Hello all. Brief history to get things started. During my Army days, really got into AV gear. Though brands we could purchase at the time were extremely limited (overseas). I ended up going with Pioneer (receiver, CD, laserdisc, TV) and Bose for speakers (301s and 601s).
Fast foward to today... I have a Pioneer Elite receiver (SC-91; class D) and Pioneer's last plasma they made (Kuro). Speakers are now a mix-and-match. Bose 601s for mains, 301s for surround. A Bowers & Wilkins XTC center channel and their PV1D sub. I really hate the Bose. I can tell I'm missing certain frequencies.
After much research and self-education (and also kicking myself for going with Bose), I want to move to Bowers & Wilkins for all speakers. Their XTC is I believe is an MTM config with the tweeter dead center. I'm hoping to move to their 700 series HTM71 S3 which is WTMW. For mains, I am looking at the various 700 S3 towers and for surrounds, most likely the 705 S3.
Both the current and new system will be 5.1 (not possible for 7.1). And maybe 5.1.4 in the future; at least I'd like an upgrade path for that.
Just today, it appears my receiver is now on its way out. Apple TV 4K can no longer be connected to its original HDMI input on the receiver. Older Apple TV has the same issue. Receiver's on-screen GUI for its setup is no longer output at all over HDMI. This leads me to believe issues with the HDMI circuitry.
I would like to either replace the receiver with another Pioneer Elite or switch brands to Marantz. We still need component video inputs for an older component, so for Pioneer, I'd only have a single choice (VSX-LX505). For Marantz, I'm looking at several solutions: SR6015, SR7015, SR8015 and even separates (AV7706 paired with the MM7055).
Finally, some questions and other notes:
1. Knowing that I'll eventually have all B&W speakers (most likely their 700 S3 series), what would you propose be the better receiver? Or should I really go with separates? Assume that whatever combo of speakers I get, their sensitivities would be within 1 to 2 dB of each other.
2. My room is not acoustically treated in any way. Hardwood floors. 14 feet wide, 21 feet deep, 9 foot ceilings. Only a partial wall along the back (around 6 feet wide; this is why not possible to have a 7.1 setup). Is this space too small for the 700 S3 series? Would you propose the 600 series instead?
3. We primarily watch movies (have a ton of Blu-ray conent which are preferred over streaming due to better audio/video; even though Bose speakers are not doing that any justice). Though 2-channel music would be great to have as well. I think all the new equipment I'm looking at has a mode where you can just have 2-channel audio? I think I've also seen that there are presets you could use as well (one for movie viewing, one for music)?
4. The Pioneer VSX-LX505 would come with Dirac-Live. So far, the above listed Marantz models would not get that at all (think their DSPs wouldn't allow for it). Should having Dirac-Live sway me more towards the Pioneer?
Thank you!