new center/surrounds to go with B&W 602s (1 Viewer)

[Bryan_P]

My dad is looking for a new center channel or surrounds (both eventually, but probably not both at the same time) to go with his B&W 602s. Currently, he has a Denon AVR-3800 receiver with the B&Ws up front, as well as a Celestion Center-2. His surrounds are Bose 701s (I know, I know, but at the time he got them for practically nothing) and he has a Sunfire subwoofer. The system is used almost exclusively for movies and television.

He was thinking of getting either the B&W LCR60 or 600 for the center and possibly for the surrounds as well. However, they might turn out to be a bit pricey, as he's looking at price range of around $450.

Does anyone have any recommendations? He'll go away from B&Ws, but was just looking at those because of how good the 602s sound.

If anyone has any suggestions, as well as what components to upgrade first (surrounds or center), it would really help. Thanks!

 

[GarySI]

Obviously the LCR600 is out. That will run you at least $375, even on ebay. You might be able to get a 60, but with a budget like that you'll be hard pressed to get the 601's with it. I have the 602's, 601's and a CC6(which will be replaced with the LCR 600). I managed to get the 601's on ebay for $180, mind you they had a couple of corners damaged but nothing that affected the sound. I repaired the corners and it looks great.
Personally I would try to get Dad to cough up some more bucks. Better yet, why not buy them for him for Christmas?

 

[Bryan_P]

Ha ha, Christmas, that's funny. I wish I had that kind of money. I'm getting the impression that if you want new B&W speakers, you have to pay retail, as opposed to most that you can find much cheaper at various internet retailers. Is that impression correct?

 

[CharlesD]

I have 602s as my fronts and a LCR60 as the center. No complaints from me As mentioned above he won't be able to get the center and 601s for the budget mentioned. Maybe your Dad should do what I'm doing and just buy one component at a time. I got the LCR60 first, then the 602s and will eventually pick up some 601 for the rears. The B&W speakers sound great and it would be a shame to skimp (especially on the center channel) just to get something quickly.

 

[Brian L]

I just went through a similar upgrade to match my 604 mains.

I got a CC6 (mint, BTW) for about $250 on ebay. I was also able to buy a pair of 601s from a friend for $200. So, for what you want to spend, you will need to go used, but it can be done.

Whatever you do, stay with B&W, preferably 6 series stuff. I had dissimilar rears and center for quite a while, and while they worked OK, the soundstage improved a great deal when I got the 601's and CC6.

BGL