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B&W LCR600 centre channel with Arcam AVR300

Hi all, I'm using an Arcam DV137 with an Arcam AVR300 to drive some Totem Forest mains with the remainder of a set of B&W 600s3 for centre and surround sound work. Specifically I have the B&W LCR600 and B&W601s. The Forests are bi-amped with the AVR300's 2 spare channels and connected with Kimber 8TC. The LCR600 is connected to the AVR300 using nice Tara Labs cable and the 601 rears are connected with generic white speaker cable. My DV137 is connected to the AVR300 with Kimber Hero for 2-channel CD playback and a Monster coaxial cable for multi-channel DVD. I also have a B&W subwoofer.

My question/problem is extremely low volume through the centre channel. I have to set the speaker trims on the AVR300 to minus 6dbs for all but the centre, and the centre is set at about +8dbs. Without this, dialogue is indistinct, or I have to turn it up so loud that the room shakes. Voices and sound from the smaller surrounds, hooked up with 20ft of generic white cable is immaculate and clear. Is this normal? I'd love to hear of similar system setups and how people tune them to sound best.

I'll upgrade the centre to a Totem model1 sig centre at some point, but I'm not keen on just throwing cash at the issue without finding out a bit more.
richard_g
2 responses Add your response
evergrey
15 posts
 
Richard,
You have a very similar setup to my system, utilizing an AVR300 myself, along with B&W 604s3 for my mains, B&W CM2 for my surrounds, B&W CMC for a center channel and a Von Schweikert subwoofer. My source includes a low level Marantz DVD player and an Arcam CD36 for CD. I have speaker trims for each of the speakers set to +0db with the exception of the surrounds to +3 because of their distance to the listening spot. I had noticed that a DH labs speaker cable to the Center Channel speaker was alittle quieter that my current PS Audio Statement cable I run to it. But no where near the difference that you are stating. Do you think there may be something going on with the center channel amp in the AVR300? Have you tried other speaker cables to it? I do not think it would be a source problem with the DV137. Perhaps you might want to call an Arcam dealer and see what they might suggest.
Good luck.
Frank
richard_g OP
1 posts
 
Hi Evergrey, thanks for the tips. I tried replacing the centre speaker with one of the rear 601 surrounds, which also sounded quiet. I'm not sure how much can be wrong with the cable, but it's either the cable or the receiver. The cable has four terminations at the speaker end. I have tried switching red for red and black for black. I haven't tried switching entirely to test. I'm hoping it's not the amp. I could try hooking the LCR600 speaker to the left or right front channel to test that. I'll tinker this weekend.

The same problem exists with my PS3 as source.
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