Monitor Audio B1 vs B2 ?

[Shimmyhill]

Im after a little help !

i have a very modest setup that i indeed to upgrade as funds allow (just paid car loan of early so AV budget went that way )

I picked up a set of MA B1's from a friend (was using a Yamaha 110 5.1 pack before) and just added the B centre. Quite impressed with the B centre - i had demo'd the RS6 + Centre and was set for those until i went all sensible and paid car loan off.

In the end im using a Denon 1706 amp with the B1's + B Centre. The B1's are on some Atacama nexus 6 stands + Qed speaker cable. I aim to majorly upgrade later in the year. Due to the low-end amp movies over music at the moment.

Now to the questions !

Since adding the B centre i have found the B1's sound lost, would swapping them to the B2's help here ? The aim is to not spend anymore money or i would look at the RS1 + Centre but i need my sensible cap on for a while more

The next question may be silly ! My sofa is pushed up against a wall and i wondered if i added the BFX would they work being literally right behind me on the wall that the sofa backs onto ?

Many thanks for any help.

 

[Knyght_byte]

i'd say buy the B2's for fronts, keep the B Centre, also keep the B1's as rears, put them at the sides of the sofa and fire them (the B1's) directly at each other(in other words thru your head) this will give you a quite astonishing sense of having sounds behind you......i used to use it in the other bedroom when i was in there and had a sofa slap bang up against a wall......when i say at the side of you btw for the speaker placement, i mean more or less literally so when your head is at the furthest back it goes when sitting on the sofa, the speakers drivers are going to be firing thru your ears......

mebbe the BFX would also work well stuck against the wall, if u can get a pair on home demo loan i'd try it.....but i'd say what i've recommended might prove more enjoyable....

 

[Sniper]

Hmn... not sure if you'd see a huge improvment using b2 over b1... i mean i prefer the b2s but that's cos' they're front ported (not like b1 which is rear), so they're easier to integrage in some rooms. Just make sure b1s are not too close to rear wall (which might be an issue if you decide to use them as rears).

Can you explain what's the problem better? I mean - if you had no center speaker before, your fronts where working more (sound was being diverted there) - but now with the center in place the b1s will be getting less wotk to do! So it could be a matter of getting used to the new sound!

 

[Shimmyhill]

Not sure i would get the B1's firing in from the side past the wife

As for the problem, i was using the ickle Yammy centre before so voices where comming thru that. Now the B centre handles that and does it a million times better but it seems to overpower the B1's (im not explaining this well i know) The sound from the Centre seems clearer with more detail if you see where im comming from :s

They are 9" from the walls and thats really as far as i can get them at the mo - could this be an issue ?

 

[Sniper]

Not sure i would get the B1's firing in from the side past the wife

As for the problem, i was using the ickle Yammy centre before so voices where comming thru that. Now the B centre handles that and does it a million times better but it seems to overpower the B1's (im not explaining this well i know) The sound from the Centre seems clearer with more detail if you see where im comming from :s

They are 9" from the walls and thats really as far as i can get them at the mo - could this be an issue ?

Distance seems fine to me - moving it 1" or 2" closer will reinforce bass. Not too sure what to say (maybe someother soul will help) but seems to me you're just experiencing what the sound should be like - the center is the busiest speaker in most dvd's anyway!

HMN - does the Denon 1706 have bass-managment (you know where you get to set your speakers to small/large). What are they set to? And what's your sub like?

 

[Shimmyhill]

I have them set to small and i am currently using the Yamaha sub. After a new one in the wanted section

I understand the centre is doing the most work its more like the sound is dwarfed by it - really hard to explain. I wondered if the B2's would be better balanced being a bigger physical speaker etc etc

It all started when i saw some of the 5.1 packages MA have and they always start with the B2's at the frount and not the B1's.

I will try moving them a little closer in and see if that helps - many thanks

 

[Knyght_byte]

you may simply need to adjust the individual channel level for them, so they come across louder.......assuming they can handle the same kind of levels as the centre can......i've only heard them in brief demos when someone else was in the shop listening to them while im waiting for them to finish so i can listen to the reference gear on the other stand...lol

 

[Sniper]

I have them set to small and i am currently using the Yamaha sub.

Is the centre set to small to? What's the crossover set to?

Just for kicks - try setting the B1s to large (or lower the crossover to 60hz if you can) and see what that sounds like! I have the impression that even thou' they should be sending the low freqs to the sub, the Yamaha is not doing them any justice!

 

[Shimmyhill]

Crossover is 80. The centre was set to large - should i set this too small ?

Im sure the sub is holding it all back, its pretty poor !

 

[Sniper]

Crossover is 80. The centre was set to large - should i set this too small ?

Im sure the sub is holding it all back, its pretty poor !

The 'B Centre' is specced to go down to 60hz, the B1s to 55hz. In a system where the sub is up to it I would go ahead and tell you to set all speakers to small & crossover to 80.

Now you're saying that - your centre is set to large, so it's producing sounds down to (an optimistical) 60hz, and your fronts are set to small hence anything below 80hz is being truncated & sent to the sub, which, if your sub it not up to the task, might be detrimental to the sound.

Try the following:

if your amp has a 60hz setting on the crossover, set it to that & set all speakers to small - check the sound!

if your crossover setting does not go down to 60hz (maybe 80's the lower limit?) then try setting the B1s to large too! I wouldn't say this is ideal but you might sort out this problem - till you get a BIG sub!

 

[Shimmyhill]

Setting the centre too small has made a difference

Working on the sub issue as we speak

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Shimmyhill]

More advice please

The advice above has helped and im getting a far more balanced sound now - many thanks

So onto the sub siuation. Looking thru the sub forum and i have come up with a few (limited on size of sub - had to turn down a paradigm offered to me as too big )

So im down to :

BK Minotaur
BK Gemini
MD 309

I didnt want to go over 100 if poss but have doubled to 200 so defi no more than that - as with other speakers it will be upgraded with those. So im looking for a good match for current speakers - will the minotaur be too small (sound wise)?