Need to downsize, never been here, what's best

having moved house my sitting room is now a lot smaller.

I currently have:
Fronts - B&W 601 S2
Centre - Matching fronts
Rears - Tannoy R1s
Sub - Tannoy M10sub
Amp - Yammaha A2

The speakers are all chunky shelf bi-wireable 100watters.

My other half now hates the speakers filling the room.

What systems / components should I be looking at if I want to maintain this sort of sound quality?
I'm thinking Bose satelites and a REL sub keeping the amp.....

thanks

 

TBH,I don't think you will,the B&W arn't that big,can you get much smaller without comprimises?

 

what about the Cantons? am I going to regret not withstanding the pressures to get rid of my lurvely sounding kit?

 

From what I have read about Bose speakers, I would say stay away from them!

Cantons is an option and I have also read many good reviews about Monitor Audio Radius 90s and Mordaunt-Short Premiere systems.

I may sound sarcastic, but how small is your sitting room that your smallish speakers are too big? Our living room is not big by any standards, but I shoe-horned my Mordaunt-Shorts in there and it does not look crowded or out of place!

 

Your trouble may be that those B&W's are so damn good, especially if you like to listen at realistic volumes.

Bose systems are excellent for their size, contrary to the popular myth, but you need to buy just that, the whole system - you can't mix and match subs. The Bose subwoofer isn't brilliant, but its not as bad as people make out if setup properly.

If I were you, I'd seriously think about ditching the centre speaker (switch on phantom mode to see if its satisfactory), and getting some tiny wallmounted satellites for the rears (whatever you prefer - Gallos, Monitor Audio Radius etc). How would that go down with the other half?

In my quest for a small system, I found the Gallos and Bose to be head and shoulders above the rest I tried.

 

thanks superpixel, I really appreciate you taking the time on this, especially as this feels a little like many other threads....
Yep ditching the centre may well be a must.
I tend to switch off all of the effects and go direct to the 601a alone, for stereo anyways.
The Yamaha is bi-wirable to the B&Ws and gives a great sound.
The centre has to sit on a 60cm speaker stand, on the unused hearth even I have to admit it looks terrible! We move it out of the way sometimes.

The yammy doesn't have a phantom mode, so perhaps I'll look for a long slim silver center to match my Pio 434MXE-1. Shame 'cause IMHO in movies so much relies on that huge centre box.

So looks like I'll be searching for discrete centre + rears only. Maybe an upgraded sub in the near future that will integrate a bit better. The yammy can be told that the rears and centre are ickle and put more base to the sub.
It may not "work together" as well, but at least I still get good stereo.

 

what about 3 CD50's from the power buy?

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195561

they're rated at 100w each so perhaps will fit in well?

 

Would a Castle Compact system be of any use?

 

Hey kaz, its no problem.

I've never seen an amp without a phantom mode - usually in the speakers setup there will be an option to set the centre on large, small or none (or similar) - none will be the phantom mode obviously. I really recommend giving it a go - sometimes the sound can even be much better!

So maybe double check your amp for this feature, then you can advance what you want/need from there.

Seen as you love the sound of the 601s, it seems a shame to replace them...

 

martin - you made the same suggestion when i too was looking at bose and similar alternatives.

ive always liked Castle speakers, so if they are as good as their floorstanders, then theyre worth a look.

however they are not so 'Compact' - they are 8 times bigger than a Gallo Micro or Bose Cube!

 

Get some anthony gallos, if you get micros for the front left and right and the surrounds and a due for the centre and a REL sub I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results and they take up so little space I think the other half will definitely approve!

Cheers
Andy

 

I would say Monitor Audio, centre here:-

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/radius/series/r225.htm

Fronts here, tell the missus she needs to compromise:-

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/radius/series/r270.htm

Rears here:-

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/radius/series/r90.htm

The centre looks especially good wall mounted under a plasma, maybe try three? Centre and front L/R?

Add the sub of your choice and away you go...

 

yeah I'd have to go with three centres as Front L/R and centre.
if I were to go for the full Monitor set. The floor standers are backward step in terms of "clutter"
How much do they typically cost? are they similar to the Canton's in performance?

I'll certainly try out the centre speaker "none" setting and see what it does with the voice channel.

I watched "I, Robot" last night and the thought of the kit being on death row was horrible, it sounded great, I don't want to be getting rid of this setup my other half even wants rid of the 601s.
"get a system with little speakers on demo and return them if you really hate it" doh!

 

I can recommend the Gallos as well...

John

 

Still a lot smaller than large bookshelf or any floorstanders

All the reviews I have seen have rated the Compacts.

As a Castle fan you tend to read reviews of them and get pleased when they do well

 

I suspect the Castle's will be slightly too large. After all the Tannoy R1s which I use as rears aren't really that much bigger. Although, the chest high fence post thick, black metal stands they sit on (cause they don't lend themselves to wall mounting) are a bit much!

BTW this room is 3.7X3.4 m2

 

went for the Monitors today should arrive middle of next week
2x R90 @ £125 each (white)
http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/radius/series/r90.htm

1X R180 @ £150 (Silver)
http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/radius/series/r180.htm

went with silver at front 'cause it'll be right next to a silver bezzled plasma, white would stand out even more.....

I'm thinking of buying to demo a REL Stampede as an upgrade to my Tannoy M10 sub.
Do you think this is worth the £(500 - what I get for the tannoy on e-bay)?