confused and don't know what to do


We would like to buy a nice audio system and also have this double as a surround sound but listening to music is the priority. We have listened to many speakers but have settled on the B&W 804's. Now the challenge is to select a receiver and all the other accompaniments we require. We have a little challenge in that our home is a condo and the outside wall is all glass. The space is combined kitchen, living room, and dining room all open with hardwood floors and hard tile on the walls of the kitchen and a lot of granite counter tops. It seems that every where we go, the recommendations are different depending on what the store is selling and of course, the sales people would like us to buy the most expensive. What would give great sound without going crazy. We are thinking about 2 tribe sub woofers and space is limited and an in wall center B&W speaker but we don't know what we are doing and don't want to throw our money away. Help! Too many choices and we don't have enough knowledge. Thank you so much.
raw33

Showing 2 responses by larry5729

I would consider Anthem or an ARCAM AV850.

i was not impressed with Bowers and Wilkins.  I would add a pair of REL S3 SHO subwoofers.  I like their high level hook up for music and they also are excellent for HT.  They act as Woofers to extend the bass when listening to stereo.  You will love them.  I would add Persian Rugs to the mix to subdue some of the brightness from the hardwood floors.
I am not a big fan of B&W speakers.  Where's the base.  However, if you buy a pair of REL S3 SHO subwoofers that would fill in the lower extension.

I would look at ARCAM.  I have their AVR550.  However, I wish I could have afforded to spend $3,000 more on their AVR850.  It blew the doors off the MacIntosh.  I like their G amplification technology, as their first 50 watts is pure A.  Don't know why people feel ARCAM is not audiophile.  They are missing out that's for sure.  The only amplifier I like for the money is Parasound.  They sound really good and I believe they now have a multi-channel processor.