Any B+W users here ?

Shimmyhill

Shimmyhill

Shimmyhill

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Joined
26 Oct 2002
Posts
4,171
Location
Norwich
I have always loved the b+w sound and coupled with an Arcam amp i remember dreaming that one day i would own a setup like this (going back a few years)

Well i have picked up some 602 s2's + CC6 centre to have a play with but my question is what h/c amp brands work with b+w - currently i have a Denon av amp but i am willing to change this if a big no no with the speakers.

I have looked at the Arcam Av amps but starting at 1k is too much for me at this moment. People have suggested Pioneer work very well but i have no knowledge of Pioneer amps.

Any help gratefully accepted !
 
Before i moved out i "helped" my old man spend a few grand
on his stereo, driving his B+W's he has a Musical Fidelity Pre/Power.

This is used purely for stereo but boy the sound is amazing!!

Andy
 
IMO it would be worth saving up and getting an arcam av amp if that is the particular sound you like. Musically the AVR200, 250 and 300 are a lot better than the japanese stuff on the market even the £1k+ equipment from Yamaha, Denon, Marantz.

I have a £1300 onkyo av amp which is considered very good for music and dispite being newer, more expensive and weighing more than twice as much is trounced by my old arcam avr200 when it comes to two channel music. Have you considered a basic AV receiver with a decent stereo amp for the front speakers?
 
Topgun said:
IMO it would be worth saving up and getting an arcam av amp if that is the particular sound you like. Musically the AVR200, 250 and 300 are a lot better than the japanese stuff on the market even the £1k+ equipment from Yamaha, Denon, Marantz.

I have a £1300 onkyo av amp which is considered very good for music and dispite being newer, more expensive and weighing more than twice as much is trounced by my old arcam avr200 when it comes to two channel music. Have you considered a basic AV receiver with a decent stereo amp for the front speakers?
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I do intend to run the fronts with some form of Arcam or Rotel amp. This will be after summer and holiday is done etc ;)
 
I used to have some 602's coupled with my Denon AVR3802 but wanted better stereo too. I added an arcam A75+ into the mix and this improved listening to music greatly imo. Arcam integrated amps tend to have an av input too which allows an av amp to control the gain when litenenig to 5.1 as oppose to just stereo for music. If your av amp has pre-outs this would be a worthwhile upgrade imo and is easy to integrate to an existing av set up. You can pick up A75+'s second hand quite cheaply now or even an A85.
I added a power amp later on too (P80) which enabled me to bi-amp and gave greater front end control and grunt and improved things further.
 
Which model denon do you have?

My Yamaha DSP-AX757SE drives my 602s3's, LCR60 and M1 rears and I really can't fault it. It sounds scarily real on movies and sounds very warm generally.
 
I've got a pair of B&W 602.5 S3 speakers, and a Yamaha DSP-AX757SE, and I can't fault the sound output :)

It's such a great improvement over the integrated systems I've had had in the past.


I just need to now get an LCR60 and pair of 600 S3's for the rears :)

Garry
 
i used to run 601s2's on a marantz sr5300 which sounded good to me, however the whole AV side was ditched after hooking up an audiolab 8000a.
 
pugster said:
i used to run 601s2's on a marantz sr5300 which sounded good to me, however the whole AV side was ditched after hooking up an audiolab 8000a.
Click to expand...

Have an AV amp and a stereo amp running together

Cake and eating it :)

MB
 
Cheers guys. Im going to go down the power amp route. Initially a 2 chanel for fronts then add a monoblock for centre and eventually a processor so more of a long term outlook.

Having seen what you can get 2nd hand i wish i had never bought an av reciever(s) and gone this way long ago.

Right now to tell the wife more boxes in rack .... wish me luck ;)
 
Have an AV amp and a stereo amp running together
Click to expand...

i know matt :D ,tho me keeping the AV was a watse tbh, it almost never got used and was bought before i realised what proper stereo sounded like.
 
My dad has B&W 802 Matrix Series 3's and a pair of vintage B&W DM7 Mk2s in the loft. I had 602's for 5 years, but sold them recently due to cash flow problems! Currently using Missions from 89 and they arent near as good even though they should have cost £400 new or something.
 
I use a pair of 603's, a pair of 601's, an LCR60 centre and a ASW-2500 sub in my HC setup. I am using a Sony reciever to power them atm but am currently looking into upgrading it for maybe a Sony STR-DA7100ES as I usually always buy Sony but will be interested to see what else is recommended.
 
I have a pair of 603 S3's an LCR60 and 2 pairs of 601 S3's, powered by a VSX-D2011, and a Rel Q150MKII in the mix as well. I simply love the sound. I cant fault it at all, but there are some that dont like B&W speakers
 
I've got a B&W setup (see sig) coupled with arcam amps. I cant fault them. They are connected to my HTPC which outputs to a extigy (to keep away from internal PCI card which produce all the nasty 50hz noise).
 
I've got a pair of B&W 602.5 S3 speakers, and a Yamaha DSP-AX757SE, and I can't fault the sound output
Click to expand...

Can I ask how it is working having the av amp and only 2 speakers as I am looking at doing the same with some B&W 601 or 602s, and then adding the rears etc later. Can you get any virtual surround type modes and if so how well does it work?
 
I have CDM1SEs bi-amped to Arcam alpha 10/10P with an Alpha 9 CD player. They just love to be driven hard. When I originally bought these I was planning on putting in the DAVE upgrade board for surround but instead I opted for a Denon 2900 DVD player and a Denon 2803 AV amp with a set of B & W sats and Sub for speakers. I was so happy with the Stereo performance I did not want to mess.

If you are going for an av amp with those 602s then I would be wary of buying a budget model of AV amp, they deserve decent amplification. As well as looking at the Amps mentioned above I would also consider some of the marantz AV amps, they seem to be getting decent reviews these days for musical performance.
 
Well i can;t fault the sound of my old skool arcam delta 290 integrated. Pick up one of those and a 290P (to bi-amp with) and u'l be sorted. Or go for the newer arcam alpha 9 or 10 integrated, along with the matching power amp (for bi-amping again). Those combos will be far superior to the cheapy a60 or a65 arcams.

B.t.w, my source is a well modified marantz cd-63 cdp, and have good cables throughout (see sig)

hope that helped
 
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