confused and don't know what to do


We would like to buy a nice audio system and also have this double as a surround sound but listening to music is the priority. We have listened to many speakers but have settled on the B&W 804's. Now the challenge is to select a receiver and all the other accompaniments we require. We have a little challenge in that our home is a condo and the outside wall is all glass. The space is combined kitchen, living room, and dining room all open with hardwood floors and hard tile on the walls of the kitchen and a lot of granite counter tops. It seems that every where we go, the recommendations are different depending on what the store is selling and of course, the sales people would like us to buy the most expensive. What would give great sound without going crazy. We are thinking about 2 tribe sub woofers and space is limited and an in wall center B&W speaker but we don't know what we are doing and don't want to throw our money away. Help! Too many choices and we don't have enough knowledge. Thank you so much.
raw33

Showing 1 response by chcumo63

I had the same conundrum Raw and solved it by putting in a McIntosh 8900 integrated amplifier with HT pass through. I have 804D3s as my main speakers and an older HT7 center channel and two B&W in-wall surrounds. I run a Marantz AV processor and multi-channel amp for TV/Movies.  This setup gives me the best of both worlds. I am a music first guy, so when I was upgrading from my older mid-fi system, the emphasis was on stereo reproduction and not Theater.  I do agree that the 804D3s can be bright and after hearing a pair of Sonus Faber Olympicas, I am considering a swap.  
I think this route is a very good way to go as the better integrated amps of today are really hard to beat.  Good luck.