2. speakers
  3. 1287106823

B&W 603s gone; I'm lost down the rabbit hole

Howdy, All.

When I moved to a small apartment a couple weeks ago, I sold my enjoyable old B&W 603 S1s and began looking for used bookshelf speakers at around $600. Now, after bleary nights of research and days of auditioning, I've lost focus.

Should I invest in Totem Mites? Or just buy an inexpensive pair of Paradigm Atom speakers? Or upgrade the receiver but keep my SACD player and…? Or maybe I should just sell it all and start over with something simple, like a Peachtree and a ? In my darkest hours, I want to know if I should just give up and accept my girlfriend’s offer of her old Bose computer speakers.

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.

My current set-up is…

* Marantz PM 7000 integrated amp (95W, 8ohms)
* twice refurbished (but running surprisingly glitch free) Marantz SA 8001 SACD player
* $100 interconnects and maybe $50 speaker wire

My listening room is also my living, roughly 15’ x 15’ with standard ceilings and essentially wall-to-wall carpet. I can place the speakers anywhere…near a wall.

I listen to jazz 80 percent of the time at a volume just louder than a normal speaking voice, and adore my handful of SACDs, including Ella and Louis and Jazz at the Pawnshop.

My budget is $600. I could wait and save more, I guess.
emhans
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
The answer is easy, listen to speakers until you find the pair that work for you. Now if geographical reasons keep you from listening to all the various models you've read about, you'll have to purchase them for home trial. Home trial is the only way to know for sure.
Get a pair of good stands and start listening. Buy used from reputable sellers here on Audiogon and resell speakers that don't work. This is not the most economical or quickest way to find the answer but it's how I did it. Probably owned fifteen or twenty pairs of monitors over the last five years.
Here are my top five favorites in order:
1. Soliloquy 5.0 (I kept them)
2. Polk Audio LSi 7
3. Revel M-20 (probably more than your budget)
4. Silverline Audio SR-11
5. Silverline Audio SR-14
I won't mention the speakers that I did not care for. Many of them will show up though as recommendations in threads like this.
One factor not addressed is how the wife feels about these boxes showing up every few months. Good luck with that one.
james63
534 posts
 
The small totems never did much for me. I always felt PSB has better speakers for the same money.

I would look into used PSB speakers.... They would be a very noticable upgrade from your B&Ws.

I used B&W 703 for a few years in college and moved on to other brands (tannoy, thiel, etc) and I still can't get over how bad the 703s really were.
emhans OP
2 posts
 
Good feedback. Thanks all. I'll certainly try to audition the models you suggest. I also like the look of the Amphion Helium's.

One follow-up question: Does anyone have any concerns about my amp? I talked to someone at Totem who said an old Marantz amp was less than ideal, not a classy dance partner.

Would I be foolish to pay for nice speakers when I'm running a ten year old, consumer grade amp?
james63
534 posts
 
I have an old Marantz reciever from 1976 (40 watt) that I messed around with on my 703s. It sounded pretty good to my ears but I only listen at about 75-80db.

I would not be too quick to replace your amp, just try it and see. Ignorance is bliss anyway. You can always buy one later.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
The responses you have received so far are a perfect example of why listening in your system is the only way to find your way out of the rabbit hole. While I agree with James63 about your amp, I disagree concerning the PSB speakers. I owned the PSB Stratus Minis and did not care for them at all, way too bright for my taste. I also owned the newer PSB Platinum M2. They were an improvement over the Status Minis but were underwhelming to me.
Also owned the Totem Model Ones. At the time I was comparing them to the Silverline Audio SR-11s. In my system the SR-11s were much better.
This is all opinion from people who's ears don't really matter to you.
More to discover