B&W 704 & HTM7 - Upgrade to Rotel 1080 or ??

[Jason R]

I have been looking through some options and have come up with the followng possibilities, first let me explain why i want to change my current config.

Setup currently

B&W 704 mains powered by Leinson 27.5, and HTM7 centre powered by marantz ma500. Running through 1098, with audioquest pikes peak cable and jaguar interconnects, so what should be a complete balance excluding the amplifiers from the equation.

Problem is the centre is either to soft or to bright no matter how i try to set it up, changing delays and volumes has helped slightly as has a carpet to try and smooth it out a bit. Cinema EQ on and off as well depending on wether it was to bright or to mellow. However even at the best i have been able to achieve it just does not sound right. I have concluded that the marantz is just not a match for the levinson and no matter how hard i try it is not going to form a smooth balance, i could be wrong but after 2 weeks of experimenting and watching a complete dvd after each change, this is all i can put it down to.

Option 1

move 1080 currently powering rears to centre and bi-amp the centre, obtaining another ma500 to replace it for the rears. This propably the cheapest option, and what i am leaning towards.

Option 2

Rotel 1090 for fronts and levinson biamped for centre, have not heard the 1090 so i am not sure how "musical" it is as i love the levinson for 2 channel which i listen to quite alot. Propably most expensive, but should it be worth it far far cheaper than a new levinson and this way i would get an upgrade for both centre and mains which would be a bonus.

Option 3

RB 1070 bridged to drive centre, how good is this amp when bridged is the only thing that worries me.

Thanks guys, i have been mulling this over for quite some time as a good monoblock for the centre is going to be very expensive and i would rather try and get the best utilisation out of current components i have in the system.

[junior77blue]

I saw your other post, and now I have read this one. I can understand why noone has responded. This is very subjective.

Anyone can recommend different options and it may or may not fix the problem.

I have none of these items so it is hard to know the sound quality of the given component, let alone the synergies between them. Not to mention room acoustics...

So, to give you some advice...

What I would do....purchase a good quality 5 channel amp of your likings, I would recommend sticking to the same manufacturer as your stereo amp (Levinson) and use that to drive your center and rears, and have 2 channels available to drive 2 more rears or possibly a 2nd room stereo. Sell the marantz or use it in another room or give it to your brother-in law! Im sure he will be happy!

But the root cause could be the speaker chosen...so, you might be chasing your tail trying to solve the problem with the wrong tool so to speak.

Hope this helps....

[Aussie Geoff]

Jason,

Firstly (from experience) your old "Upgrade Advice Needed" title is too general - as a moderator I have noticed that 90+% of the threads with no answer have a general title so the people who may know don't necessarily read them - hence I have changed the title.

Secondly - the post is as much about B&W as Rotel - So I have copied it into Club B&W (with a new name again)

Lastly - let me have a go at answering your questions:

My first recommendation is to consider changing the centre from the HTM7 to the HTM1 (old model) or HTM3S (new model). This is a much better match as centre than the HTM7 and likely to be cost effective as an upgrade... I'd then drive it with the 1080 bi-amped if you really want to make it sing!

However if you wish to stay with the HTM7 then:
Try the option 1 of moving the 1080 to the centre first (run without the rears). But don't buy the extra MA500 yet until you know you like it - just use 3 channel stereo or Dolby 3 or similar (or even disconnect the rears for 5.1) - so you know of the amp makes enough difference.

Option 2 is very personal - the 1090 is a great value amp and sounds awesome - but as to whether it is good enough that you won't miss the Levenson on the stereo that you listen to and enjoy so much... You would need to listen to the 1090 for yourself and see if you like its tonal balance...

I don't recommend option 3 - the 1070 bridged is just not as clean as a native 1080 for most peoples ears and is likely to not be any kind of worthwhile step up from your MA500.

Regards

Geoff

[DrJRapp]

I agree with Geoff that the place to start is to change the center channel. Hopefully you have a good dealer that could possibly loan you a HTM3S to see if it does the trick. A lot of people try to "tune" their systems by selecting compensating amplifying equipment try to overcome mismatches in speaker configurations. I too believe that one needs to start at a certain balance point and then work from there.

[Jason R]

Thanks for the info on the centre i had expected the htm7 to be a perfect match as they are supposed to be voice matched according to the marketing blurb. So i will try all options and make sure that it not just the centre to blame.

Biggest problem with finding amp to match is that the gain on the levinsons is 26.8or9 db, and from what i can gather most are in the 29 region, closest i could find was the jeff rowland mono block which can be 26 or 29 adjustable. Problem is cost for one of those especially when i have a 200w per channel amp powering speakers that don't need that much.

Will Report back on Monday, thanks again for info on good centres from the b&w family, it's always nice to get users opinions as you never know if dealers are trying to sell you something because they happen to have it in stock and know that you would then want matching mains thereafter.

[Aussie Geoff]

Jason,

Re your amplifier gain issue - this shouldn't be a problem - all you need to do is to set the relative speaker levels in your processor differently to compensate for the gain. For example to make an amp with a gain of 29 be the same as an amp with a gain of 26 you would either set the processor to -3db for the 29 amp or visa versa. In reality, as the speakers also vary in efficiency, this is all done in one step using test tones and a sound pressure level meter when you setup your system - you compensate for the combination of relative speaker efficiencies and amplifier gains for the other speakers relative to the front left and right (which are normally set at 0 dB

Geoff