B&W 600 Series... need some professional feedback!

[mtbound10]

So my plan is to take my two EMP front channel speakers and hang them on the back wall as rear surrounds and purchase two new fronts with better depth and range.

I listened to some B&W 686's last night and they sound great. They handle base pretty well and it does not take away or muffle the mid to higher range. What else could I listen to that my turn my ear in another direction.

Are these B&W brand speakers worth their weight in gold or could I do better. I am also worried about mixing my EMP center channel with two B&W's.

What do you think?

 

[bandphan]

Its up to your ears, i like my 6 series. Are you considering any others?

 

[mtbound10]

I just went into this store on a whim...

I do not even know what other speakers to think about listening to that might compare to those b&w's.

I am not amplified. All I have is my yammi 863 to power. And I do not think it will go down to 4 ohms. I listened to some paradigm tower speakers in the same price range and all the good stuff got muffled out by the base. I am aiming for clarity, which is why I liked those B&W's so much. I just don't want to dive into a 600$ pair of speakers before I weigh my options so I am just trying to figure out what those options might be.

I was also worried about the sound difference with two B&W's in front and being surrounded by a bunch of EMP compacts with an EMP E-10 sub. I know balance plays an important role...

 

[jostenmeat]

mtbound10,

May I recommend trying out Ascend speakers? They are ID, and if you don't like em, send em back. This is coming from a pretty decent fan of BW speakers.

I woundn't worry too much about mismatched surrounds. If this is HT mainly, I would barely worry about it. Just make sure that the front three are matched.

And, I'm sorry to finally say this to you, as I've read the same misspelling by 100's of others before saying this, but it is spelled "bass", and not "base". Thank you.

 

[mtbound10]

Thank you for the feedback jostenmeat. I will definitely look into the Ascend speakers as you suggested.

P.S. ~
1.Woundn't, as you are referring to it is actually spelled Wouldn't.
2. You talk about your love of "B&W" speakers as they are commonly referred. Are you trying to point out that you are not only appreciative of "B&W" speakers but you are also "pretty" as well as "decent" above and beyond your "affinity" for "B&W" speakers. Could you please clarify this?

 

[jostenmeat]

Thank you for the feedback jostenmeat. I will definitely look into the Ascend speakers as you suggested.

P.S. ~
1.Woundn't, as you are referring to it is actually spelled Wouldn't.

Thanks. As they say in life, music performance, and spelling, the first time you make a specific error, it is an error. The second time you do it, play it, or read it, it was on purpose. Well, I was first told something like that when I was studying with the composition chair at the Thornton School at USC. You spelled bass incorrectly in two posts already at this thread.

2. You talk about your love of "B&W" speakers as they are commonly referred. Are you trying to point out that you are not only appreciative of "B&W" speakers but you are also "pretty" as well as "decent" above and beyond your "affinity" for "B&W" speakers. Could you please clarify this?

As in quite the decent appreciator or Bowers and Wilkins product. Does that help? I was very kindly asking you to spell bass correctly, and I only offered that out of respect, believe it or not.

EDIT: Just based on my limited experiences, I tend to believe that people who like Bowers and Wilkins product would also enjoy Ascend product. They are not too dissimilar I find with timbre, clarity, and both have the particular trait of good off-axis response. I own neither brand.

 

[lsiberian]

Try more than one speaker.

That's why you audition.

Don't just settle. Make em compete.

 

[mtbound10]

... just having fun jostenmeat! If you can't joke about another persons grammar poor or speling scills then what are we hair for... not just to hear the base go boom!

I will definitely try out some more speakers before I jump on the B+W band wagon...

 

[fredk]

Do you currently have a sub? That would certainly take care of the low sounding stuff of random spelling.

 

[mtbound10]

I have a EMP E-10 sub. It is decent. I have never really had the opportunity to compare any of my speakers to anything else unfortunately.

I bought the speakers I have now based on reviews from here and some research into the company. They are good beginners but starting to hear their limits.

 

[Now Slappy]

If you're looking for clarity you might want to look into Martin Logan. They are the most detailed speaker I have ever listened to. I'm a fan so I'm biased, and many here will tell you they're not for everyone.

That said, you may be able to find some good deals over on Audiogon for used ML's. I know I did. In a week or two my Aerius' will be replaced by a pair of Summits.

 

[fredk]

OK, so it sounds like you just want better all around sound. Other brands to look at might be paradigm (Studio), PSB (Image/Imagine), Apieron, Axiom...

You may or may not find that ID brands offer more value than name brands sold through distribution.

 

[mtbound10]

I went back to the same store where I listened to the B+W's 685's...

Listened to the new Paradigm S series 10v5 speakers... wow. Liked them even more than the B+W's. They had a much more balanced sound between the mid range driver and the tweeter. I played both speakers and compared music they both sounded good but I liked the paradigms better.

This was kind of strange because I listened to last years model of paradigm floor standing units with two subs and a port and I did not like them at all because the base muffled all the mid and higher ranges.

Anyone else have any experience or good words to share about the paradigm's

 

[jostenmeat]

This was kind of strange because I listened to last years model of paradigm floor standing units with two subs and a port and I did not like them at all because the base muffled all the mid and higher ranges.

Do not underestimate room acoustics. Even pulling a speaker away from a sidewall or front wall by a couple of feet can make a huge difference. If the room's acoustics were such that you were dealing with serious bass modes, then yeah, it might sound like the bass is masking everything else. I actually deal with that to significant extent because of how close my center speaker is to the floor.

Anyone else have any experience or good words to share about the paradigm's

More people than you can shake a stick at, though I've never heard 'em.

 

[lsiberian]

Do not underestimate room acoustics. Even pulling a speaker away from a sidewall or front wall by a couple of feet can make a huge difference. If the room's acoustics were such that you were dealing with serious bass modes, then yeah, it might sound like the bass is masking everything else. I actually deal with that to significant extent because of how close my center speaker is to the floor.



More people than you can shake a stick at, though I've never heard 'em.

Very wise words. However I think it does need to be stated that with a good eq system and a good enough speaker one can adjust a system to their taste within reason.

 

[longhornguy]

Not sure if this matters, but the B&W 600's are the only series that are made in China.

 

[mtbound10]

Anyone else have any experience or good words to share about the paradigm's

More people than you can shake a stick at, though I've never heard 'em.

Thanks for all the feed back guys... I was really impressed by those paradigms... not necessarily because they are a better speaker, just because I liked the sound better out of the paradigms that I listened to than the B+W 600's...

They are supposed to get the Studio 20v5's in within a week or so. They will call me when the come in so I can listen to those as well. I think they are pretty much the same as the studio 10's but they have a slightly larger mid range driver.

Does anyone know of any significant difference between the studio series and signatures series besides PRICE?

 

[bandphan]

Thanks for all the feed back guys... I was really impressed by those paradigms... not necessarily because they are a better speaker, just because I liked the sound better out of the paradigms that I listened to than the B+W 600's...

They are supposed to get the Studio 20v5's in within a week or so. They will call me when the come in so I can listen to those as well. I think they are pretty much the same as the studio 10's but they have a slightly larger mid range driver.

Does anyone know of any significant difference between the studio series and signatures series besides PRICE?

The crossover and the cab make a huge difference imo.