Unexpected Improvement:) - Need help w/ Next Step

[crowland]

Up until last week my sys consisted of a Yamaha AVR, an RMB 1095, 3 x B&W VM1, a $100 Sony DVD player and 2 Dayton in-walls for surrounds. Then I found a Rotel RDV 1060 on Ebay for a good price. Wasn’t really expecting all that much, but the improvement actually surpassed the benefits of what I experienced with the addition of the 1095. I would never admitted it, but I was in the “All cd/dvd players sound alike” camp. I know that there is even better, but I am pretty happy :P

Question – What’s next? Have about $2,500 to spend on my next step and I am considering 3 B&W FPM5’s (because of space constraints). I might be able to get away w/ 2 slim towers ie. 704 factor(WAF). the FPM's cost about 4x what the VM1’s go for. So, what do you guy’s thing? Is that a good idea or would I be better served by the new 1069 processor or even something else?

[Nolan B]

Up until last week my sys consisted of a Yamaha AVR, an RMB 1095, 3 x B&W VM1, a $100 Sony DVD player and 2 Dayton in-walls for surrounds. Then I found a Rotel RDV 1060 on Ebay for a good price. Wasn’t really expecting all that much, but the improvement actually surpassed the benefits of what I experienced with the addition of the 1095. I would never admitted it, but I was in the “All cd/dvd players sound alike” camp. I know that there is even better, but I am pretty happy :P

Question – What’s next? Have about $2,500 to spend on my next step and I am considering 3 B&W FPM5’s (because of space constraints). I might be able to get away w/ 2 slim towers ie. 704 factor(WAF). the FPM's cost about 4x what the VM1’s go for. So, what do you guy’s thing? Is that a good idea or would I be better served by the new 1069 processor or even something else?

I have FPMs and have had them for couple of years now. They are considerably better then VM1s. Personally I think you would notice a large improvement by going to FPMs. Your amp would do a great job making FPMs sing as well. Do you have sub? you need one with the FPMs.

[crowland]

Thanks for the replay! I forgot to mention it, but I built the Dayton Titantic 12" and It works pretty good.

I'm glad to hear from an FPM owner. There's not a whole lot out them out there. I don't think B&W even has a review of them posted on their web sight What's up with that?

I had the pleasure of demoing a pair of FPM5's at home and they sounded great. So, I think I might head in that direction. My question that you might not be able to answer is the FPM4 or FPM5(no opp to compare)? The way my LCD and speakers are positioned would allow for even the bigger FPM6, but I'm just not sure I want to spend that much for them. Do you think there's a sound diff between the 4&5 even though they have the same size drivers?

[Nolan B]

Thanks for the replay! I forgot to mention it, but I built the Dayton Titantic 12" and It works pretty good.

I'm glad to hear from a FPM owner. There's not a whole lot out there on them. I don't think B&W even has a review of them posted on their web sight What's up with that?

I had the pleasure of demoing a pair of FPM5's at home and they sounded great. So, I think I might head in that direction. My question that you might not be able to answer is the FPM4 or FPM5(no opp to compare)? The way my LCD and speakers are positioned would allow for even the bigger FPM6, but I'm just not sure I want to spend that much for them. Do you think there's a sound diff between the 4&5 even though they have the same size driver?

The FPM 4s and FPM 5s will sound the exact same. The 5s are not better then the 4s.

The FPM 6s allows for slighty larger drivers then the 4s and 5s, so you will notice a slight improvement with the 6s.

You are right in that there are not many FPM owners and even fewer reviews. They are very underrated speakers, and often get overlooked because people have space, or dont put as much value in the looks. They are not only the best (or in the top 3) on wall speakers you can buy, but are great speakers in general.

[crowland]

Ok then, I'm gonna go for it. I think I've taken the VM1's as far as I can with what I'm giving them and there's always next year's tax refund for a new processor.

Thanks

Chris R.