5.1 Setup Help ( B&W, Monitor Audio, Elac)

[mvcommercial]

Hi All

I am trying to piece together a 5.1 system for my Family room. The room is 12x16x9 (1900 cubic feet) it is also open to a kitchen and a hallway. The majority of usage is 80 percent movies/TV and 20 percent music. I have gone to about 5 audio shops in the Toronto area (canada) and have listened to many different brands.
These are the choices i have narrowed them down to.

1. Monitor Audio Bronze ($950 cdn for pair of fronts and center. Brand new from dealer)
front L\R : Bronze 5
Center: Bronze center

2. B&W 600 series S2 ($1400 cdn for pair of fronts and center. 6 month old trade in to dealer )
front L\R : 683 S2
Center : HTM 61 S2

3. Elac Uni-fi ( $1600 cdn for pair of fronts and center. brand new from dealer. )
Front L\R : UF5
Center : UC5

I was very happy with sound with all three of these. not a bad thing to say.

monitor audio : very clean but not bright. in your face db.....
Elac : warm, and crystal clear...
B&W: loud, crisp and ground shaking.

the rest of the setup would consist of these options.

AVR : Pioneer elite SC-91
Marrantz : SR-6010
Denon AVR-x4200w

Sub: SVS PB-1000
SVS PB-2000
JL Audio E-110 (Demo)

I cant seem to make up mind. I enjoyed all three and all the dealers have different opinions. What would be an ideal path to take. considering it is not a dedicated home theater. (possible dedicated HT room project in the future)

Thanks

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

So , None of the shops you'd visited had PSB speakers in stock?

 

[KEW]

Is their a reason you did not consider a higher level of Monitor Audio?
I really don't know their pricing, but I would expect the Silver to sound better and be priced close to the B&W or Elac options.
Aside from the PSB's (made in Canada) that BSA mentions above, check out the Martin Logan Motion Series (Best Buy has them in the US, so I guess Future Shop might have although they are a Magnolia Room item). They have a very good sound, but I have no idea what their pricing is in Canada. I think your budget could handle the bookshelf versions.

 

[mvcommercial]

Yes they did. I demoed the

PSB Imagine X1T
Kef Q700
Elac Debut F5
Paradigm Monitor 9

All of these still sounded great. but they did not make the cut. I felt they were all very bright.

 

[mvcommercial]

The Monitor Audio Silver 8 sound amazing. But have a premium price. the B&W 683 S2's are only on the list because they are trade ins.

The MA silver line would almost cost double from the elac unifi

 

[mvcommercial]

I will go and demo the Martin Logan motion 20. thanks

 

[mvcommercial]

For a $450 difference between b&w used and MA bronze new. are the b&w 683 s2 that much better ?

 

[mvcommercial]

Potential final setup

AVR: Pioneer Elite SC-91
Sub: SVS PB-1000
Front L/R : B&W 683s2
Center : B&W htm 61 s2
Rears : paradigm ci home h55 (already installed)

 

[mvcommercial]

I have decided to go with the B&W 683 S2 Floor standing and the B&W HTM 61 S2

http://www.bowers-wilkins.net/Speake...eries/683.html

http://www.bowers-wilkins.net/Speake...ies/HTM61.html


the rear channels which are already installed are Paradigm CI Home LCR which i have removed from my fornt channels and will be swapped out with exisitng smaller paradigm in walls. (bigger is better)

as for the Sub it will probably come down to PB-1000 ($499usd / $699cdn) or PB-2000 ($799usd / $1119 cdn)

And based on everyone's comment on avs forum. the AVR choice will be either Denon avr-x 4200w or Marrantz SR-6010. Both of these units are on sale right now for $999 cdn. ($742 usd)


Is this a good approach? any other recommendations?




Thanks

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I vote for Monitor Audio, Denon, and either of the SVS subs.

 

[mvcommercial]

I vote for Monitor Audio, Denon, and either of the SVS subs.

So I am curious to know why you choose monitor audio bronze over b&w 683 s2

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So I am curious to know why you choose monitor audio bronze over b&w 683 s2

1. I think they will sound on par with each other
2. MA usually has better speaker measurements than B&W
3. MA is less expensive for you

 

[<eargiant]

I have decided to go with the B&W 683 S2 Floor standing and the B&W HTM 61 S2

I think you made a good choice. I recently had the Monitor Audio Bronze 2's in my home for a week in a two channel set-up and I was not impressed with them at all.

I may start a separate thread and post my thoughts and observations.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

http://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-683-s2-loudspeaker-measurements#PeIW9BsGI25szTum.97

Listening-window FR from 200Hz-10kHz is about -6dB, +2.5dB, so total deviation is about 8.5dB, which is typical mediocre B&W frequency response, IMO. And, of course, as usual, the off-axis FR is pretty bad like all B&W speakers, even their $30K B&W 800 speakers.

As long as they sound great to you, that's what counts.

But if you ever think, "Hmm, I wonder if I can get better sound in my system because the on-axis and off-axis FR of these speakers are not good?", then it's not so good.

 

[<eargiant]

http://www.stereophile.com/content/bowers-wilkins-683-s2-loudspeaker-measurements#PeIW9BsGI25szTum.97

Listening-window FR from 200Hz-10kHz is about -6dB, +2.5dB, so total deviation is about 8.5dB, which is typical mediocre B&W frequency response, IMO. And, of course, as usual, the off-axis FR is pretty bad like all B&W speakers, even their $30K B&W 800 speakers.

As long as they sound great to you, that's what counts.

But if you ever think, "Hmm, I wonder if I can get better sound in my system because the on-axis and off-axis FR of these speakers are not good?", then it's not so good.

Do you have the measurements for the Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (newest model)? I haven't been able to find them.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Do you have the measurements for the Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (newest model)? I haven't been able to find them.

No. I can't find any.

Can only find MA Silver FR.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-8-loudspeaker-measurements#X11p2CXGm52QQRI3.97

 

[<eargiant]

No. I can't find any.

Can only find MA Silver FR.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-8-loudspeaker-measurements#X11p2CXGm52QQRI3.97

I was curious to see what the B2 graph showed (to compare with what I heard). FWIW, within seconds one can tell that the Bronze do not sound like the Silvers.

I'll provide more details in another thread.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I was curious to see what the B2 graph showed (to compare with what I heard). FWIW, within seconds one can tell that the Bronze do not sound like the Silvers.

I'll provide more details in another thread.

How did you compare them?

You compared them side-by-side with instant switching and volume level-matching?

 

[mvcommercial]

How did you compare them?

You compared them side-by-side with instant switching and volume level-matching?

No i did not. the first shop carried B&W and Paradigm only, the second shop had monitor audio (and others) but no B&W the third shop only had elac. and the fourth shop had monitor audio, focal, pMC etc.. i did however test them all in 4 hour time frame. most of the setups i heard were running of a 2 channel setup wit a rotel amp or something similar. so yes i See where you are going with this. wish i could have listened to them all together.....

 

[<eargiant]

How did you compare them?

You compared them side-by-side with instant switching and volume level-matching?

When I do this at home I used to always use my SPL meter as well as a switch box that can switch between amps, speakers & adjust speaker volume independently but at this point in the game I also trust my ears as I know what to listen for and how to listen for it. I am comfortable relying on just listening to a broad range of tracks that I am very familiar with as long as I can control the volume myself. I will often listen to the same tracks at different volume levels to see how the speaker conveys the track.

At the shop I did not have the SPL meter but I have been at this game for a while and am fully aware how a minute difference in sound level can make one speaker sound better or different over another to the inexperienced listener (interestingly, you would think the Monitor Audio Bronze 2 would have had the advantage over the other speakers I listened to due to their high efficiency but my ears didn't buy it).

On this specific occasion, I went to the shop with my own Macbook Pro and my own DAC. I streamed my Tidal account through my Roon player (FLAC, Hi-Rez, MQA). I intently listened to about 20-30 tracks that I am very, very, very familiar with. Each has something different that I listen for that tells me something about how a speaker performs.

FWIW, the Monitor Audio dealer agreed with my assessment that the Silvers were a different animal and a step in the right direction toward higher fidelity (and no, he wasn't trying to up-sell me since he knew I was strictly looking for a budget set). His associate also agreed with me and told me he used to own the MAB2's and upgraded to one of the Totems I mentioned.