What to do?

[Lectoid]

I saved every little christmas and b-day check this year and along with my previous budget, I have $900, probably stretchable to a grand.

I currently have a Pioneer VSX-D510 (I am pretty sure that's the model, it's just a basic 5.1 receiver). I also have two Paradigm Titan's.

Feeding that is a mac mini using the optical output, also an Xbox360 with optical output. I also have a Nintendo Wii, but that's kind of irrelevant here.

Since I heard B&W's over a decade ago, I've wanted them. I wanted floorstanders. I don't know why, but I just want to get away from bookshelf's.

I was looking at getting the DM603's. Am I dumb?

I would like to upgrade the receiver within a year, so it's not like I am stopping with that setup. But I'll be honest when i say I don't ever plan on buying a dedicated CD Player. 95% of my music is on my mac mini. But I am going through it slowly replacing older MP3's with hi bit-rate MP4's. I used to have a decent CD collection, but I lost most of it during a move.

I use my Xbox 360 to watch movies, I might buy the HD-DVD add on depending on which way the format war goes.

My question is, pending a receiver upgrade: Are my sources good enough to justify a speaker upgrade? I like my Titan's, but I have heard them compared to 601's and even my mother-in-law heard the difference.

Thanks.

[Lectoid]

Another question might be is it wise to spend all of your budget to largely upgrading one component at a time, or split it up and marginally upgrade a few things.

[John Holmes]

I don't think it's dumb to get what you want. If it's your dream to own B&W and you have saved towards that goal, how can any of us tell you not to do just that.

I'm sure you will hear a difference from the Titans if no more than design. More bass for sure. Better mids and highs maybe (subjective). It will really depend on your ears if the 603's sound better than your current speakers.

[clearwaterms]

i say go for it. A good speaker is something that will only get better as the component chain does.

[Lectoid]

Well I did it, I ordered the 603's. I did an A/B test with those and the 602.5's. The sales guy had a few tracks he wanted me to listen to then he had me listen to a few of my own. The base was the biggest difference. I couldn't tell too much difference in the highs. That might have been due to the fact that he unboxed a pair of 603's right there for me to listen to. I've heard about the long break-in process, which I look forward to. They didn't have the lighter finish in stock, and the black ones were refurbished.

I called another store that sold B&W's and the guy quoted me 450 each over the phone. The store I went to said they would price match, so yay for me.

I wanted to compare the 603's with another brand in the same price range, but B&W is all this store has in my price range. I knew what I wanted anyways, but I wanted to make them work for it anyhow.


After I listened to those speakers, I thought "huh, so this is what music sounds like". As you can see I am new to this hobby, and look forward to staying in debt because of it. The Titan's are the best i've owned, and for the last few years they served as TV speakers. I didn't have the time to sit and enjoy music like I do now.

Well that's enough out of me.

Thanks.

[clearwaterms]

congrats. I am sure you will be happy.

which color did you end up with?

[Lectoid]

Sorrento. It's not a big store, and they mostly do home theater installs(6 showrooms), so he told me they don't have the room to stock them. He said they did have a pair of black ones that came back from the factory refurbished. I know refurbished are usually just as good as new. But some things I just won't buy like that. The sticker on the box even said may have scratches or discolorations. Pass.

[John Holmes]

Glad to hear you got what you wanted. Enjoy!