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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.
raw33
pgaulke60
292 posts
 
My 804's are powered by a McIntosh 252, and it sounds great!
larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,002 posts
 
I would consider Anthem or an ARCAM AV850.

i was not impressed with Bowers and Wilkins.  I would add a pair of REL S3 SHO subwoofers.  I like their high level hook up for music and they also are excellent for HT.  They act as Woofers to extend the bass when listening to stereo.  You will love them.  I would add Persian Rugs to the mix to subdue some of the brightness from the hardwood floors.
firedrums
83 posts
 

Hello

It is very difficult to combine theater and 2 channel in one system.

Also difficult to get good sound in a very reflective room.

Not sure what your budget is...But I would start with your priority which is 2 channel.  Maybe look into a good quality Integrated Amp that has a theater pass through so you'll be able to add a receiver later for Theater control and still have your mains powered by the integrated.  Also I would try the TV just with the 2 channel it might be good enough for movies...A good Stereo is 3 dimensional.

danvignau's avatar
danvignau
935 posts
 
When I accidentally destroyed all of my electronics, I decided on the B&W 804 as my test speaker, thinking it would be the closest to my older 803's, and I was not wrong.  You are going to get a lot of advice, but here is mine, after listening to current 804's for hours.  STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM RECEIVERS AND ROTEL ELECTRONICS!  There are several B&W dealers from my home town to where I live now, and I have heard these speakers extensively.  Not one receiver nor the best Rotel electronics was listenable for more than a few minutes.  Even the salesmen at Best Buy Magnolia, who put up with me very graciously, admitted that I would not ever get a receiver or their Rotel stuff to sound as good as what I had, and of course I would have to bite the bullet and buy their McIntosh stuff.  The several high end dealers had some really expensive solutions, but here is what I think:  Go to a thrift shop or eBay and buy a cheap receiver and get some older, used B&W's for your surround.  Hell, I even bought a supposedly really well regarded, trade in  Marantz surround receiver from a Linn dealer in my town, just to use temporarily. After setting it up, I listened, then immediately re-boxed it, using just that one time.   You can have it cheaply, but only if you don't have audiophiles dying in your area where a decent receiver will appear.  Don't waste you money on current 804's to use a receiver.  There is not enough room in the box to put a big power supply.  Ditto for the few integrated amps I heard.   BTW, I have one large room. The stereo is placed where it sounds the best; the television is 90 degrees to the right, happily powering my much older B&W's, with same model line, smaller eBay B&W's for the rear.  Luckily, I found an aging Austrian guy to repair my Audire electronics, despite no schematics ever having been released.  Thank you Chris from Audio Advisors for that lead.
aangen's avatar
aangen
3 posts
 
I have two homes with three separate systems in each. A home theater setup, a computer desk setup, and in my main home an audiophile setup, at the other a bedroom setup.
If you have listened to the 804s and like them, fine. You can get the appropriate center channel and get 805s for surround. Subwoofers should be REL, a pair of them, T/7i or T/9i. Anthem would be a great choice for this setup, either an AVM 60 Preamp Processor with an appropriate power amp or one of their AVM Receivers. Preferably the former. The Anthem gear comes with everything you need to get the most out of your room and gear.
Marantz works as well, but I have been using Anthem gear for over ten years and I am sold on it.
You are going to get a lot of hysterical posts responding to your question. The advice I have given you is based on years of satisfaction with similar speakers and gear. PM me if you would like details. This would be a solid setup you can calmly enjoy and build on if desired for many years.
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