B&W 705s, HTM7 and yamaha 2600 amp

[alpina]

hi all,

here is my first post so please take it easy on me.

have decided to give hubby his dream home theatre system

so far we have our pioneer 5060 plasma on order along with yamaha 2600 receiver (likely to hit australian soil late nov / early dec). subwoofer is a tannoy ts12

after doing much research it looks like we are going with a 5.1 setup with inceiling speakers at the rear (let me know if its a bad idea). can't see the pt of going 6.1 or 7.1 and room is about 5.5mt wide and will have sofa on one wall and plasma on opposite wall.

at the front, we want some very good quality bookshelfs (on stands) and have been looking at the dynaudio audience 52se, focus 140 or b&w 705 with their matching center speakers.

love the sound of all these speakers - funnily enough i thought the 52se had the best bass, the 140 the purest sound and the 705 the best all rounder, albeit very little bass by comparison.

which brings me the amp - i doubt it will have enough power to drive the 4 ohm dynas, although retailer tells me it will be fine but how will it go with the 705 set? we bought the 2600 for its versatility and near unlimited connectivity/upscaling but didn't spend much time thinking about the 130*7 power capabilities and what speakers we could drive with them.

anyone had any experience with the 705/2600 combo? dont want to spend the $$$ on the speakers if the amp cant handle the task.

would appreciate any assistance.

once we sort this out we need to pick our dvd/hd/cd combos

cheers,

julie

[csuzor]

The 705 and HTM7 are a great combination, and not power hungry. You'll be fine with the receiver.

If you can add a subwoofer (already have it?) you'll have a perfect home theater system, and the B&W are very musical too. The Sub will compensate for the perceived "very little bass", and is a better solution for home theater anyway (and will go much lower than any full-range speaker). Cross-over at 60-80Hz with the 705.

I don't like the inceiling rear speakers, but I guess that is your choice. A pair of B&W DS7 would be a much better choice, but you would have to move the sofa a little inwards from the back wall.

[PewterTA]

You will be "ok" with the receiver. The big problem with Yamaha is that they tend to exagerate their findings on their power supplies. It really will not output what they claim. I had the Rx-V1400 and it was good with my B&W 600 series, but I felt it was a little bit lacking, as well as a little too bright for the speakers. B&Ws tend to be very revealing speakers.

I'd say go for it for now, but I'm guessing you should plan in the future to upgrade the Yamaha to something else. It's going to end up being a given once you really start listening to things.

[alpina]

I'd say go for it for now, but I'm guessing you should plan in the future to upgrade the Yamaha to something else. It's going to end up being a given once you really start listening to things.

if this should happen god forbid, can i simply buy a good amp use the preout on the yamaha and connect the 705s that way?

for what we need atm (mainly HT with lots of connectivity) the 2600 is perfect.

is it out of the ordinary to spend more money on the main speakers than on the receiver?

i know its a little off topic but would appreciate the advice.

cheers,

julie

[csuzor]

In a HT setup, speakers typically cost 50%, and up to 70% of total investment. And you could use the pre-out of the receiver to power a better amp if you need to in the future.

[dyazdani]

Julie,

Sounds like you're off to a great start! You are exactly right on the potential upgrade path.

Keep us updated as you move forward and take some pics!

[alpina]

heard some tannoy eyris and proac's today. prefer the sound of the 705's and 52se. looks like im down to the final 2

will definitely be posting pics once its all up.

btw, we will be running a tannoy ts12. love the sound of this sub and like many things i chose it for its looks as much as its performance

will keep you all informed.

actually, another question if i may. why do people choose bookshelf over floorstanding speakers. For us, its again about looks and not having a room full of "large" speakers. we see bookshelf as the best compromise between satellite and floorstanding speakers. Key of course here will be us being able to find minimalistic looking stands otherwise we may as well go for floorstanding - if all that makes sense?

cheers,

julie

[csuzor]

why do people choose bookshelf over floorstanding speakers.

I had bookshelves, and was inclined to buy the 705, and a sub. But at that time I bought the 704, and I still don't have a sub.

704 sound more musical alone, and 705 must have a sub.
705 + sub is a better HT solution that 704 alone.
705 matches perfectly with HTM7, 704 doesnt.
705 + b&w stands are almost the same price as 704.
705 are easier to drive from the amp's point of view.
Choose what's right for you. And choose B&W.

[alpina]

i should have asked before - will the tannoy ts12 be a good match for the 705 combo or should we bite the bullet and get something else?

and if we dont go with inceiling, given that the sofa is right against the back wall, what would you recommend for rears?

notice it's sounding more and more like we are going with the 705s?

funny how the $$$ are adding up

regards,

julie

[csuzor]

If you want to create great match, the surrounds could be the DS7 (as I suggested), but I believe that really requires moving the sofa a little and wall mounting the DS7. If that's not possible, a b&w kevlar ceiling mount (such as ccm65) should be a good match, but i'm no expert. I don't know the tannoy sub either, but if looks are as important to you, there is the B&W ASW700 which matches the 705 aesthetically, and acoustically it's fast enough for music. But it's expensive compared to other brands. If you already have the sub, don't worry, it's probably perfectly capable for HT usage.

[dyazdani]

I have also seen the DS series surrounds placed directly on the sides of the seating locations, not sure if this is feasible for you. The best thing would probably be to pull your sofa out a bit, but I realize that you have to live in that space too.

I agree with the other post on the sub. If you already have it, go with it until you get everything set up for a while. You can always change it to something else as you get to know your system better.

[Ryx]

actually, another question if i may. why do people choose bookshelf over floorstanding speakers. For us, its again about looks and not having a room full of "large" speakers. we see bookshelf as the best compromise between satellite and floorstanding speakers. Key of course here will be us being able to find minimalistic looking stands otherwise we may as well go for floorstanding - if all that makes sense?

well if you are interested in floorstanders that would take up no more space then the 705s with stands but have a solid floorstanding sound, see if you can find a place to demo the XT series. they may not be exactly what your looking for, and they may cost a bit more overall, but they are defenetly another option for you to look at and they are a fine sounding speaker. (never hurts to look )

[perato]

I have 705, htm7, ds7, asw650 connected to an Onkyo TX-SR701. I do not listen to loud volumes so this works fine for me. Do not worry about timbre matching the subwoofer. You can get just about any subwoofer you want from any manufacturer and then equalize it with any of the various equalizers on the market. Audioholics is currently reviewing the 2600 and should post the review in the coming months.

[Briz vegas]

I have the 705 HTM7 at front and my old pair of Mordaunt Short MS-30s at the rear running through a Marantz 7300 ose (around $2800aus rrp). Very pleased with the sound of that combination. Personally I do not think that matching front and rear is that crucial as the different locations relative to your ears can make the speakers sound different front to rear anyway. The most important thing is to match across the front. I picked the 705 because of the value for money. With the bookshelf you get less bass but the rest of the frequency range is better than a similarly priced floor stand speaker. Also if you have a quality sub (I use a Rel Strata 5) you get to have your cake and eat - better sound and no compromise on the bass. I have a comment on stands as well but will post it under your other question.

[MFox]

anyone had any experience with the 705/2600 combo? dont want to spend the $$$ on the speakers if the amp cant handle the task.

The amp will handle it, I have the 2500 and I tested the 703 speakers a few weeks ago on it. It went smooth. It also can handle 800Series speakers, because that's what i bought in the end and which is connected to the 2500

Actually, I didn't think, the b&w's sound too bright with the yamaha. I tried other speakers before getting the b&w's which sounded too bright, but not the b&w's.

[rav934]

B&W 704 with Yamaha RX-V2500

System:

B&W 704 Fronts
B&W LRC600 Center
B&W DM601 Surrounds
Definitive Tech Supercube 2 sub
Yamaha RX-V2500 Receiver
Pioneer DV -47Ai dvd
Pioneer 50 inch plazma

I prefer music over movies.
Love the 704s (never use the center for music)
I was thinking of adding a quality amp to the front pre out. Maybe a Rotel. Any advise? How much power? I would like a large sound field with plenty of volume.

Another option is to change the sub to a B&W PV1.

All comments would be appreciatted.

[alpina]

hi guys,

thanks for all the info to date

2600 is running late - first batch was due to arrive in australia on the 5 Dec but looks like they are running 1 -2 weeks late

final choice of speakers down to the b&w 705s with htm7 or dynaudio contour 1.4s with sc center with rears speakers yet to be determined.

which brings me to cable size question for b&w combo:
1. should i use 10 or 12 guage on my setup?
2. should i biwire both the 705s and htm7?
3. should i use banana plugs?

im sure these are simple questions for you guys, but for me this is harder than choosing which shoes to wear to a party

many thanks

julie

[mike c]

gauge 12 is fine. but if it makes you feel better, go for the 10 (though i doubt it will make much of a difference)