Trading in 704s for 703s

[mrpotto]

Ok, so here's what I've decided to do. I'm trading my 704s in for 703s (I have a deal with a local dealer where I get to apply purchase price of 704s towards the 703s so it will be about $800 out of pocket to do so). For now I plan to keep my HTM7 center (I've read on some audio forums that the HTM& may be a mismatch for the 703s despite the fact that B & W sells the HTM7 with all speakers in the 700 series) and see how it goes. I'm also planning to purchase a Rotel 1070 pre-amp to augment driving the 703s (have a Yammy RXV-1700).

Some questions-(yes I'm a noob):

Will I notice the mismatch between the 703s and HTM7 while watching music DVDs (say Dave Mathews Live in Central Park DVD)? How about regular movies - from what I gather if the volume is cranked it might not be that noticeable?

I didn't notice a mismatch between my 704s and the HTM7 and I've read that the HTM7 was designed almost exclusively for the 705s. Do others think the 704s and HTM7 are mismatched too?

Is the Rotel 1070 a suitable pre for the 703s. Will I notice drastic differences in performance with and without the amp? Should I consider another pre amp to drive the 703s. Hoping to spend less than $500.

Do people use a preamp while watching movies via their HTs or is it more of a benefit in a 2 channel set-up? I will use the system for both.

Thanks for taking the time.

Chris

[Briz vegas]

705 Kevlar midrange/woofer and tweeter crossed over at 3.5khz
HTM7 Kevlar midrange/woofer and tweeter crossed over at 4khz
704 Kevlar midrange/woofer (plus woofer) and tweeter crossed over at 4khz
703 Kevlar FST midrange and tweeter crossed over at 4khz (plus 2 woofers)

Not surprised you did not hear a difference - your setup was ideal

Use the search option and you will find about 29 1/2 treads dealing with this stuff.

Some guys here are running 703 with McIntosh gear so you can get into some pretty serious gear with those speakers. Rotel forum would be a good spot for this question. I would go for the best preamp Rotel has for the 703.

With HT the preamp is used in bypass/theatre mode (or at unity gain if it does not have that feature - its generally the same thing) mode.