Time to Make a Choice..

[faigenistic]

Alright, so I've narrowed my search down to two speakers:

1) B&W 602 Bookshelves
2) Monitor Audio S1 Bookshelves

The B&W set I am going to audition on Saturday with our local custom home theater experts. They are last years model, new, but for $400 for the pair, which unless I have the wrong info, is a steal. They are bigger than the monitor audios though and placement may be a problem due to the fact my TV is situated in the corner.

The Monitor Audio set I saw online and is also $400 for the pair. Of course, I know nothing of the seller or the quality of the MA-S1, just what I read online.

Any suggestioins? Thanks.

[basite]

IMO, the Monitor Audios will sound slightly more neutral, but you'll notice that the B&W's will be a huge upgrade over what you had previously :)

We have almost every speaker from the 600 series from B&W here at home, the 602's being the fronts of our HT system. They're really good for their value...

They like decent amps though, so upgrading your amplifier in the future is advised :)


Happy listening,
Bert.

[faigenistic]

Thanks man! I am probably going to go with the 602's and use them as my fronts. Placement might be the only issue I have with them. Keep in mind that on the one wall I have guitars hanging that are approximately 48" from the ground, so the speaker stand might create a problem, especially if there is a chance of rattling the guitars since they are just on wall-hangers. The ceiling is also 8.5' high. The guitar amp and the CD Rack can move if need be. I also have no idea if the speakers are shielded which would let me place them near the TV. Does bi-wiring help the 602's and if so, what the hell is bi-wiring (sorry I'm a n00b, LOL).

Here is the picture:
http://ims1.ballofdirt.com/view/47c825c900dcd6a6a6ca1a8101cdffadba674c02810cb57276 1e299d8c47b27d036ea1c4d1f569c8e98d3e00e9a6e56bd6eb 27544423923c6a3da1f9f2fb0c4b

Any suggestions?

[topspeed]

Wow, that's a tough room.

Ideally, you'd place the AV equipment on the west wall (where your couch is now) for best results, but you'd have to move your sectional to the corner where your tv is now. However, if your drawing is to scale, this may not be possible. One thing's for certain, stuffing speakers into a corner like that is going to present some interesting acoustical challenges.

As for bi-wiring, my belief has always been that the only difference you'll notice in bi-wiring is how much lighter your wallet is after purchasing the extra set of cables. But hey, what do I know? Borrow a set of bi-wire cables from your dealer and see if you can hear the difference yourself. Most reputable dealers will loan you a pair.

Good luck with that room.

[faigenistic]

Unfortunately that drawing is to scale, aside from the furniture, which I drew in and should be pretty damn close. The couch in no way will fit where the AV equipment is now, so I'm kind of stuck. I plan on having the local custom home theater guys come and check it out if I purchase some speakers from them, but do you guys have any suggestions?

[faigenistic]

One more question, if I go with the B&W 602's, do you guys recommend getting a better receiver and or component system off of ebay to run it? What would you recommend that I could get on the cheap from ebay? Thanks.

[basite]

One more question, if I go with the B&W 602's, do you guys recommend getting a better receiver and or component system off of ebay to run it? What would you recommend that I could get on the cheap from ebay? Thanks.


yes.
No.

a better amp: definately,

of ebay: not neccesarily... depending on how cheap you wanna go, check out denon, onkyo, Marantz, ...

you could check out ebay though, if your budget is really tight...

Good luck,
Bert.

[topspeed]

Define "budget avr."

Keep in mind, some of members at AR have exceeded a third world country's GNP on cables and isolation devices. It's all relative, so what's your price range?

BTW, if you're going to buy a used avr, check for demo or refurbished inventory at audioadvisor.com or spearitsound.com first. These are dealers and have return policies if the product doesn't meet expectations. After that, I'd check audiogon.com or videogon.com. Both sites are populated by audio/videophiles, not Nigerian scammers like ebay. It's a safer bet.

Hope this helps.

[pixelthis]

Just throwing in with another vote for the b&w speakers.
I have had 602s2's, which are now my fronts, for around six years, they still look and sound great, very unforgiving on bad recordings tho.
Mine ran great on Denon, Yamaha, and Integra gear, but they do like the power:1:

[srivkin78]

I think you had it right with the premier acoustics for 299....you would not be disappointed, then you'd have extra money left over for a nicer receiver, you should really call Erik at www.sounddistributors.com before you buy

[basite]

I think you had it right with the premier acoustics for 299....you would not be disappointed, then you'd have extra money left over for a nicer receiver, you should really call Erik at www.sounddistributors.com before you buy


and you seem to work for sounddistributors. Those B&W's will be in a totally different league than those Premier acoustics. no discussion.

[srivkin78]

and you seem to work for sounddistributors. Those B&W's will be in a totally different league than those Premier acoustics. no discussion.

lol no i do not work for them, i bought my BIC Acoustechs form them and i have heard a Bookshelf HT set of Premier about a week ago and they sound outstanding, just because they don't cost 4000 dollars does not mean they are not high quality.

[faigenistic]

Thanks for all of the help guys. I ended up getting the following equipment:

B&W 602 s3 - Floor models for $425 + $100 for pair of B&W stands
Yamaha RX-V559 Receiver - Last year's model w/no remote for $225

Everything sounds great and I feel like I got some of this stuff, mainly the receiver, for cheap!

I have a question regarding optical audio though. Right now I have the XBOX360 and the Time Warner HDTV Cable box running optical audio outputs to the receiver; however, sometimes the sound is not right. Like watching football yesterday the sound did not come through at all for the announcers, as if it were trying to process it in 5.1 surround and I only have 2 speakers.

Do I need to set the cable box to optical audio output in it's menu? What about the xbox360? I set the sound in the menu on that one to dolby digital, but the games all sound differnt now, as if it is missing a center channel that it is trying to find.

Yes, I do have the receiver set to do 2-ch. stereo on both the xbox360 and the cable.

Any suggestions?

[basite]

congrats!! you made a good choice :)

hmm, It could be like you said (that the receiver processes in surround)...

do you happen to have a manual with the yamaha? no remote is a bummer, can you acces the menu? if so, try to go to speaker set (or something similar) when it asks to choose a center channel, set it to 'none'. If you can't acces the menu, you could try to connect one speaker to the center channel output, and see if sound comes through. If it does, your center channel is still enabled (so the receiver is still using surround mode), if it doesn't, the problem probably lies in your xbox and cable box...

anyhow, also try with a standard set of cinch cables, (the red and white ones...), most of the times this solves some problems with surround settings...

try putting everything on 'stereo' (not on dolby digital or so), and see what happens...

I'll probably post some more things later on, but this is a start :)

Have fun & Keep them spinning,
Bert.