[i_raz]

Very nice setup.

You may want to get a fan for the onkyo to keep it cool if you have it in a sealed cabinet. They tend to heat up fairly quickly.

[Philw101]

Originally Posted by i_raz

Very nice setup.

You may want to get a fan for the onkyo to keep it cool if you have it in a sealed cabinet. They tend to heat up fairly quickly.

Thanks i_raz

Yes i will be getting a fan sorted i think mostly for the PS3 the fan goes mad on it after an hour or so. The Onkyo and Arcam run quite cool.

[Philw101]

Originally Posted by Alps

Dude, I absolutely love that set-up - especially the speakers.

The only thing I would say is, as nice as the speakers look without the covers, because you have such limited space the overall look and TV viewing experience may be better with the covers on. It's just the yellow in the speakers that I find attracts my eyes to them. But, that's just my odd-ball opinion

Thanks for the comments Alps.

Its funny you mention about the yellow cones- the long haired general said exactly the same thing when I got into B&W speakers. She once threatened to paint the yellow kevlar cones black - I told her "Don't come between a man and his speakers "

But she has since come around and said she really likes these ones, especially the curved cabinets. We sometimes do have the covers on, but it can look too dark at times, with all the black items in the corner.

When I get a new place, I want to spread the 804s out a bit to make it look less cramped. I have got the FS-HTM stand also so I will be hoping to do away with having the equipment at the front of the room and just have the fronts + centre with a big PJ screen.

[Philw101]

Originally Posted by James1D

Great progression of images ! Stunning set up ! Don't know how long you're planning on staying in you flat, but it might be worth having your radiator relocated so that you can space out your speakers along that wall.

Hi James - Thanks for your comments.

Sadly I can't move that damn radiator at all - I don't think my landlord would be too pleased if I did.

That wall would be really convenient to have the 804s and centre - however the surrounds would be too problematic to implement since they would be in the kitchen and would get damaged I will have to get some pics of my lounge and kitchen up to show you what I mean.

[Movielover]

Very nice speakers phil, they must sound awesome with music, and brillant with movies. I have to say your speaker setup deserve a larger screen.

[alitech]

This is an excellent set up.

I want to get a similar set up however I am on a budget and will add things as I go along. I have my eyes on B&Ws CM8 with a CM2 centre and possibly 685 rears. Not sure which sub yet but all in good time. I am still stuck with the amplification and just learned a little about pre/pro from your thread. I was considering an all in one AVR to power everything and was looking at the Marantz SR7005. After reading your thread, I am not sure about that AVR any more.

Perhaps a pre/pro and an amp to go would be the better option, however a lot more expensive. Have you considered any cheaper options to what you already have? Could you recommend? Arcam P7 is discontinued now and replaced by the P777 which is 3 times the price I think. Any better than the P7?

I am a sucker for surround sound so I dont want to settle for a 2.1 setup. I would rather have all the speakers powered adequately and sounding great. Still have to do a demo of CM8s. I love crisp, sharp treble regardless of it sounding unnatural (I can always turn it down).

A comment you made earlier about the B&W 684 I picked up. I have heard these speakers and not only are they muddy on the bass, they have no treble at all.

[maxkolonko123]

Originally Posted by alitech

This is an excellent set up.

I want to get a similar set up however I am on a budget and will add things as I go along. I have my eyes on B&Ws CM8 with a CM2 centre and possibly 685 rears. Not sure which sub yet but all in good time. I am still stuck with the amplification and just learned a little about pre/pro from your thread. I was considering an all in one AVR to power everything and was looking at the Marantz SR7005. After reading your thread, I am not sure about that AVR any more.

Perhaps a pre/pro and an amp to go would be the better option, however a lot more expensive. Have you considered any cheaper options to what you already have? Could you recommend? Arcam P7 is discontinued now and replaced by the P777 which is 3 times the price I think. Any better than the P7?

I am a sucker for surround sound so I dont want to settle for a 2.1 setup. I would rather have all the speakers powered adequately and sounding great. Still have to do a demo of CM8s. I love crisp, sharp treble regardless of it sounding unnatural (I can always turn it down).

A comment you made earlier about the B&W 684 I picked up. I have heard these speakers and not only are they muddy on the bass, they have no treble at all.

Emotiva amps my friend...read reviews and American forums like avsforum.com...Emo amps are great quite cheap for the power and quality which are compared to amps 3x more expensive then Emo....check here Emotiva.com

I have XPA-3 and UPA-2 and i can say that they are amazing...people say that better then Arcam P7 a lot better and cheaper if u compare price per channel....

Next thing is great service from Emotiva, 3-5 days and u have your amp really worth a try trust me mate....

[BrianMW]

Originally Posted by alitech

Arcam P7 is discontinued now and replaced by the P777 which is 3 times the price I think. Any better than the P7?

The P777 has balanced inputs that the P7 lacked otherwise they are pretty much the same, as is there price, the RRP when the P7 was new is about the same as the current asking for the P777 taking old/new VAT and economy into account.

If you get a good second hand one then they are pretty good imho. lots of authority and a nice sound

[alitech]

Thanks maxkolon. I will definitely have a look at this and read up on the reviews.

Brian, so balanced inputs, how is that better than then the P7? Am i likely to miss this feature for everyday home cinema use?

Also, where can you source a used or ex demo P7?

[maxkolonko123]

Originally Posted by alitech

Brian, so balanced inputs, how is that better than then the P7? Am i likely to miss this feature for everyday home cinema use?

Balanced XLR vs. Unbalanced RCA

[alitech]

Hi Max. Thanks for pointing me to that thread. Now here is a cutting question and purely to do with saving cost. Is there any accessory that would be able to change unbalanced inputs to balanced ones before the wires are connected to the amp?

From what I have read so far, there is no real world benefit to having balanced input unless there is a lot of electrical interference with the wires. This may be true to some extent as we home cinema DIYers tend to get all our cables jumbled up into a bunch trying to hide it in skrtings and what not.

Just trying to establish if this is an absolute requirement for home cinema and it at all it can be one without shelling an arm, a leg and your first born.

[alitech]

Ok scratch that, I just read that both ends need to be XLR to achieve truly unbalanced inputs. I wonder if the PR-SC5508 has balanced outputs.

[alitech]

Aaaand it does. Just read up on that. Answering my own questions here.

So lets see if there is a gadget out there that converts unbalanced input to a balanced one for the amp

[Philw101]

Originally Posted by alitech

This is an excellent set up.

I want to get a similar set up however I am on a budget and will add things as I go along. I have my eyes on B&Ws CM8 with a CM2 centre and possibly 685 rears. Not sure which sub yet but all in good time. I am still stuck with the amplification and just learned a little about pre/pro from your thread. I was considering an all in one AVR to power everything and was looking at the Marantz SR7005. After reading your thread, I am not sure about that AVR any more.

Perhaps a pre/pro and an amp to go would be the better option, however a lot more expensive. Have you considered any cheaper options to what you already have? Could you recommend? Arcam P7 is discontinued now and replaced by the P777 which is 3 times the price I think. Any better than the P7?

I am a sucker for surround sound so I dont want to settle for a 2.1 setup. I would rather have all the speakers powered adequately and sounding great. Still have to do a demo of CM8s. I love crisp, sharp treble regardless of it sounding unnatural (I can always turn it down).

A comment you made earlier about the B&W 684 I picked up. I have heard these speakers and not only are they muddy on the bass, they have no treble at all.

Hi there all, sorry I have not been on here to help out with the questions.

Alitech firstly thanks for your compliments! Regarding the older 600 series speakers - what I know now in terms of speaker quality etc is a lot different from what I had when I had the 684 theatre package. It is one of those cases where 'ignorance is bliss'!

I actually had a friend come over recently who had the HTM62 centre speaker and wanted to hear what it sounded like over my system. I have to be honest it sounded terrible compared to my HTM3s. (Not surprising that a £200 speaker was out done by one at £1600 ) Now I loved my 684 theatre package when I had it (the HTM62 was part of that system). I thought it was the business!

In short when I recommend speakers or brands of speakers to people I first say demo them, if you can demo them in your home all the better. Find out what suits you - if you can find the CM8s and CM2 centre and demo them with your kit, you will then find out if they are a good fit for your tastes and your room.

Regarding the pairing of the speakers you mentioned - I don't anticpate any issues with them just make sure you get some good partnering kit with them - the aluminum tweeters on the B&W's can make for a bright/harsh sound.

Onkyo pre/pros and power amps - I found my Arcam at a ridiculously low price, and I have seen them sell on eBay at about £550 from Lintone. I can't recommend it enough in terms of dynamics and power for music and movies. The Onkyo 3008 AVR I had with my 600 series was superb - however with the 800 series it lacked the power to drive them at their best. With respect to the P777 I have heard it and while there are some differences to the P7 is it worth nearly £2000 more - I say not!. I think BrianMW would agree on this!

What ever power amp you decide on - you need to make sure you choose a capable pre/pro. The Onkyo 5508/9s are a good place to start!

If you love treble the B&W 800 series are fantastic at it! You can almost count the number of bristles on the brushes as they hit cymbals. I recall the scene in the Matrix movie - when Neo shoots the mini gun from the helicopter you can hear the bullet cases clinking against themselves in the most realistic brittle tinkleness I have ever heard.

Lastly - there is no point in using an object to convert unbalanced to balanced since the source would still be an unbalanced signal. You simply cannot change the quality of the source without making it sound unnatural.

[alitech]

Thanks for all your responses. Once again great setup albeit outside my budget on the 800s so will have to stick to some ex demo cm8s and a cm2 or cm9 even.

685 on the rears.


Regarding amp, I like the idea of the P7 and I think i will pursue that one if I can find a bargain somewhere. Ill keep a lookout on linnstone.

Thanks

[alitech]

Just came across this beast

DENON POA-A1HD || Denon POAA1HD AVLAND UK information, pictures & spec for the

[maxkolonko123]

Originally Posted by alitech

Just came across this beast

DENON POA-A1HD || Denon POAA1HD AVLAND UK information, pictures & spec for the

60kg

[Philw101]

That denon is certainly a beast not sure how it compares to the P777 or newer power amps. Looks nice though wonder if they do it in black but at 60 kgs you would need a.forklift to carry it lol

[alitech]

I cannot find any comparisons to other amps at this stage but perhaps there may be some comparisons on the horizon soon enough. I have some time so Ill just keep looking out for a P7 meanwhile.

[mkohman]

Originally Posted by Philw101

That denon is certainly a beast not sure how it compares to the P777 or newer power amps. Looks nice though wonder if they do it in black but at 60 kgs you would need a.forklift to carry it lol

Dude,

I really like your speakers they are amazing. I am rocking the 683's as my left and right CMC2 for centre and the 685's on atacama stands for rear.. Don't get me wrong I think you have amazing speakers.. much better than mine and more expensive anyway but. I don't think you are able to use them to their full potential the way you have your room laid out....

First of all I think there is not enough space between your left and right .. I am a strong believer there should be atleast 6 feet between the left and right speakers.. Please do not misunderstand me.. I am not dissing your house at all .. I just want to give you an idea which maybe can make you see things a little different and experience a much better sound and pleasurable cinema experience..

If that was my room this is what I would do:

1 - I would move the radiator from where it is now to the wall where your TV and speakers are..

2 - I would then move the front sound stage to where your radiator currently is and also place the TV there.. you may even have room for a projector screen on that wall if you have enough room behind the sofa area to put a projector.. I believe you will really appreciate the speakers alot more in this configuration.. I know moving the radiator will be hassle but I really think you will majorly benefit from this as right now you have so much sexy speakers but they are just not laid out right IMHO.....

Hope I have maybe given you something to think about and if you change the room please keep me informed with pics.. would love to see it the way I would lay it out

All the best mate..

[Philw101]

Mkohman - mate no need to apologise with your comments, that is why we are all on here. To learn from each other about what works and what doesn't.

In all fairness, I happen to agree with your comments, sadly due to limited space in my rented (meaning we can't change the layout of the rads or walls) apartment what I have at moment is the best I can come up with. If I had the choice I would take the radiator out completely since there are another two in this room and even in the winter when we have the heating on that particular one remains off since it is too bloomin hot with them all on.

I should put some pics up of the entire room to demonstrate the size of it. Our kitchen is combined with the lounge - it makes for a more social experience when cooking, as you can watch a rugby game while making a curry or pasta dish. However as we are finding with the home cinema side of things the lounge area is not quite wide enough. I think the lounge area measures 3.5 metres by 7 metres. (Where the 7 metres is the wall where the radiator is).

If I had only a stereo setup (A perfect one would be similar to Arcam Boy's), I would definetly put my speakers where the radiator is currently. However since I have the 805s rear speakers for 5.1 - they would be difficult to implement since they would be in the kitchen. (We have tried many variations of this setup before going back our original location).

My future plan is obviously to get a bigger place - I would want to have the front speakers roughly 2-3m apart with a decent projector screen. A dedicated room might not be feasible in a first time buy, unless I convert the loft .

I know some people may comment why did you buy speakers too big for the house you have.......my reply is generally they were too low of a price to pass up Especially compared to eBay. Also in absolutely mint condition!!!

[alitech]

How much did you get them for out of curiosity?

[alitech]

Ahh bummer, I thought we all shared the love here on AVforums

I guess its a price I will never be able to get them for.

[Philw101]

Depends how good your haggling skills are

[Philw101]

Hello all,

I am looking to upgrade my subwoofer to something more substantial - I have been thinking of either a BK XXLS400 or Monolith, I would be open to other brands too. But not quite sure what would be suitable - things to consider would be the depths the sub can plummet and the control of the sub, the 610xp is not as subtle as I would like.

Any advice would be helpful

Cheers

[Arcam_boy]

How big a space do you have Phil?

I was at Frank Harvey on Wednesday and they had some SVS subs in the demo room. Looked amazing and go very deep however they are a rather large beast and I know I couldn't accommodate one in my lounge!

[Philw101]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

How big a space do you have Phil?

I was at Frank Harvey on Wednesday and they had some SVS subs in the demo room. Looked amazing and go very deep however they are a rather large beast and I know I couldn't accommodate one in my lounge!

Hi Mark,

I hope you are well, I have space for the XXLS400 but I could make room for the monolith - it depends on how much I want my friendship with my neighbour to continue . Also since there is a £20 difference in price - it may be worth going for the monolith! But to be on the safe side I think I might go for the XXLS400 if I can find a gloss black one somewhere, although it may be a brand new one if not used.

The Oppo 95 looks fantastic in my room now , although I feel awful since your Classe broke, it really doesn't make sense that B&W are charging you that much to fix the issue with firmware, unless they are going to be switching out the circuit boards?

I really hope you get it fixed buddy. Not to rub salt into the wound but I will try and get some pics of the Oppo in place tomorrow. Not had much time to check out the networking features but the picture has improved massively, things do look cleaner and sharper than with the PS3. I will eventually get round to getting some XLR cables and plugging them into the Onkyo for music but until then I am using HDMI.

I will add a quick reply to your thread shortly mate!

Phil

[Philw101]

Hello all here is the Oppo BDP-EU95 Blu-Ray player situated in my setup! I think it looks great with the other machines in the cabinet. Let me know your thoughts!

I have been giving the Oppo a thorough beating with my reference Blu-ray disc collection - Matrix, Despicable Me, LOTRs Return of the Kind and UP are amongst my favourites - however my recent purchase of the Lion King on Blu ray blew me away on the Oppo, giving some scenes actual 3D like depth from a 2D image!!! With a 7.1 DTS Master HD Audio track that actually gave me chills (during the Mufasa ghost scene), bringing me back to the moment in 1994 when I saw it as a child! An exemplary Blu-Ray transfer with gorgeous visuals and stunning score! A must as a reference disc!

I am trying to get a hold of some decent XLR balanced cables at the moment so I can plug the Oppo into the Onkyo utilising the Sabre DACs from the analog stage - does anyone have any recommendations on what to use?

[Philw101]

BK XXLS400 sub on order.....BK said they might be able to get it done by next week before they close for two weeks! Fingers crossed!

[saguk1234]

Shouldn't you have gotten a sub equal to the quality of the B&W?