advice on bookshelves

[llightsout190]

I have recently started redesigning my home theater/Hi Fi setup. Like allot of people I started off getting into basic home theater then becoming more and more interested in high quality audio for music thus becoming the audiophile. lol, although I am far from being an audiophile yet. Until recently I was running a 3.1 system with some small Kef satellites for front left and right and center, along with a 200 watt Kef sub. I moved into a newly built home were I had rear surround speaker wires installed in the ceiling and have recently installed in ceiling speakers for the left and right surrounds. The speakers I chose were Bowers and Wilkins CCM665 in ceiling speakers and they sound great. As a matter of fact they are now out-performing my front Kef satellites which have very small drivers. And a home theater isn't supposed to be this way. Aside from that, because I have been getting more into music these days I find the little Kef's are lacking allot in two channel stereo performance because of the small driver size they have, a .75 inch tweeter and two 2 inch mids. They sound great for home theater (believe me they would blow any BOSE lifestyle system away) however even with the sub they are not quite up to par in two channel. As a matter of fact I find these days I am listening to music in multichannel stereo just to get the Bowers and Wilkins involved because they sound that good. But traditionally this is not normally how I would listen to music.

So what I am now looking to do is replace the 3 satellites in the front with something that will sound much letter with music especially when playing through only the left and right. I have decided that some good quality bookshelves will suit my needs and fit my budget. I'm going to keep the Kef sub for the time being. I am considering the following 4 speakers along with a matching center:

Bowers and Wilkins 685 S2
Monitor Audio Silver One
Kef R100
Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55

I am wondering if anyone has experience with any of these and their opinions of each. I am using a Marantz SR5010 AVR and my main sources of music are from a Cambridge Audio Topaz CD10 player, streaming with Spotify app through the Marantz and accessing FLAC music files off a NAS drive through the Marantz.

Looking forward to your response.

 

[shadyJ]

Any of those speakers should be pretty good. Of those, I would probably lean toward the KEFS or maybe Monitor. One speaker that deserves inclusion in this range is the Revel Concerto2 M16 speakers, which I would might be more partial to over the KEFS and Monitors.

 

[Bucknekked]

the Revel Concerta speakers get a good review on AH. if shadyj likes 'em, I like 'em too.
Revel Concerta2 M16

 

[llightsout190]

Thanks, I plan on checking some out over the next few days and will give an update on my impressions.

 

[lovinthehd]

I've heard the B&W 685s, didn't care for them. Maybe I heard the DT but don't really remember the model number (same time as the B&W), but that apparently didn't impress me enough to even remember the model number I ended up trying Ascend Sierra-1s after that shopping trip and love 'em, would really like to try the other offerings in the Sierra lineup, too. Good luck in your quest!