Local Dealer Suggests B&W...I'm a Newbie.

[SmithWesson]

Hi guys as the title suggests I'm a newbie. I don't know much about home theater speakers or receivers, so I went to best buy to have a look around. I found a really nice Samsung HTIB for $800, (forgot the model #) but I decided to keep looking, because I have heard that it is better to buy seperate components. I found a local dealer that caries B&W speakers and they suggested that I buy a pair of 685 bookshelf speakers for the front ($650), HTM 62 for the center($425), M-1 speakers for the rear($450), ASW 610 sub ($650) and a Pioneer VSX-23THX receiver($700). The price for all of this is $2875. Is this a good price? I've never bought top quality home audio gear and I have no idea if this stuff is worth that kind of money, when I can get the Samsung for $800. Where, if anywhere, can I find better pricing online? I most likely will stick with these brands and models because I like the sound and they do what I need them to do. Plus everyone has there own personal preferences and and I cannot audition all of the thousands of brands out there. Well that's about it any help would be greatly appreciated. Wow! I never thought I would actually consider spending $2875 for a home theater system...

 

[JerryLove]

Is it worth it? We can't tell you that. Listen to both and decide for yourself.

Tell your B&W dealer you want to audition the setup. Buy the HTiB (Best Buy allows returns). Try them both and see what it's worth to you.

It is worth mentioning that there are a *lot* of good options in between. From EMP ($1100 for 2xtowers, 2xbookshelves, center, and sub), to.. well, you could hit most any price-point with something (6 passive Behringer 2030s are something like $400 on ebay. Add a sub and AVR).

On the other end, you could spend more than $10k on 802D fronts with comparable gear for the rest and it would be considered a good buy for some (I'm hoping to track down som 802s myself).

As to good pricing. Try Audiogon.

 

[Swerd]

Hi guys as the title suggests I'm a newbie. I don't know much about home theater speakers or receivers, so I went to best buy to have a look around. I found a really nice Samsung HTIB for $800, (forgot the model #) but I decided to keep looking, because I have heard that it is better to buy seperate components. I found a local dealer that caries B&W speakers and they suggested that I buy a pair of 685 bookshelf speakers for the front ($650), HTM 62 for the center($425), M-1 speakers for the rear($450), ASW 610 sub ($650) and a Pioneer VSX-23THX receiver($700). The price for all of this is $2875. Is this a good price? I've never bought top quality home audio gear and I have no idea if this stuff is worth that kind of money, when I can get the Samsung for $800. Where, if anywhere, can I find better pricing online? I most likely will stick with these brands and models because I like the sound and they do what I need them to do. Plus everyone has there own personal preferences and and I cannot audition all of the thousands of brands out there. Well that's about it any help would be greatly appreciated. Wow! I never thought I would actually consider spending $2875 for a home theater system...

First of all, welcome to Audioholics!

$650 for a pair of B&W 685s is the standard retail price, and in my opinion they are not great speakers especially at that price. It is unlikely you will find B&W speakers for a lower price because B&W strongly discourages their dealers from discounting prices. Many people like the B&W 600 series speakers at first, but they gradually grow tired of their high frequency harshness and get rid of them. B&Ws best speakers, the 800 series, are very good, but priced much higher.

There is a very large range between that Samsung HTIB and those B&W speakers, both in price and sound quality. I'd suggest listening to more speakers that are available where you are. You may be able to find Polk RTi4 or RTiA bookshelf models at a much better price than those B&Ws. They are quite decent speakers.

There are also many good deals to be found with internet direct (ID) speaker makers, such as Aperion, Ascend Acoustics, Salk, just to name a few.

 

[3db]

Hi guys as the title suggests I'm a newbie. I don't know much about home theater speakers or receivers, so I went to best buy to have a look around. I found a really nice Samsung HTIB for $800, (forgot the model #) but I decided to keep looking, because I have heard that it is better to buy seperate components. I found a local dealer that caries B&W speakers and they suggested that I buy a pair of 685 bookshelf speakers for the front ($650), HTM 62 for the center($425), M-1 speakers for the rear($450), ASW 610 sub ($650) and a Pioneer VSX-23THX receiver($700). The price for all of this is $2875. Is this a good price? I've never bought top quality home audio gear and I have no idea if this stuff is worth that kind of money, when I can get the Samsung for $800. Where, if anywhere, can I find better pricing online? I most likely will stick with these brands and models because I like the sound and they do what I need them to do. Plus everyone has there own personal preferences and and I cannot audition all of the thousands of brands out there. Well that's about it any help would be greatly appreciated. Wow! I never thought I would actually consider spending $2875 for a home theater system...

The weak link in that list are the B&W 600 series speakers. Try stepping up to the 700 series or look at speakers from Paradigm, PSB, or Energy.

 

[lsiberian]

Hi guys as the title suggests I'm a newbie. I don't know much about home theater speakers or receivers, so I went to best buy to have a look around. I found a really nice Samsung HTIB for $800, (forgot the model #) but I decided to keep looking, because I have heard that it is better to buy seperate components. I found a local dealer that caries B&W speakers and they suggested that I buy a pair of 685 bookshelf speakers for the front ($650), HTM 62 for the center($425), M-1 speakers for the rear($450), ASW 610 sub ($650) and a Pioneer VSX-23THX receiver($700). The price for all of this is $2875. Is this a good price? I've never bought top quality home audio gear and I have no idea if this stuff is worth that kind of money, when I can get the Samsung for $800. Where, if anywhere, can I find better pricing online? I most likely will stick with these brands and models because I like the sound and they do what I need them to do. Plus everyone has there own personal preferences and and I cannot audition all of the thousands of brands out there. Well that's about it any help would be greatly appreciated. Wow! I never thought I would actually consider spending $2875 for a home theater system...

The 600 series is pretty bad IME. The 700 series is a major step up.

Their subs are terrible IME for the price.

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cbm170/cbm170.html

Those are the right speakers for your budget. You can get a full set with center and rears for 788 shipped. They measure extremely well and have a lot of headroom for dynamic passage. Then if you have 2100 left for the subwoofer and receiver. My suggest get a 500 dollar receiver and a 1600 dollar sub. At that price I'd suggest you try to get a Yamaha RX-V2600 of ebay. It's one of the best receivers made in recent years and they go for around 500 these days.

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm This would finish off a tremendous home theater setup. And this setup would be vastly superior to the B&W 600 setup IMO. Especially since you'd have a phenomenal sub for your home theater.

If you need to step down go to this for the sub

http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/porteddynasty.html

You'd still have a sick setup. The ascends have very good distortion graphs and excellent waterfalls.

 

[myhotrs]

It all depends on what you like to watch/listen to. It seems like you need to do some more homework before deciding. Like everyone has said, there are lots and lots of options between the Samsung and the B&W systems. There are some BF deals as well, especially on Paradigm systems on Amazon. Paradigm is a great company, not as good as B&W, but waaaay above Samsung (in speakers). But I havent heard them so, can't comment on quality.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[agarwalro]

Hi guys as the title suggests I'm a newbie...
I found a really nice Samsung HTIB for $800...
...Wow! I never thought I would actually consider spending $2875 for a home theater system...

Determine what budget works for you and stick with it. There will always be bigger, better and supposedly bigger and better and what have you. If you fall for the "you must get this or you are not making a sound judgement" philosophy, it will needlessly and endlessly sink money into this hobby.

So, get the best you can afford and be content.

Also, look into staggering your purchases like this,

1) Mains + Receiver
2) Sub (or center + surrounds)
3) Center + Surrounds (or sub)
4) Room Treatments
5) Upgrade Mains + Center
6) Upgrade Sub (or add 2nd sub)
7) Upgrade Receiver ( or get pre-pro + dedicated amp)
8) Upgrade to dedicated room (or not)
9) Upgrade this
10) Upgrade that
11) Upgrade everything

and so on...

 

[Leonel R.]

It all depends on what you like to watch/listen to. It seems like you need to do some more homework before deciding. Like everyone has said, there are lots and lots of options between the Samsung and the B&W systems. There are some BF deals as well, especially on Paradigm systems on Amazon. Paradigm is a great company, not as good as B&W, but waaaay above Samsung (in speakers). But I havent heard them so, can't comment on quality.

Good luck and enjoy!

I could not disagree more with this.

For starters, I do not own either of these brands so I have no axe to grind here but rather a different POV. IME and opinion, Paradigms Signature line rivals B&W's 802D's in both SQ and BQ. The digms sound like much more than their price of admission which many argue can't be said about the B&W's.

In the end, it is all subjective and only ones ears can decide what is best for them. But to be as black and white to say that one is much superior to the other is misleading to the unsuspecting.


To the OP, you can certainly do better than the 600 series. They are certainly not worth the money when you consider you are getting vinyl veneers, and poorly crafted cabinets. IMO, that line is there just to fill a void, and allow those who otherwise could not afford Bowers, a foot in the door.

I would look at Paradigms Studio 20's, Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grands, Salk Sound and maybe Ushers to name a few.

Also, my advice to you is to take your time. If that means doing a piece meal (buying components one or two at a time), then so be it. Many of us make compromises when we first seek out to put a nice system together, and end up going down a path of endless upgrades. So, do it right the first time, and listen to whatever is available to you.

In this hobby, patience is highly rewarded.

 

[shadyJ]

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm This would finish off a tremendous home theater setup. And this setup would be vastly superior to the B&W 600 setup IMO. Especially since you'd have a phenomenal sub for your home theater.

If you need to step down go to this for the sub

http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/porteddynasty.html

I wouldn't call the Dynasty a step down from the PB13. Between them I think I would rather have the Dynasty.

 

[SmithWesson]

thanks for all of the help guys. I think I'll do some more research, and maybe get around to some more dealers with different brands. No one has commented about the AV receiver though? What are some of your opinions on the Pioneer Elite VSX-23THX? The dealer has them for $700 but I found it online for $549.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hey SmithWesson,
Like many others mentioned before, there are hundreds of options of speakers and receivers you can get, but as many said : bottom line: You have to listen them yourself and decide what YOU like more.
I'd suggest some internet companies which allow free in home trials (free shipping both ways) like Audioholics store, The Speaker Company, Aperion, Axiom just to name a few.
If you have BestBuy/Magnolia outlet near you try to listed to Klipsch, Polks, Boston, Def-Teks and whatever else they have in stock.

Best to bring with you CD/DVD (optionally compilation) with your favorite music/movies.

Also lets not forget about excellent guides already written on Audioholics to help you setup your HT for your budget.

Besides sound quality and budget there are other factors to include as: WAF, size of your space, zoning, connectivity options to pre-existing equipment etc....

Good luck on your hunt.

 

[Knucklehead90]

I'm a fan of Emotiva. Great 'bang for the $'.

So here's a suggestion: The UPA-5 amp will be available Dec 15th - cost is $549 + 25$ shipping - a trio of ERM-6.2s for front stage - $777 shipped - pair of ERD-1 surrounds $259 shipped. Total $1520. Get an HK Onkyo Yamaha Marantz or what have you AVR with preamp out and you have a great sounding setup for under or at $2000.

 

[BigSkreen]

Speakers will require your ear to be your guide. For the most part comparing speakers of a wide price range will be unfair. I wouldn't compare my Civic to a Ferrari but it does what I need. I think you should set a budget and get what you can afford. My local B&W dealer actually offers a trade up program where they will refund you 100% within a year if you trade in and buy new speakers that cost more. You pay the difference.

If you want a good home theater budget for 2 fronts, 2 surrounds, a center, and a sub.

As far as receivers go you will find good ones. I would suggest starting out with a typical AVR such as a Yamaha or a Denon. Figure out which one has the inputs you need and go for it. Some people say they can hear a difference but I've never gotten a good chance to A/B them. There are other respectable companies too. I caught my Yamaha on a great deal at Audioholics store and snatched it up even though I was leaning towards a Denon and I'm not a bit sorry. Remember you don't have to go all out the first time.