QUICK!! 2 days to decide!! (B&W / ORB)

Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Well here's a thought : Maybe you can find a good pair of used 805's with stands for about $1,000 (saw some on e-bay a couple of weeks ago going for about $900.00), they are not so huge as to be too obtrusive in your wife's house. :eek: Then, when you get your divorce, you can snicker neener-neener to yourself and make the 805's your surrounds and then find a nice pair of 804's for your fronts.

I guess my point is that maybe the CM7 B&W's, as nice as they are, might not be the holly grail speaker to aspire to? Maybe take your wife down to the B&W speaker store and show her how beautiful the 804's and 805's are and then slip the sales guy a ten-spot on the sly and have him tell her that B&W's are the "Sheek" speakers that all the wives are raving about. Then of course she'll simply have to have them and she will promptly authorize (Read: demand) that you procure them. :) Or not.:(
I cannot disagree more. The CM7 is an excellent speaker system with excellent out of the box performance. I would choose that system over the 805 bookshelf system any day. The reasons, cabinet and the midrange driver stand out. The midrange driver is the same used in the 802D. The 805 uses a mid bass and is very different from the midrange driver in the 802D and CM7. The tweeter is also a nautilus tweeter, it's just not mounted on top of enclosure. Quite simply, the CM7 is an excellent speaker system, and is a steal at that price. I would absolutely jump on it for $1000.

OP,

So I think it's quite clear what I am suggesting. I would absolutely get the CM7s at that price. And if you don't want them, let us know where they are. It's only fair that an AHer get that fantastic deal! If you want to add some M-1 surrounds later that might make more sense than getting Orbs.

Here is a full 5 channel set of the M-1, it appears he's made an arrangement to sell a pair of them leaving 3. He is timoteo here at AH, so he might make you a nice deal on the remainder of the system assuming he's still got it. If you decide to check it out let him know I sent you.:)

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1271805236&/B-W-Mini-Theater-(M1)-5-Speake
 
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F

fandango

Audioholic Intern
Thanks everyone,

You (mostly) all confirmed my initial gut feeling about what to choose. My only hesitation is that I really care about the full HT experience, and given my rear constraints, I don't want to get something totally disproportional. Although it seems there should be any problem pairing the speakers with smaller one at the back.

The circumstances under which I am buying the speakers is actually quite sad. The best Av store in greater DC area, Myer Emco, is going out of business and having an inventory liquidation. Everything is 50-70% off.

The speakers are already purchased but they have to be transported from one store to another so I can't pick them up until TODAY!! or tomorrow. In theory I could still cancel, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.

Next questions - receiver, surrounds & sub....
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Be sure the receiver has pre-outs. You will probably want to use a proper high powered stand alone amp on the CM-7 speakers in the future to get the best performance out of them.
WmAx makes a very good point on the pre-outs. I'm not sure the Onkyo I recommended qualifies. The Marantz's do.

I doubt the receiver is going to perform well driving these at more than relatively low SPL levels.
Chris,

I certainly defer to your judgement, but could you elaborate? Do you think one of the 80Watt RMS receivers I recommended would be wholly inadequate?

After the CM7's, he has $700 for a HT receiver and 3 speakers (center and 2 surrounds). I don't think he'll find HT processing and too much over 100 WPC for the entire $700, much less after 3 more speakers.

However, it would suck if he couldn't achieve decent SQ at comfortable listening levels with whatever receiver he gets.

I know we are getting into fuzzy, subjective issues here, but do you think he would regret his system until he could add a separate amp?

Thanks,
Kurt
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
I certainly defer to your judgement, but could you elaborate? Do you think one of the 80Watt RMS receivers I recommended would be wholly inadequate?
His reason for recommending outboard power is because of the complex load the CM7 imposes. The receiver will work fine, but they will be more dynamic with a power amplifier behind them.
I know we are getting into fuzzy, subjective issues here, but do you think he would regret his system until he could add a separate amp?
I'm sure he won't regret it.
 
F

fandango

Audioholic Intern
Guys,

all this help and discussion on what receiver amp to get is immensely appreciated, but I must admit it is all flying about 10,000 feet over my head...

Could someone dumb it down to the level of pure recommendation?

Having chosen the CM7s, my budget is going to be stretched over the next few months...

Right now, I have a remaining budget of about 600-800. With this money I have to buy a power source for the speakers.

Over the next 4-6 months, I will be able to put an additional 1-1.5K towards a center, sub & surrounds.

In other words, my FINAL total budget for power, sub & surrounds is a little over 2K. However right now, I need something to power my CM7s, and right now, I only have a max of $800 to do that with (bearing in mind that if I use all 800, I will only have about 1.5K left for the sub, center & surrounds over the next 6 months...)


If that all made sense, can anyone give me some recommendations? (please :))
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
If the receiver budget has to be low, low, and you want expandability I'd recommend getting a refurbished Marantz SR 4003 from accessories4less. I it's $299 right now, not sure for how long though, and the receiver comes with a 1 year manufacturers warranty. If the deal runs out on the SR 4003 the SR 4002 is an alternative, but the SR 4003 and SR 4002 are the same price right now. Home delivery should cost less than $25 on that receiver if you live in the 48 states. The SR 4003 and SR 4002 are essentially the same receiver, they have cosmetic differences in the face and remote controls.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
If the receiver budget has to be low, low, and you want expandability I'd recommend getting a refurbished Marantz SR 4003 from accessories4less. I it's $299 right now, not sure for how long though, and the receiver comes with a 1 year manufacturers warranty. If the deal runs out on the SR 4003 the SR 4002 is an alternative, but the SR 4003 and SR 4002 are the same price right now. Home delivery should cost less than $25 on that receiver if you live in the 48 states. The SR 4003 and SR 4002 are essentially the same receiver, they have cosmetic differences in the face and remote controls.
Hmmm, the SR 4003 was $350 yesterday when I put the link up!
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
Fandango, just be sure the receiver has pre-outs. You WILL want to get a proper amp for the CM7 later on, which you can just connect to the pre-outs from the receiver.

For best performance and value, Yamaha P2500S is the solution. You need a Samson S-Convert adapter to go along with that, as it's a professional amplifier and expects a different (higher) input voltage than the RCA outputs from standard consumer receivers provide. I don't know of any 'consumer' amps that provide the same build quality and true performance for the same price range. The receiver will work for now, but when you go the suggested amp, you will have much better performance at moderate to high SPLs and with highly dynamic music program.

-Chris
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
+1

I bought two receivers, one DVD changer, and one CD changer from them. All were refurbished and have been perfect.

I had a false alarm where I thought a receiver was defective (I was actually using the wrong settings) and they immediately volunteered to send me a replacement, until I realized the issue and told them I was good. They stand behind their product.

I also agree with Adwilk - keep the cost down on your receiver. My thinking is your speakers will last a solid 30 years and still sound good, your receiver will become obsolete much quicker. Buy a receiver which does what you need with your current setup and figure you'll likely be replacing it in 5-10 years and won't get much for it.

Here's a few good money savers if they do what you want on the video side:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/MARSR4003/Marantz/Sr4003-Dolby-Digital-Ex/dts-Es-Surround-Receiver-/1.html
So, your total budget is $600 to 800 + $1000 to 1500 = $1600 to 2300. That is a big range, but I can relate.

I'll stick with the above recommendation for the receiver. No mainstream consumer receiver will deliver the kind of headroom Chris is talking about.

You need to put as much money as you can into the Sub (I would say about ~$1200-1300) for it to complement the CM7's. ADD another $100-200 for shipping.
Sorry, but you don't buy cheap tires when you own a Porsche.

Your center needs to be voiced similar to the mains. B&W is a well established and respected company. It is a safe bet they promote the same sound throughout their product line. This looks pretty nice at $270 shipped (less any negotiated discount - FYI, $190 is the average used price for this item, but this one does look to be in top condition):
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1271755563&/B-W-Bowers---Wilkins-cc6-/-cc-

For rears, One of these would do fine at $380 shipped:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/KEFIQ8DSBLKA/KEF/Iq8ds-2-way-5.25-Dipole-Surround-Speakers-In-Black-Pair-/1.html


Add $320 for SR4003 with shipping and you have $2270 to 2470.

Given your budget, I'd have a hard time putting more money into the receiver. It will become obsolete before too long. Better to start saving towards a separate amp for the mains.

Buy a decent HT receiver and you're buying for 5-10 years.
Buy a decent stereo amp and you're buying for 20+ years.
Buy decent speakers and you are buying for 30+ years.

HTH
 
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KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Your center needs to be voiced similar to the mains. B&W is a well established and respected company. It is a safe bet they promote the same sound throughout their product line. This looks pretty nice at $270 shipped (less any negotiated discount - FYI, $190 is the average used price for this item, but this one does look to be in top condition):
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1271755563&/B-W-Bowers---Wilkins-cc6-/-cc-
I am mistaken on this, the $190 price is the average resell price for the original series (Series 1, if you will). The seller is correct in saying that the series 2 has sold at an average price of $270.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
That seller is kind of a prick. He completely ignored me when I told him he was absolutely incorrect about a pair of speakers he was/is selling. I didn't just call him out, I tried to put it in a nice way. First I complemented him for his listing qualities and noted I had viewed and enjoyed his auctions and classifieds on ebay and audiogon, then told him I had a little information about the speakers he might find interesting. I told him what I knew about them, and he never responded nor did he change his description of the item.

This one...

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1270059604

He says the system is from the 70's, and I believe he also created the Audioreview page for the speaker system (because the information is incorrect). I gave him irrefutable evidence contradicting they where made in the 70's. They don't even look like they are from the 70's, but they also definitely aren't from the 70's Advent released the system shortly after Jensen's take over in the early 90's.

My point being, I'd take anything the guy says with a grain of salt. It makes me sad to see someone put so much effort into contriving absolutely unfounded nonsense in an attempt to sell their products when the stuff he has is usually well maintained or well reconditioned (I'm assuming he does a lot of work on it).
 
F

fandango

Audioholic Intern
Thank you all so much!

Very helpful information.

I must admit, as I look at receivers it is hard not to be attracted by some of the newer features, like streaming internet radio, picture upscaling, sound leveling & low volume optimization. Can anyone confirm the following things about these two features:

Internet Streaming - I would be most interested in streaming high quality internet radio. Would it still be possible to stream internet radio using an external ipod-wifi dock connected to the receiver?? you can one of these up for about $100, which is MUCH less that the mark up for a 'network' receiver...

Upscaling - I would only be interested in this feature for 2 reasons - upscaling my Wii, and upscaling my HDMI connected DVR box. However, am I right in saying that all upscaling results in a noticeable video lag?? this would totally defeat the purpose of upscaling a video game (controller response time issue) and would be pretty annoying when switching between HD & non-HD channels...

Sound Leveling - I absolutely cannot stand commercials blaring at me 10db louder than regular programs. I would gladly pay a couple of hundred bucks to make this a thing of the past, assuming it works well... Can anyone confirm if this technology works? which provider does it best (dolby volume, THX volume, Audissy volume, etc)

low volume optimization - basically the same as above. As I will do the majority of my movie watching after my 9-month-old has gone to bed in the room behind my couch, it would be nice to be able to listen to a movie without constantly having to change the volume for dialogue/ music/explosion sequences... Does this tech work? who does it the best?

I could probably do without networking (cheaper aftermarket solutions..), the upscaling sounds cool but I concerned about functionality drawbacks, however I would like to get the last two features as I know I would definitely use them a lot (assuming they work...) any suggestions?

Again, a million thank yous:D:D:D
 
R

rnatalli

Audioholic Ninja
A few answers:

Upscaling - I've never noticed a lag. Check out Denon's line 1910/790 and up as they use the ABT video chip if upscaling is needed.

Sound Leveling - Audyssey Dynamic Volume is the best one I've encountered so far. It does work across the board. Pioneer has ALC, but it only works with certain source signals.

Low Volume - Audyssey Dynamic EQ does this and a Pioneer can do it too if you setup separate EQ settings which you can change between.
 

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