I appreciate all your thoughts and info on the B&W 700 series, integrated amps, and the 8012. Sadly, while I’ll inevitably wander down that “plan B” upgrade path eventually, I have a dedicated HT system in the basement and a 2-channel system in the bedroom that I get to make fewer compromises with in exchange for not tinkering too much with this one for the time being. Just because I’m a newbie with bi-amping doesn’t mean I’m totally green.
The living room system has to stay kid, pet, & wife friendly and remain unobtrusive with regards to the decor. Bookshelf speakers with grills pushed back into the built-in bookshelves, a SVS sub tucked away as best as such a beast can be, and in-walls for the rest. It sounds better than most peoples’ living rooms and impresses the friends and neighbors who don’t know what else they’re missing... but it’s never going to really be truly amazing without getting me into trouble.
I often dream of throwing the current timber matching out the window and putting some Devore Gibbon 3XLs, Harbeths, or something else really special into that terrible placement in the bookshelf along with an integrated amp just to see what they could do for the 25% time we use it for music...but then again, it’d be a shame to place those beauties into a box that doesn’t let them breathe. Something a bit closer to the 705s is probably a far more reasonable place to land on the cost/benefit spectrum given the constraints.
