakers sound in a listening room with superb damping etc as compared to how it sounds at home.
Maybe the Rotel wouldn't work as well in your home as it did in the store either.
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/Kimmo

 

[Pete Jennings]

Superb damping? You have got to be kidding. This dealer had setup the Rotel, B&W 602/S2's, B&W 601/S2's and a B&W CC6 in a 16 x 10 room that had a glass wall facing the parking lot. The 602's were about two feet too wide for the listening position, and he demoed the whole thing using a Samsung DVD carousel player that was sitting on an unbalanced shelf. In his defense he did have two other rooms that were "superbly" dampened with wall coverings and carpets, but was demoing higher end equipment in those rooms (B&W 800 series, Paradigm reference, Vandersteen etc.)
I have no doubt that it would sound different in my room, it would probably sound much better!

I plan on taking another road trip early in the morning to a different store for another try. I am not dead set on the Rotel stuff yet, but am definitely leaning in that direction. They do make some sexy looking equipment!!!! As long as the store allows returns I may give them a try.
Pete

 

[Pete Jennings]

Well... I heard both of the Rotel receivers, and was impressed with the RSX-1065 big time! Unfortunately I couldn't get over the total price - $2139 w/ tax. I decided to go with a Marantz SR-19EX for $1502 delivered from Reliable Audio (aka Uncles' Stereo). The SR-14/18/19EX's have apparently been discontinued, and are an excellent buy right now.
Hopefully this should do me for a few years. I can live without DPLII and have no plans to expand past a 5.1 setup in my present home. The SR-19EX has none of the present SR-x200 line's quality problems, and has a THX crossover (80Hz) instead of the dreaded 100Hz of the lower Marantz lines. The extra power (130x x 5) doesn't hurt either. In the end, I enjoyed the Marantz two-channel "sound" the best!
Thanks for the interest!
Pete