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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.
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Showing 1 response by nagel

nagel
57 posts
 
+1 to audiotroy and mtrot approach. I used to use a receiver as preamp but upgraded to dac/preamp. Remember that any DAC used in this way will have to have analog inputs. It does complicate the system use and remote control, esp with a music server, but I LOVE my combined 2ch/HT system now! We really need some idea of budget to give better recommendations on gear. I use Anthem MRX-1120 for all other channels, and Bel canto DAC3.5mk2 with Mark Levinson ML-532h amp for 2ch. The system kicks. The new Bel Canto Black EX DAC-pre looks really nice if you can afford it.

If your room is large, I highly recommend multiple subs (a swarm), even if you won't play them loud. I suffered for 20 years with what I would call a hollow bass sound, and adding a 3rd sub on the far side of the room solved that. It's like magic, and believe me, I tried just about everything else.

I also finally got acoustic treatments, and they were the icing on the cake. In your room, these will be absolutely essential. Keep in mind that if you go with receiver for surround only, it will not be able to correct for your 2ch, and this is actually a good thing. Also, no amount of room correction can compensate for a room with many reflective surfaces. I recommend GIK acoustics as very helpful in overall design with many options and good price/$.

I wouldn't skimp too much on cables, but I would save really expensive ones until the end. I'm a firm believer in ALL cables affecting the sound. Best of luck, and come back with more information as your system progresses.
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