htm7 or htm4s for 7 series

[alpina]

hi guys,

think the easiest way to get to the bottom of this is by quick poll

in a system comprising on 703 fronts, 705 surrounds, aws 700 or 750 rear, which center channel would be better suited between the htm7 or htm4s? we have heard a lot of negatives re htm7 (ie, poor mismatch to 703) and cannot afford a htm3s so it comes down to these 2 models.

listening will be 70/30 HT.

thanks,

julie

[alpina]

keep the votes coming please

julie

[grit]

Just as a point of interest, you do realize that you'll have 3 mis-matches at that point... the fronts wont match the center, and neither will match the rear. I'm not trying to be the negative person. I, in fact, was in exactly your position and didn't realize it until AFTER I purchased my speakers.

If music is really 70%, I *really* think you'd be happier getting 2 great front speakers and skipping the rest (for the time being). Or, consider skipping the surrounds for now. Or the subwoofer. After all, you won't be using them 70% of the time. And about 70% of the sound (or more) for movies is the front 3 speakers.

Someone suggested all of that to me, and at the time, I felt it was far more important to have all of the speakers. After a few months of owning the 703's, I found I spent almost all of my time listening to music. HT is great, but if I could have re-done my decission, I'd rather I bought great front L/R speakers, and added a center, surrounds, and a sub later.

[alpina]

Just as a point of interest, you do realize that you'll have 3 mis-matches at that point... the fronts wont match the center, and neither will match the rear. I'm not trying to be the negative person. I, in fact, was in exactly your position and didn't realize it until AFTER I purchased my speakers.

hi grit,

yes i realise they are a mismatch anyway i go - even if i went htm7 and kept everything 7 series as b&w would suggest, the htm7 is not ideally matched to the 703 because of its fst driver. although the htm4s also is not fst, i am thinking it cant be worse than the htm7.

it would be great to live in a zero tolerance world and have another 703 as the center but this is simply not practical and would look really out of place and put the plasma way too high up the wall.

this is why i want this poll to decide for me

cheers,

julie

[JohnAng]

Julie,

my current setup is 703 front, htm7 centre, 705 rears ASW 750 sub
for 2 channel music the 703 with the 750 is a great setup, of course there is better moving up to the 800 series but if your budget doesn't allow you will be extremely happy with this setup. I know i am.

As for the centre, yes it is a little missmatch which you can tell when listening to SACD or DVD audio, but in movies, you barely notice it.
If i were to chose between the htm7 or htm4 i would go the 7 for price and will at least look the same as the rest of your setup.
I am looking at upgrading the centre to the htm3 mainly because i do listen to alot of SACD, and after listening to them in 2 channel, you can realy tell the difference in 5.1 without the FST driver.
If however you are not into sacd, then the htm7 will do a nice job. In a perfect world 3 703's would be ideal, but its a tall speaker which means you will have your screen up fairly high.
If you can audition one at home give it a go and see what you think

[alpina]

thanks for your comment john.

can see you pt re price and looks though i think it would also look cool to have a center looking 8 series'ish between 703s, albeit no fst.

would love to hear from more people re poll to help make my decision

cheers,

julie

[Alloroc]

thanks for your comment john.

can see you pt re price and looks though i think it would also look cool to have a center looking 8 series'ish between 703s, albeit no fst.

would love to hear from more people re poll to help make my decision

cheers,

julie

Hi,

May I ask you if you have listened to or demo'd in detail the 703s with both centers yet? If so what are your conclusions?

Can you also advise on what your source and amplification is?

[alpina]

went to my b&w dealer today to find out a little more about the htm4s and htm7. was told that i was the first to comment that the htm7 was not well matched with the 703s - hmmn

anyway, saw the 2 centers but were unable to audition them. what i did notice though was the craftmanship of the 4s vs 7s - detail is everything, even down to the biwiring connector on 4 vs copper plate on 7 - you just get the feeling that the 4s will perform better and that's without even hearing them - jury still out on this one

while i was there i was able to compare for the first time side by side 705 vs 805 vs 703. i was tempted to add 804s to the mix but thought better of it. all speakers were powered by an 80w yamaha amp (wish it was the 2600 or even better a 1095 but neither were in stock). all these speakers are awesome! can definitely hear the improvement of the 805 over the 705 (not that the 705s were bad, not by a long shot - very sweet sounding speaker in fact) and although "i think" i preferred the 703s to the 80s i would not go so far as to say one was superior to the other but simply say that they are different, if that makes sense - the 703s seemed to cover a bigger range and yet the 805 sounded a little tighter. for the money (ie, same once you add the stand for the 805s), i'd probably go 703s because you seem to get more for your $$$ but what a hard choice it would be.

so where am i at after trying to make my mind up since last dec? im thinking 705 rears with stands(definitely), aws750 (more than likely, though being advised to go velodyne), htm4s center (more than likely) and 703 fronts. 804s would be an overkill for us (as this system probably is), given that we would do 80/20 HT vs music listening.

please keep this poll going as we are still undecided with center.

will keep you up date as we intend to purchase some of this gear over the next week or so - biggest stumbling block atm is which colour? once speakers are sorted, I'll be interested in getting some advice re power

thanks for all your help

cheers,

julie

[grit]

Julie, what did you listen to when you did your demo? Also, I'd give some consideration to your rears. DS7's are a better match for HT than the 705's (from personal experience with my previous 703/htm7/705/asw700 setup).

[weijst]

If you won't be getting a FST featured centre (HTM3S) anyway, you might just aswell get the HTM7 instead of the HTM4S. Furthermore, with a HTM7 you'll be matching the tweeters of the 703's, which IMHO, could otherwise dominate the softer, more delicate tone of the external Nautilus tweeter on the HTM4S. (Than again, this last point would also be the case when you'd get the HTM3S).