Dissapointed with my new speakers


So a couple of weeks ago I replaced my 2 year old Klipsch RB25 bookshelves with a pair of B&W DM603 S2 floorstanders. When I first auditioned them I fell in love with their resolution and clarity however having lived with them for two weeks now, I am very dissapointed in the low-end and to a much lesser extent, the midrange.

On most songs, the bottom end seems very lacking compared to the Klipsch bookshelves and simply pales in comparison to the Klipsch RF82s we have in the living room. In addition the mid-range seems a little over emphasized. I can probably get used to the mid-range however, the lack of low end impact I probably couldn't get used to. I was thinking about adding a subwoofer but a half-decent one would start around $250 and go up from there and the speakers themselves are worth around $450-500. This got me thinking, maybe I should just switch to a different pair of speakers instead of trying to make the current system sound better. What do you guys suggest?

P.S.-I'm in Hawai'i so while I'm open to used speakers, shipping here will usually run about $250+ for floorstanders so I'd only have about $500 for the speakers.
skyline889
I second Knownothing's suggestion of Quads 21L. Amazing speakers. For me, the bass is more than enough. And like Knownothing mentioned - the midrange and treble are top class. You will not be disappointed - for sure.
"I think what I was running into was that I tend to listen at lower volumes and unlike the Klipsches we have, these really don't perform well at those volumes."

I suspect those are two very different sounding speakers.

My experience with B&Ws in general is that they are not great low volume speakers. Klipschs I have heard in general are better, probably due largely to their high efficiency.

Your ears may still be used to the Klipsch sound resulting in disappointment with the B&Ws

If you think that is not the case, then you have two choices

1) try to tweak the system to the speaks and speaks to the room better to suit your tastes. Go back and listen to the same speaks again in the dealers setup if that is where you heard and liked them. if you still like what you hear there, then figure out where the differences may be between that system including listening room and yours and tweak yours accordingly.

2) If you no longer like the B&Ws as much as originally, punt on the B&Ws and try something else, perhaps more Klipsch like in overall efficiency and sound, maybe even another pair of Klipschs as an upgrade.

By the way I've owned B&W floorstanders and also heard and liked very much the RB 25s. They sound very different. YOu have to determine what kind of sound it is exactly you are going after. Chances are one will fit the bill much better than the other.
I really think you have experience with two quite different speakers. If you were happy with the Klipschs and think you should have stayed in the companies line. I cannot imagine my ever being happy with B&Ws and everytime I hear the Klipschs, especially corner horns, I think I errored badly 40 years ago with selling them.
Mb9061,

Just curious, what were you using to drive the Monitor Audios? The Silver RS6 is a pretty balanced speaker - I auditioned several times with large Denon receivers which are not the last word in amplification. Sounded pretty good overall even with that driving them - don't recall them being overly bright... but definitely not dark either.
To a large degree, the real culprit may be being ignored. These speakers have neither a good lower extension nor are very tight in the bass. Personally, (having owned the 602 S3) speakers (and other B&Ws), this is somewhat the sound you will get with the speakers (until you get much, much higher in their line-up). You are comparing them to your Klipsch speakers which have a typically deeper/lower bottom end extension - though not very tight and somewhat loose.

It sounds like you have become accustomed to the Klipsch bottom end (while not very accurate, it is more noticeable) and are comparing too very different sounding speakers. I would work on room placement if you are trying to get a bass sound more in-line with the Klipsch (more than anything else). For $250 for a sub you are pretty restricted and may be better off saving a bit. I would avoid the B&W subs (not very good, had one), but think that with these speakers you would be well served by one of the REL Quake subs (starting with the Q106? and going up from there based on available budget).

The REL's are much better subs than most others in this price category (at least in terms of real bass control vs. just boom, they have good speed and decent extension). If you want the sub to boom (more like the Klipsch), this will be controlled based on locating the sub and the general set-up.