Really confused because I know nothing anymore

T

ThunderClap

Audioholic
I've been out of the game for a decade - I had an awesome 5.1 Klipsch setup for many years and then kids yadda ..

Then I recently flirted with Bose and their convenience ,...and price and trickery etc ...

Then was in BB and tried the 686 B&W Speakers and wow , passion for great Audio rekindled.

My Questions - those speakers are they music speakers? do I need a Sub? will I get that SURROUND sound from them - immersion at least frontal - or are they for sipping wine and listening to Dave Matthews ? NOT MY STYLE

I like LOUD - I like IMMERSION foremost ... the price if great on these ...

I want to play FORZA 5 and hear the cars whip by my face - you know what I mean?

Are these those speakers ?

OR truthfully and I better with a sounder that can mimic that faux surround ? Sonons, Bose, Yamaha all have these now and Klipsch ...

Guy told me tonite NOBODY does 5.1 anymore people all want soundbars and apparently the millennial generation buys strictly soundbars and are floating that market ....

Steer me folks...
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
Yes you can build a 5.1 setup around 686. I myself would stay away from Bose, Sonos and Yamaha speakers. And do yourself a favor, stay as far as you can from those soundbars. Any one who wants quality surround sound will build a 5.1 setup.

2 pair of 282 S2 with HTM62 S2 and good sub would make a nice 5.1 setup if your room is not huge. Speakers alone would be around 1k$ I believe? Do you have receiver? If not, what would be your budget for receiver? And what would be your budget for sub and room size?
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
Guy told me tonite NOBODY does 5.1 anymore people all want soundbars and apparently the millennial generation buys strictly soundbars and are floating that market
Only multiple speakers, 5.1 or more, can give you surround sound. Every audiophile knows that. Your choice is between an audiophile system or a convenient and cheap upgrade to your TV speakers.

If you want the former, stick around and listen to the advice and knowledge here.
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
There really is no different between speakers for music and thos
'e for HT. But, some sound better on the latter then the former.

If a speaker sounds good on plain vanilla stereo, then they will sound great for HT. The opposite is not always true. HT depends on boom, sizzle and sound effects and that doesn't require great speakers.

Since music is important to you, always, I repeat, ALWAYS bring CD's you're familiar with and audition using only the front two speakers, with no subwoofer.

That way, you will get the true nature of the speakers.

As to whether they for you, only you can tell by listening to them.

Once that's done, you can augment the missing low end with a good woofer. The more you can throw at this, the better off you'll be. Taint no big deal.

as for immersion, that requires at least five speakers.

All that being said, you can't fool the laws of physics. The job of speakers is to move air and the bigger the speaker, the more air it can move. don't expect small speakers to play loud, particularly in a large room.

But, if you mainly listen to two channel music, or simply want a "bigger" sound, you can get larger right and left mains and a center speaker that will fit in well with them. Most manufacturers offer a center speaker to match the larger ones in their line.

Well, that's it for me. Good luck and happy listening.
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
My HT began as a stereo system. When Sony came out with the TA-E1000ES 5.1 pre/pro I bought one and added amps, center, sub , and rear speakers, all of which I still enjoy today, albeit with a later model pre/pro. I think my system is pleasing for both HT and music since it began with emphasis on music. Interestingly, my sub is mostly meaningless for music with the exception of some music in the house/dance genre. Considering you are likely to have more opportunities to enjoy music than you will have to enjoy movies, get front speakers which move you the most for the money you can put into it. Today, speaker manufacturers seem to be making truly awesome products for less money than would be expected for great speakers. For example, the JBL Studio 530 sounds great. It has a very cheap looking vinyl veneer MDF cabinet; but, if you can accept that speaker ensconce rather than real walnut veneer, the product becomes very palatable.
 
Last edited:
T

ThunderClap

Audioholic
There really is no different between speakers for music and thos
'e for HT. But, some sound better on the latter then the former.

If a speaker sounds good on plain vanilla stereo, then they will sound great for HT. The opposite is not always true. HT depends on boom, sizzle and sound effects and that doesn't require great speakers.

Since music is important to you, always, I repeat, ALWAYS bring CD's you're familiar with and audition using only the front two speakers, with no subwoofer.

That way, you will get the true nature of the speakers.

As to whether they for you, only you can tell by listening to them.

Once that's done, you can augment the missing low end with a good woofer. The more you can throw at this, the better off you'll be. Taint no big deal.

as for immersion, that requires at least five speakers.

All that being said, you can't fool the laws of physics. The job of speakers is to move air and the bigger the speaker, the more air it can move. don't expect small speakers to play loud, particularly in a large room.

But, if you mainly listen to two channel music, or simply want a "bigger" sound, you can get larger right and left mains and a center speaker that will fit in well with them. Most manufacturers offer a center speaker to match the larger ones in their line.

Well, that's it for me. Good luck and happy listening.
Hey thanx for replying everyone .

I'm mainly looking for great HT sound - movies , bass , explosions over music.

My concern are these B&Ws too soft ? Are they meant more as a stereo sound ?
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
Hey thanx for replying everyone .

I'm mainly looking for great HT sound - movies , bass , explosions over music.

My concern are these B&Ws too soft ? Are they meant more as a stereo sound ?
They will work well for both, stereo music and movies in HT when you pair them with a good sub. In HT use sub is pretty much the most important link specially when you like bass and explosions.
 
T

ThunderClap

Audioholic
They will work well for both, stereo music and movies in HT when you pair them with a good sub. In HT use sub is pretty much the most important link specially when you like bass and explosions.
I think this why Bose has stayed in game - bass.
 
T

ThunderClap

Audioholic
I should set my receiver to Adv surround correct ?
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai
Guy told me tonite NOBODY does 5.1 anymore people all want soundbars and apparently the millennial generation buys strictly soundbars and are floating that market ....
Check their websites, Yamaha, Pioneer, Rotel, Onkyo et. al. are still selling 5.1, 7.1, 9.1 and even 11.1 surround sound receivers to someone. What do millennials know about sound quality anyway? They were raised on MP3s.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
Wow. Talk about a paradigm shift. Starts out talking about quality, immersive, sound and then segues to sound bars.

What's "Adv surround"?
 
T

ThunderClap

Audioholic
No I was just making general conversation about what I'm seeing in some stores I've been to - they are pushing the all in one setup.

Like if you go anywhere tomorrow Costco or an Audio specific store - they will have a Bose cinemate on display.

I was very specific I want immersion and quality.

One listen and I love the B&W sound. Just wanna make sure I do it all correct.

BTW what does it mean crossover?

I see many people say you should set your crossover and such and such?
 
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
No I was just making general conversation about what I'm seeing in some stores I've been to - they are pushing the all in one setup.

Like if you go anywhere tomorrow Costco or an Audio specific store - they will have a Bose cinemate on display.

I was very specific I want immersion and quality.

One listen and I love the B&W sound. Just wanna make sure I do it all correct.

BTW what does it mean crossover?

I see many people say you should set your crossover and such and such?
With crossover you limit the frequency range sent to speakers / sub from your receiver. For speakers you generally don't want to sent frequency under 80Hz as your sub will be handling those frequencies. And for your sub you don't want to sent frequencies over 80Hz as it will make it easier to localise.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
No I was just making general conversation about what I'm seeing in some stores I've been to - they are pushing the all in one setup.

Like if you go anywhere tomorrow Costco or an Audio specific store - they will have a Bose cinemate on display.

I was very specific I want immersion and quality.

One listen and I love the B&W sound. Just wanna make sure I do it all correct.

BTW what does it mean crossover?

I see many people say you should set your crossover and such and such?

Audioholics has a wealth of information on it, free of charge! Spend some time perusing (hours) reading the articles in the AV Research and HT Set up tabs.

It's up to you how deep you want the Audio rabbit hole to go, but you will definitely need to understand the basics to make informed buying decisions!
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
Since you've been to a BB, why not engage a knowledgeable salesman there and consider the salesman's advice. I'm sure the salesman will qualify you, and will be able to help you more convincingly than those here, especially since you appear, from your questions, not to have an interest in getting up to speed through your own initiative. I[ve found the salesmen at BB to be trustworthy, perhaps, you will too. And, after all, you will need to trust someone if you have no interest in researching for yourself.

BTW, bass management is a function found on the preamp/processor, or AVR. These components have a subwoofer line or variable output which may or may not have a selectable crossover. The output serves a mono power amp feed to a passive sub, or the output is connected to the input of a powered subwoofer, which may have a user selectable crossover. Usually, the loudness level of the sub can be controlled at the pre/pro, or from the sub's power amp.
 
Last edited:
tyhjaarpa

tyhjaarpa

Audioholic Field Marshall
Since you've been to a BB, why not engage a knowledgeable salesman there and consider the salesman's advice. I'm sure the salesman will qualify you, and will be able to help you more convincingly than those here, especially since you appear, from your questions, not to have an interest in getting up to speed through your own initiative. I[ve found the salesmen at BB to be trustworthy, perhaps, you will too. And, after all, you will need to trust someone if you have no interest in researching for yourself.

BTW, bass management is a function found on the preamp/processor, or AVR. These components have a subwoofer line or variable output which may or may not have a selectable crossover. The output serves a mono power amp feed to a passive sub, or the output is connected to the input of a powered subwoofer, which may have a user selectable crossover. Usually, the loudness level of the sub can be controlled at the pre/pro, or from the sub's power amp.
Sales personel often try to sell you things you dont necessarily need or want. After all they are trying to make as much money as they can.
 
Hi Ho

Hi Ho

Audioholic Samurai
tyhjaarpa said:
Sales personel often try to sell you things you dont necessarily need or want. After all they are trying to make as much money as they can.
Best Buy employees are not paid on commission. Magnolia Design center employees are, however, and since the OP said he heard the B&W speakers in a Best Buy that tells me he was in a Magnolia. There are many fine and knowledgable employees that can help out but there are also many that really just want to make a buck and will sell whatever makes the most commission. Best to be careful.
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
Of course salesmen try to make as much money as they can. Those who make the most, like me, listen to their customers. This better assures customer satisfaction as well as repeat business. It's got absolutely nothing to do with selling a customer something that he does not want. One more thing, while it might be possible to lead a customer to a product that would get a commissioned salesman a bigger commission, it's more likely the customer would walk away, leaving the salesman with no commission. This is why the salesman first qualifies the customer, enabling the salesman to provide guidance and direction to the products that actually appear to be most ideal within the customers set parameters..
 
Last edited:
Cosmic Char

Cosmic Char

Audioholic
I kinda figured those Magnolia guys worked on commission. They always attack me when I breeze through that section.
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top