Eddie, dude, take a breath.
Don't rush this, take your time deciding on what you want and enjoy the moment. The last thing you'll want is to have buyers remorse by rushing things. I think I looked for at least 6 months before I bought most of my setup.
AdrianMills:
When I auditioned B&W speakers I was shown a boxy pair that was supposed to be the newest line. There is no way they looked liked yours. I love the way yours look and especially the tweeter? on top. Excellent.
There are few new additions to the B&W lines that are "boxy" including the CM series that can be seen
here and the newer 600 series models that can be seen
here. At your budget I guess you were demoed the CM series?
As you’ve probably gathered by now mine are the 804S; the
800 series is B&Ws top of the line series (besides their stupidly expensive special one off speakers like the Snail and new signature speakers). And yes, that’s the tweeter on top; that placement and tweeter case design are supposed to prevent certain unwanted audio phenomena although how audible those unwanted artifacts are in reality on other speakers is debatable I think. But yes, you certainly pay for the design of the curved cabinets; knuckle rapping them returns the sound of a solid block of wood and that still impresses me.
IMO The 804S is the best cost/performance compromise of all the 800 series models. The 805S, although nice sounding, is crippled without an FST driver and the 803S and 803D really don’t justify the extra cost over the 804 particularly if you have a sub. The 802D is the next step in performance that may be worth the money to some; their look alone is a work of art to a lot of people and worth the cost. They are regarded by some professional audio reviewers to be at the pinnacle of current affordable speaker technology. But there are other people that think they are ugly and too expensive; personally I’m glad that they’re too big to fit in my living room or I’d have to empty my bank account (they cost 20K US$ here – bizarre considering the cabinets are made a relatively short way from where I live).
But the question is, did you like the sound of the B&W speakers you auditioned?
This thread has taken on a life of it's own and I cannot remember what you use as a subwoofer. Your system has an elegant visually appealing look that I know my wife would not hesitate about adding it to our Living Room. Please refresh my memory and list the specific components.
- The front L&R: B&W 804S
- The center: B&W HTM3S on a B&W FS-HTM stand (and yes, the stand was stupidly expensive
)
- My surrounds are cheap wall mounted JM lab something or other speakers that I bought off a friend. They were meant to be a short term solution until I bought some B&W SCM-1 or something but I actually think they are quite nice sounding so I may decide to keep them.
- My current sub is an SVS PB13 Ultra in gloss black. The sub in the picture which is the large cherry coloured box behind the left speaker is a PB12 Plus/2. Both subs are exceptional but the Ultra wins out in bass quality and is comparable to the JL Audio Fathom subs although it’s much larger.
- The TV is a Pio 508XD – I can’t remember if that’s the same model number in the US. The TV is on a multi swivel wall mount that I can’t remember the name of but I can look it up if you really want.
- My HiFi rack is from Stands Unique in the UK
http://www.standsunique.com/ ; not cheap by a long way and probably overpriced but it was the only stand I could find that fitted my exact requirements at the time.
- Denon 3910 DVD player
- Denon 4306 Receiver; and I can assure you that it’s more than powerful enough to drive the 804S no matter what anyone else will tell you.
- SMS-1 subwoofer management system (how can people live without one of these?)
- A Belcanto Ref 1000 mono amp; this uses a B&O D-class amp module that’s capable of putting out 1000W into 4ohms. I use it to drive my HTM3S; when I hooked up the HTM3S to the 4306 receiver I noticed it started to run very hot when playing multi-channel music so I bought the external amp to relieve the receiver of the load. It may have been fine on the receiver but hey, hardware is nice to have so I used “my need” as an excuse to spend some money.
I did consider buying a few more for the L and R speakers and maybe a dual mono for the surrounds but they are very expensive here and they really aren’t necessary.
- I have a PS3 to use as a BluRay player which you can’t see; it’s standing on the floor on the other side of the rack.
- The other black box is a satellite decoder.
- I use a laptop with an HDMI output as a “media center” when I want to play downloaded content.
My next purchase will be a new decoder with integrated PVR; yeah, I know, how could I not have a PVR already?
All in all a fairly minimalistic setup compared to a lot of people but that is more by design than from the lack of resources.
I don't have it in me right now to re-re-re-re-read the entire thread. They are the best looking B&W's I have ever seen. How do they handle piano and classical music? See - one picture is worth a thousand words.
I think you’ll find that the 800 series are amazing with classical and piano.
Take some of your favourite CDs with you when you go to demo.
If I am understanding the majority here - I should wait until the newer models ship on TV and buy last years top pick - Pioneer Elite KURO.
You’ll get the best bang for the buck by waiting until the new models are about to ship and then buying an older model – assuming you can get hold of them. There’s a risk that the stock will be sold out. Pios will usually not drop as much as other plasma manufacturers though.
The number one sub for music first and movies second in a smaller sized footprint would be the JL Audio Fathom f112 or if I can swing it f113. I also need to audition the Paradigm Servo sub and Velodyne DD series. Nobody but me seems to show much interest in the Sunfire subs which are great for both music and movies.
You can’t really go wrong with JL Audio and Velodyne DD series subs (built in SMS-1 with the DD) but they come at a cost. I’ve heard good things about the others you mention but I have no direct experience with them.
The pressure is on me to pick either a 5 channel class D Amp and PRE/PRO or an A/V Receiver that does not run hot (ONKYO). The decision is likewise mine to find the Denon CD player Adrian Mills recommended or buy a comparable Marantz or similar SACD/CD player of high quality.
It’s very unlikely that you will
need an external amp if you buy a good receiver. Even the higher end 802D speakers are relatively easy to drive these days and can be run off a good quality receiver (I would think THX Ultra 2 certified though just in case
) and this is especially the case when using bass management and 60 – 80hz cut offs.
Onkyo does run hot compared to many others.
Cables and Interconnects - BlueJeanCables! Good quality at a realistic price point.
They have good quality interconnects and I recommend them – their HDMI cables are built to last
Now here is one for you do-it-yourself- handy-with -tools types: The wall where TV has to be mounted is a firewall. That means it is Plaster over Cinderblock. I don't have a clue when it comes to actually installing the TV on the wall (assuming I go with a system like AdrianMills has). Did B&W sell you the CC stand? What kind is it if you had to buy it separately.
This is a rambling kind of stream of thought post - SORRY! I'm just wondering how I am going to make this all happen. Best to wait for summertime and take advantage of discounts?
Any magazines review those speakers Adrian? They really are sleek looking!
Thanks to everyone!!!! - and I mean everyone who is helping me out!!!
Regards - Your Friend,
Eddie
Installing a plasma on a solid wall like that is easy; it’s a little more nerve racking on a stud wall I can tell you.
Cable routing becomes a problem though and of course how difficult it is depends on where everything is located relative to the TV. The easiest is to use unobtrusive cable ducting that can be painted; take a look at
http://cableorganizer.com/ for some ideas.
Of course, I guess you can always bring in a professional to do the job (they could build a false wall to hang your plasma on and route the cables behind) but that will cost some money that could be spent on equipment.
There are bunch of reviews out there of the 800 series but here’s one for you of the 804S and the HTM3S
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12_3/b&w-804s-htm3s-speakers-8-2005-part-1.html . But you really need to listen to them yourself before laying out this kind of cash. I’ve heard on various forums that in the US B&W dealers tend to give a discount when pushed.
There are a bunch of forums including AH where people proudly display their system so you should spend some time browsing them to get some ideas.
Okay, I’m out of steam. I hope this helped.
