AV & AMP suggestion for b&w cm9 speakers

[Riv92]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated:

Just purchased a pair of b&w cm9 fronts with the matching center. I'll pick up a sub & surrounds in time. Currently I have a Denon 3312 but I still have time to exchange for a different model. Room is 19x16 open floor plan with the speakers about 15' away from the seated position. 70% tv & bd's with 30% music. 2k budget for av & amp. Need advice, this will be my first real system so getting some suggestion would be great. I been told that b&w's are power thirsty so an amp would be the best way to go. From what I have read online it seems that the av would be use for surrounds & sub. The amp for music at higher volumes, is this correct? Is the an AVR out there that I could purchase so I wouldn't need an amp? or should I keep my denon and possibly buy a emotiva xpa-3 or something similar? Since the speakers were pretty expensive I want to make the right decision, thank you all who reply.

[wowo5]

I would keep 3312 and add emotiva XPA-3 or XPA5. You would have plenty of power for your CM9.

[sgtjim57]

XPA 5 = 5 equal channels of sonic bliss

[Riv92]

Thank you all. I'll keep the denon for now, it's been giving me some handshake problems with video feeding threw hdmi. I'll also order the xpa-5.

[Dmantis]

I would suggest looking at Rotel and Pioneer Elite. IMO they both have the ability to show off the sound quality of the CM9's better then the Denon will. Denon has a very receiver type sound quality to it while Pioneer Elite favors closer to the sound of what you would find with Seperates. Rotel receivers also have this musical audio quality to them with very quite dead like back ground and very dynamic explosive power.
I'm a music first kinda guy and always look for pieces that also favor music.
I have no experience with Emotiva so I offer no comments .

[sonerin]

I am currently using the XPA-5 with CM8. The sound is very good. I will recommend XPA-5 as well.

[sgtjim57]

Read my signature. i want to upgrade speakers but hard to justify. My XPA-5 is a solid performer and equal to all channels and I feel this is an important fact when talking home theater.

[htsteve]

Read my signature. i want to upgrade speakers but hard to justify. My XPA-5 is a solid performer and equal to all channels and I feel this is an important fact when talking home theater.

sgtjim57,

You have a nice system. Speaker upgrades are always fun. But they really pay off if the rest of the system is similar in performance. Looking at your signature, I see two areas that could be upgraded. But one in particular.

To me, the weak link in the system is the Denon receiver. You have good quality speakers and amp. And a good sub. Now what is needed is a good processor. Since you already have emotiva, consider looking at the UMC-1. Or maybe a used Rotel. I believe the system performance improvement would be quite noticeable.

The other area would be to upgrade the center channel. I would normally say the best center channel in the 600 series, but I believe the HTM61 has not been well received by 600 series owners. Many have opted for the CMC or CMC2 in the CM series.


Hope this helps.

[stevek]

riv92
while i am no expert i have much in common with you.i have the cm9 and cmc2 along with the denon 3312 and i just added the emotiva xpa3.iam very happy with all but the denon.mine is a lemon and im stuck with it and im getting ready to send it in for a second round of repairs.my sound is sometimes great sometimes not so great.the emotiva made a noticable difference but the denon is the weak link.i found that you have to put hdmi control to off if you want your tv to pick up the signal.at least with mine witch is a 2009 model.
i have had the hdmi board replaced in my denon and it came back worse lol.i dont recommend best buy and denon also told me not to let them repair it.but i did and its still not right ohwell.

[sgtjim57]

Thanks

sgtjim57,

You have a nice system. Speaker upgrades are always fun. But they really pay off if the rest of the system is similar in performance. Looking at your signature, I see two areas that could be upgraded. But one in particular.

To me, the weak link in the system is the Denon receiver. You have good quality speakers and amp. And a good sub. Now what is needed is a good processor. Since you already have emotiva, consider looking at the UMC-1. Or maybe a used Rotel. I believe the system performance improvement would be quite noticeable.

The other area would be to upgrade the center channel. I would normally say the best center channel in the 600 series, but I believe the HTM61 has not been well received by 600 series owners. Many have opted for the CMC or CMC2 in the CM series.


Hope this helps.

Good suggestions. I have considered the UMC-1 but am holding out for the new model, if it ever gets released. The problem with the UMC-1 is being able to do the firmware updates since I no longer have a PC in my house. Only MacBooks. I have not seen a firmware procedure for Macs. I am happy with the sound for theater purposes, I feel I am lacking in the music arena. A new processor may provide me what I am looking for.

[htsteve]

I am happy with the sound for theater purposes, I feel I am lacking in the music arena. A new processor may provide me what I am looking for.

Both areas, HT and Music, would benefit from a dedicated processor. Even though HT sounds fine now, it will improve with that upgrade.

Pretty much everything would improve (soundstage, dynamics, clarity), but I recall just how BIG the soundstage got was when going to a pre-amp. And the depth/quality of the bass.

And stereo is where the biggest improvement is normally seen.

Also, pre-amps also tend to have better bass management tools.



Hope this helps.

[sgtjim57]

Help

Both areas, HT and Music, would benefit from a dedicated processor. Even though HT sounds fine now, it will improve with that upgrade.

Pretty much everything would improve (soundstage, dynamics, clarity), but I recall just how BIG the soundstage got was when going to a pre-amp. And the depth/quality of the bass.

And stereo is where the biggest improvement is normally seen.

Also, pre-amps also tend to have better bass management tools.



Hope this helps.

Thanks.

[Tweir]

Pioneer Elite SC-57 would be my pick. If you are only using 5.1 then you can BI-AMP your front left and right and the center. This receiver is .002 thd from 1 watt to 80 watt that is pretty clean....

[gfcf42489]

Denon has a very receiver type sound quality to it

Not sure what you mean by that. Denon is quite smooth and musical to me. Never harsh or fatiguing and always so damn easy to listen to.

I own products from both brands. The old PMA-2000 integrated outperforms my RB-1080 & RC-1082 combo, so I wouldn't take their AVRs too lightly. Hopefully the OP can listen to both and see which brand suits his taste the best.

[sgtjim57]

Looks like my waiting may just pay off in the near future. XMC-1 is close to release and I am ready to get one when it comesout. Bugs or no bugs.

[lastexit]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated:

Just purchased a pair of b&w cm9 fronts with the matching center. I'll pick up a sub & surrounds in time. Currently I have a Denon 3312 but I still have time to exchange for a different model. Room is 19x16 open floor plan with the speakers about 15' away from the seated position. 70% tv & bd's with 30% music. 2k budget for av & amp. Need advice, this will be my first real system so getting some suggestion would be great. I been told that b&w's are power thirsty so an amp would be the best way to go. From what I have read online it seems that the av would be use for surrounds & sub. The amp for music at higher volumes, is this correct? Is the an AVR out there that I could purchase so I wouldn't need an amp? or should I keep my denon and possibly buy a emotiva xpa-3 or something similar? Since the speakers were pretty expensive I want to make the right decision, thank you all who reply.

Unless your listening at reference levels, your Denon amp should be plenty. Since you want to make the right decision, you should question the quality of the source component your using. Also, do you have any room treatments set up?

Many old-time audiophiles happily spend $3k on an amp and then wimp out with a $600 CD player. Don't forget that garbage in = garbage out.

[Tweir]

I would go with the Rotel RB-1582 great sound with the CM9's....