Upgrade B&W 601 S2

[aholloway17]

Hi all,

I am seeking opinions on upgrading my 601s. I've had them for many years new out of the box two week break in and all of that. They are run by Sunfire Classic Vacuum Tube Preamp and two bridged Carver M-1.0t amps. The amps are out getting repaired replacing capacitors etc. and bringing back to factory standards. With that said I am wondering if upgrading would make sense. The amps when bridged produce 1,000 watts not that I ever run my system hard but it has plenty in reserve and the speakers respond well requiring no sub or other components. I've been thinking of staying in the 600 line because I like the full range sound and fear moving to too small a speaker would necessitate using a sub. I have a Sunfire Jr. that rattles the windows supporting the home theater system and would rather keep it there, I think.

Your input would be greatly appreciated,

Allen

[wkhanna]

Welcome to the Forum, Allen!

I am a bit of a Carver fan boy, myself.
I have a C-19 that was totally refurbished & modified with help from Bob himself.

some of the carver & sunfire amps are V much worth refurbishing, imho.

who is doing the work for you?

time for some Carver porn.....(pics from our local vintage audio shop who specializes in Caver)

[aholloway17]

Hi Bill,

Those are some beefy Carver toys! Any thoughts on speakers?

[wkhanna]

Any thoughts on speakers?

what is your budget?
& some details on your room?
& of course, some hints at your personal preference for the type of sound you are after (i.e. loud rock, classical, jazz, techno, etc.) ?
also, what source electronics are you using, & are what format (i.e. mp3, see dee, uncompressed files via computer)?

[aholloway17]

I'm looking at the used market in hopes I can find a deal around 500 or 600. The room is rectangular coming in around 400 sqft 8ft ceiling. Adjacent to the main room and sharing a partial wall is the kitchen and dinning area about 300 sqft. I listen to a wide variety of music including jazz, R&B, pop, rock, Latin and classical. As for volume I have to say I think I'd be hard to surpass 75db for any length of time. I have a large number of 16 bit MP3 files, many 24 bit files, and an increasing number of WAV files all stored on an external solid state device played through my desktop.

Allen

[hockey_101]

I'm looking at the used market in hopes I can find a deal around 500 or 600. The room is rectangular coming in around 400 sqft 8ft ceiling. Adjacent to the main room and sharing a partial wall is the kitchen and dinning area about 300 sqft. I listen to a wide variety of music including jazz, R&B, pop, rock, Latin and classical. As for volume I have to say I think I'd be hard to surpass 75db for any length of time. I have a large number of 16 bit MP3 files, many 24 bit files, and an increasing number of WAV files all stored on an external solid state device played through my desktop.

Allen

Craigslist will be your best bet.. OR Ebay.. If you buy on ebay, cross your fingers that they don't get damaged in transit.. I had some larger speakers get damaged pretty badly by UPS.
I used to own the 601 S3's which are similar to your S2's. I upgraded to the 680 S1 series (i've owned/still own every speaker in that line including both woofers). If you have any questions about any of them I'd be happy to help.

You can get 685 s1's on eBay for usually around $400 or less shipped. Hard to beat that speaker for the price.. With the leftover money you could add a nice used sub, like a 10 inch velodyne for about $200 or less shipped on eBay. I currently have a Velodyne DLS4000R which I prefer over the 600 Series subwoofers B&W makes. I think I paid about $250 for it on Ebay.

[dan87951]

The 685's are great speaker for the money and will be a huge upgrade over your 601's.