Satellites or B&W? (1 Viewer)

[Kenny Li]

Hi all,

I'm sure most of you have already read my previous posts, but anyway, I'm trying to set up a HT setup in my 350 sq. ft. living/dining room. I pretty much decided to get B&Ws, but my designer suggested that I consider more "discrete" speakers instead of the floorstanding B&Ws.

Would you guys suggest that I go with the B&Ws or are there any satellites I can consider for the size of my room? Will I be losing a lot in sound quality with Sats?

Thanks,
Kenny

 

[Ernest Yee]

I think rule #1 in terms of designing a "home theater" is to disregard the opinion of your interior decorator.

If you want to go a more expensive route, you might want to consider Triads.

 

[Owen Bartley]

Yeah, your designer is probably not very concerned with the dynamic range of your HT, just making the space look pretty. You could compromise and get some nice bookshelves and a sub, but by the time you put them on a stand they might as well be towers anyway. Besides, B&W make some very nice, elegant looking speakers, its not like they'd be a total eyesore.

 

[Michael Clayton]

Ditto. If you like the B&W's best, then get them. Like Owen said, B&Ws aren't bad looking at all.

You're buying the speakers for sound, not decor. Someone I wouldn't doubt it if your designer recommended Bose... *ducks*

 

[Dan Halchak]

I would whole heartedly consider the B&Ws. Get a set of bookshelve speakers with stands if you are conscerned about space...they won't take up "quite" as much room and are a little more flexible. I don't know what range of B&Ws you were looking at but the DM602 S3s are awesome!!!! Definitely check them out...or some of the higher range ones.

Never let an interior designer tell you what to do with HT. Let them do the rest of the house, but never the HT room.

...and just some incentive to say it can be done, my below HT is sitting in a 9*11*8 room...and sounds awesome. Can't wait till they fill in the bigger HT room once it's built this summer!

 

[TimMc]

Your designer isn't the one who'll be listening to and living with your choice. I'd guess you chose the B&Ws because you really like them - mostly for the sound, but they were visually OK, too (and some of the B&W floorstanders are downright elegant). And for the size of your room I don't think the B&Ws will overwhelm that space visually. But then I'm not a designer for hire...

Hey - if you decide you don't want to go w/ the B&Ws could you just ship them over this way? I think I could convince "she who must be obeyed" that they could fit our decor somewhere/somehow ;-).

 

[JohnnyN]

his designer "might" be living with and listening to his choices, if his designer is his wife.

remember WAF? Nautilus 805 all around + SVS... what more could a man ask for?

 

[Ernest Yee]

Umm a wife that wants the same?

 

[Michael Clayton]

In shopping for my system, all my fiancee says is "get whatever you want, as long as it comes in black."

Easy to please.

 

[Kenny Li]

Thanks for your comments.

The B&W setup I'm looking at is:

B&W DM603 S3 x 2 (Main)
B&W LCR60 S3 (Center)
B&W DM600 S3 x 2 (Rear)
B&W ASW675 (Subwoofer)

No, my wife/fiancee is not my designer, but we both do want to listen to his input so that we don't make our living room too overwhelming. I thought about using bookshelves, but like someone mentioned, with the stands, it's pretty much the size and cost of floorstanding speakers. Fortunately, my fiancee likes the B&Ws, so she's okay with them although we both would prefer smaller speakers if it is possible not to compromise too much on sound quality. We're not crazy on getting 100% "perfect" sound, just something that will sound "good" and worth our while to spend money on a HT system.

 

[Mark Danner]

I have almost the same exact setup you are looking for. A couple of suggestions, go for the LCR600 and 601's for the rear. Then scrap the B&W sub for a cheaper but better SVS. I have that setup minus the subwoofer and it sounds great! I will add an SVS sub when I move out of the townhome. The LCR600 is pretty impressive.