Help with setup..

[Alfonso]

Hello guys, i need some help.

Has somebody tried what i call an all 805s setup ? This using 805s as fronts, HTM4s center and scm surrounds.

My room is fairly big and i was thinking about getting the 804s and the HTM3s center, surrounds coming later next year. This setup costs $$$ more than the all 805s setup.
The 804s lacks deep bass and i´m adding a sub or 2 in the near future, so maybe i can live with the "little" 805s as fronts.

All speakers will be powered by a Rotel RMB-1075, pre is a Denon 3808. I´ll add another amp (RB-1080) as soon as prices go down a bit to feed my fronts with plenty of power.

Thanks.

[Briz vegas]

Try the sytem pics thread. Lots of ideas there around 805

[Alfonso]

Tanks. Are the 805s a good choice or the 804s and HTM3s will be a lot better ?

[kmcheng]

Personally, I like the 805s with two subwoofers better than the 804. However, I note that the 805S with its stands and two good subwoofers are definitely more expensive than 804S with one subwoofer.

Give the 805S a try. You will be surprised how open and effortless it sounds.

[Antus]

in a music/movie combo setup, i always found 805S as rear speakers are overkill.
A regular receiver usually don't drive B&W speakers well. maybe u can consider a 5 channel power amp and forget about the amp section from a receiver.If you haven't got 3808 yet, u can even consider a real pre/pro, Rotel and Marantz both has one for little over $2K. both will certainly perform better than 3808.

I will get a Sub before center channel. Sub is very important in movies.

[Alfonso]

Antus, i already have the 3808 and the Rotel RMB-1075. The System will be 50% music, 50% movies.

[Ash]

Alfonso,

805s are amazing speakers that will give very good sound for both movies and music. I had those speakers as my fronts for 5 years and was satisfied. My system was N805 fronts, htm2(now called htm4) center, 705 surrounds (very similar in sound to 805), 675 sub (had 2 of these but sold one, didn't appreciate the second sub that much).

For homtheater I was very satisfied with the set-up.

However, during this period, I always felt that they lacked in bass when listening to stereo music. When I listen to music I dont like to use a sub as I didn't find the integeration that great for stereo, also, I did not think that the sub bass for music was the same when compared to good full range speakers.

Therefore I was always looking to upgrade the 805s, and I finally got N800.

I'm not saying that you won't be satisfied with the 805s, but, If you are into listening to music in stereo you maight find them lacking, specially in a large room.

For home theater, they are perfect and you should not have any problems if you have a good sub.

Considering that you listen to music and movies 50-50, the 805s might be ok, but if you place importance on stereo, invest on better fronts and you won't regret it. Also, you have to remember that bigger speakers will mean bigger amps and bigger $$

[Alfonso]

Thank you Ash. That´s why i asked the question in the first place. My budget is maxed at the 804S and HTM3S, i just don´t want to spend more money or i would end up with a pair of 802D !
I want a "modest" setup to enjoy both music and movies. I already have the Rotel multichannel amp from my previous setup and i´m going to add a RB-1080 just to the fronts for music listening.
The the question is to get the 804S wich lacks some deep end or just get the 805S ald live with them for less money...
Now.....if i can get a discount on 803S.....

[Antus]

Or u can cut corners on center channel, HTM4 instead of HTM3, which will save you enough money for 705 surround speakers.

804 has plenty of bass if you drive them with enough power.

[DM3000 Owner]

The 805 is a great speaker. Just go for it.

If budget is that much of a concern and you really want 803's or 802's, get Nautilus series speakers.

[Ash]

As said 805 is a great speaker, they only lack in bass when you listen to pure stereo. With the knowledge I have right now, and my usage 75% music, if I was at the point of buying between 805 and 804, I would get the 804 (or second hand Nautilus series just like DM3000 said).

But considering that you listen to 50% movies and 50% music, and whether you like to listen to music mainly in stereo or not, the 805s could be very satisfying speakers, they are fantastic and you will love them.

[WI Rotel]

You need subs, 2 if at all possible. Though the 805 is a fine speaker, its simply a little monitor. Regardless of its excellence it simply has no bass and would be lame in any HT setup without something to supply all the sound it simply can't reproduce.

[wettou]

Hello guys, i need some help. Has somebody tried what i call an all 805s setup ? This using 805s as fronts, HTM4s center and scm surrounds. My room is fairly big and i was thinking about getting the 804s and the HTM3s center, surrounds coming later next year. This setup costs $$$ more than the all 805s setup. Thanks.

I used to have five 805 set up the room was smaller that your but I had two sub B&W AS2500. I loved that set up very elegant and clean.

When B&W launches an 805D I might do an other set-up like that

- Seven 805D with Four JL Audio F110

[newguy987]

Interesting thread, I have done some research on a dedicated home theater systems and all conclusions point to having 5 or 7 identical speakers for best results. So your idea of having all 805's sound perfect. However, if you are like myself and enjoy 2 channel music it complicates things. For me to get the best out of 2 channel I use stereo direct, which in this mode only the two fronts get all the information-no digital processing and no sub/bass management. This gives me the cleanest purest sound. The downside to this with your 805's is like what others have said, there could be a lack of bass depending on how much power you are feeding them, and the type of music you are playing. One really good Idea I have seen, but it is expensive, would be to have your 805's for home theater/w sub/s. Then later on when you can afford it, purchase a second set of speakers purely for stereo listening. Then you could just simply switch speakers depending on what you are listening to. Might sound different but I've seen pics on this site that show some people doing exactly that. I myself am wondering if perhaps I would have been better off with 5-7 685's, and a couple of subs, instead of the 683/htm61/ds3 setup, and then get a pair of 683/703/803, for stereo. If I had the money I would have, but hindsight is....well you know. hope this helps. The more I think about it the more I wonder if specific surrounds and center speakers are more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It makes more sense having identical speakers for everything. Does anyone have that kind of set up? all the same speakers?

[Alfonso]

newguy, that´s exactly what i was thinking by going for the "all 805" setup. Science the 805S, HTM4 and SCM´S have the same drivers in different enclosures i thought i might get the best all around performance for movies. But, i would need a sub and i like to listen to some music....so i´m leaning towards the 804s and the bigger center speaker. God help me !

[emig5m]

I also pondered the idea of 685's all the way around (especially with the controversy over the HTM61) but my own experience with the 600 series shows me that the entire lineup that I've had in my home (except the 686) all match and blend perfectly well with each other for spacial surround effects so it kinda makes more sense to just get the best front mains you can for music and not same/smaller speakers all the way around for HT. I was also using a sub with a pair of 684's for stereo music and didn't like it at all - there was just something distracting/unbalanced/out of place with it. So no sub for me for 2-channel music playback - rather just get better speakers. But if music wasn't a priority, than maybe 685's all the way around, but I wouldn't worry about it too much because they all seem to blend very well with each other. It's not like you're going to be using B&W for mains, Cerwin Vega for center, and Bose for rears, heh. Now that would surely sound way out of balance!

Alfonso, I personally would go for the 804s for your front two mains and matching center (HTM3S) and then 805s for rears - I doubt you'd hear much if anything over using 805s all the way around from my experience of how well the 600 series of different sizes/models all blended well together for surround.