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Silver Member Username: Virus5877West Lafayette, Indiana USA Post Number: 115 Registered: Apr-05 | I am planning on getting the Rotel RA-1062 Integrated amp for a music only system, and I was originally going to use some Infinity Beta 50's to let the rotel sing, but I was doing some research and some auditioning the other day, and I found the new B&W DM602 S3's. They are about the same price as the Infinity's and they sound soooo much better!! Do you 'professionals' think that the B&W's would be a better match with the Rotel? ...I will be adding a Subwoofer anyway, so bass extension is not really important to me right now. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzThe Land Dow... Post Number: 1931 Registered: Aug-04 | I have the B&W 602 S3'S powered by a Marantz receiver and it's still hard to believe how well they deliver the goods and you'll be surprised with their bass output. Give them a couple of days to run in. I highly recommend them and they should pair well with Rotel. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzThe Land Dow... Post Number: 1933 Registered: Aug-04 | Sorry I didn't answer your question - probably because I can't - not having heard the Infinity's. But you are the one who's going to do the listening - see if you can audition some different brands, possibly hooked to a Rotel. |
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capww8 Unregistered guest | This from a guy that sells B&W The 600 series from B&W seems to me to be a horrible value, at the same price point you can get a far more accurate speaker from paradigm. They simply don't sound that great for what you're paying. That having been said, rotel should be a great match. B&W and Rotel are sister companies, and typically are going to work very well together. |
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Silver Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 622 Registered: Feb-05 | As was previously said B&W and Rotel match up really well. Unlike the previous poster I don't think that the B&W 600 series is a "horrible value". I preferred the Paradigm Monitor series to them but I thought that the B&W's do alot of things right as well. Whatever you do don't get a B&W sub.....not good! Good luck. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzThe Land Dow... Post Number: 1934 Registered: Aug-04 | My opinion is that any dealer/salesperson who says anything negative about a brand/product that he/she sells has an agenda - either is getting extra special benefits for pushing a particular brand at that time or something similar - I agree that tastes differ and not everyone will like a specific brand, but any guy who sells a product and says it is horrible value should not be trusted imho. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzThe Land Dow... Post Number: 1935 Registered: Aug-04 | Also - I upgraded from speakers costing $2000AUD to the B&W 602 S3's that cost $1199AUD which sound and perform much better in my opinion. You can't tell me they aren't good value. |
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capww8 Unregistered guest | i should clarify... i don't sell B&W 600 series unless they are specifically requested of me, simply because the paradigm is a better value. If you compare a 604 to a Monitor 7, or an Energy C-5, the canadian speakers are simply better sounding speakers for *nearly the same money. I would certainly agree that they're going to sound better than most of what Infinity has to offer in their beta series, or JBL in their Northridge, but that would be like comparing Bose and Sony. Please have a look at some other brands before you settle on the 600's, or go on and have a look at something from B&W's other lines. The 700 series stuff is a great value, and you should be able to pick up a pair of 705 bookshelves for around 12-1300 dollars if you shop around. Have a look at some B&W 1nt's if you can find 'em. That should be an 8 or 900 dollar speaker, and it'll sound awesome. Or see if you can't get your hands on something from paradigm or energy. Both highly reputable brands. (take a close look at paradigm studio series, specifically a Studio 20... great sound for the $) To say they're a "horrible value" was certainly extreme, and for that I appologize, but as I see it, this is a forum through witch I can share an opinion... and it has been shared. As far as having an agenda... what are the chances anyone from this forum will ever walk into my shop? Near zero for certain. You will never see me give any incling as to my location, or specific function in my store... I don't see how I could gain any benefit financially from pushing a particular brand. B&W as a brand is an outstanding company, they have made a great deal of fantastic R&D contributions to this industry, and for that they should receive their props, but I couldn't in good conscience pass someone on a better speaker for the same money. This is certainly a crazy post, and I will attempt to clear up any confusing points in the future. By all means, put me in my place, flame me, whatever. I'm just trying to offer an honest, and somewhat informed opinion. |
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capww8 Unregistered guest | one last point (for now)... You should all be familiar with the concept that $ does not equal quality when it comes to speakers and electronics (look at bose). Just because a speaker is expensive, or well known, doesn't mean it's going to sound good. This is an industry of hearsay, and smoke & mirrors. Try to get as much FHE as possible before settling on anything, and if you really do like the way those speakers sound, then please discount my opinion, but go listen to some other speakers. |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzThe Land Dow... Post Number: 1936 Registered: Aug-04 | capww8, First off - your post did not distinguish that it was you who made the comment about the B&W 600's - it merely stated: "This from a guy that sells B&W " - it sounded like someone who you spoke to, so I apologise for the distrust comment. Yes, everyone has a right to express their opinion here and everyone has different tastes. IMHO the 602's sound wonderful and are darn good value compared to many similar models and higher from other brands I know, and maybe not so from others that I don't know. But I'll recommend them to anyone who asks. I also agree that anyone considering speakers should listen to a variety - which I stated in my second post here. Cheers |
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capww8 Unregistered guest | Cheers |
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Silver Member Username: Virus5877West Lafayette, Indiana USA Post Number: 118 Registered: Apr-05 | I appreciate the feedback guys, Funny you should mention Paradigm, because the Studio 20's are the pretty much the only other option I'm considering right now. considering the paradigm's are 800 a pair, and the B&W's are 600 a pair, I find it hard to understand how the B&W's are a 'poor value' Anyway, I really like the way the B&W's sound. I got a chance to hear them yesterday. They are much more transparent than the paradigm's and they seem to have this sparkle to them. thanks again guys! |
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Silver Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 639 Registered: Feb-05 | I really believe that the Studio 20's outperform the B&W's by quite a distance. More balanced sound IMO. Once again there is a $200 difference and the B&W's do sound good. Just throwing out my bias. |
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Silver Member Username: EdisonGlendale, CA US Post Number: 622 Registered: Dec-03 | If you like the B&W sound, you might want to try their 700 series - better x-over, and more quality. You can get them for $600 at www.audiogon.com if you don't mind used one. Speakers hold up pretty well, and audiogon is a good place to buy audio used. You can even get the 805 matrix for $750 now. The parts in 602 are not quality stuff - you would do better to look else where. |
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Silver Member Username: Virus5877West Lafayette, Indiana USA Post Number: 119 Registered: Apr-05 | >The parts in 602 are not quality stuff - you would do better to look else where. James, How can you say that one of the greatest speaker companies in history would use anything but 'quality stuff' B&W has a reputation to uphold, and almost every professional review I have found has stated that the B&W 600 series 3 is an "excellent speaker for the money" Sure, I can spend thousands and get much nicer monitors, but for 600 bucks, it's hard to find a nicer sounding speaker! come on, I'm in college after all...the fact that I'm even alotting $600 for a pair of speakers is insane in my friends' eyes. I'm putting together a mid-fi system on a pretty tight budget, that's why the 600's are so nice. they give great sound for a great value. Here's the entire system I'm looking at for all of your opinions: Rotel RA-1062 Integrated Amp -600 B&W DM602 S3 Bookshelves -500 Infinity CSW-10 Subwoofer -300 Rega Planar 2 Turntable. -350 I mean, for under 1800 bucks, that's a nice system, and you all know it! ...after all 1800 bucks is about 1/4 of the money this college kid makes in a year!! ha! |
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Gold Member Username: MyrantzThe Land Dow... Post Number: 1944 Registered: Aug-04 | Cyrus Great system - go for it. You won't be sorry. |