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Am I going insane?

I am not what most of you would call an audiophile, although I do appreciate a nice soundstage. I figured this was a good place to ask my questions. First I want to give you my situation though...

Last year I bought the Sony 40"XBR. I love it. Now it's time to purchase a very modest sound system for HT and 2channel. I don't have ANY equipment yet. I do know that the speakers are the first, most important piece to aquire.

So, I was at a dealer last week. I was listening to the B&W CDM NT1 series in both 5.1 and 2 channel. The sound was clear and I was pretty impressed. This is the B&W series (at least retail) that is in my price range.
Then, the fella helping me switched to the Boston Acoustics VR-M60s, with the matching center and surrounds. I thought that the BAs sounded better...much better...more free, less boxy. Both sets were being played from a Yamaha reciever (not hifi to be sure, but I can't afford good components yet). AM I NUTS? Would seperates make this setup sound better? The room was setup nicely, at least as far as my limited experience can tell.

Since then I have listened to a PSB setup, but wasn't as impressed. I also teased myself with a BEAUFIFUL Sonus Faber setup that I might be albe to afford in about 1000 years. I am looking for other options, but am limited by around a $2000 budget for speakers. If I can get something used that is higher quality (but able to be pushed from a reciever for a while), I certainly will go that way. I read similar posts as this regarding Thiel 1.5s. I am searching for a place to hear these.

I have decided to go with the Velodyne SPL800 or SPL1000 sub, as I really liked how it dissapeared in the B&W and BA setups.

Please help a really green newbie who is trying to get some bang for bucks.

Thanks,
Z
zstokes
bbtuna
96 posts
 
you said, "If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap!" if that is so, your VW is crap, right?...just a thought

by the way, I owned one of those VW Rabbit's referred to above and had exactly those problems...but no others. When it came time to trade the car in (about 80k) because it was "time" for my wife and I to buy our first car as a married couple - plus we were frustrated with the hundreds of dollars worth of maint - we gave the car to my brother-in-law who was handy and needed wheels. He drove the car well past 250k...even with the down time it was a great car and overall was inexpensive (compared to my current Olds and my last Plymouth)
I’ve got other VW Bug stories but that will have to wait for another day, lets just say VW, normally, makes a car for the long haul and their engines are nearly indistructable.

A name CAN mean quality but a name does not ensure quality - usually (exceptions: Rolls Royce - do you think it could be bad? Bose - do you think it could be good :) just kidding - Bose must be good at or for something...let me think? hmmm? Oh yea, most of them are small!

cd
bomarc
501 posts
 
What Bose is good at is making products that appeal to non-audiophiles--which, if you think about it, is very smart business. Yes, their speakers are small (to appeal to people who have other priorities besides sound), and that Bose sound does jump out at you--very impressive unless you realize how unrealistic it is.

There's an undercurrent of snobbery here that doesn't speak well for audiophiles in general. And I wonder if sometimes it's a substitute for actual experience. How many audiophiles who believe that the mass-market companies cannot compete with the high-end "names" on sound quality have ever done side-by-side comparisons of, say, Denon and Rotel? Or are we just repeating a received wisdom that happens to confirm our own brand loyalties?
inscrutable
313 posts
 
Bose is at very good at one thing for sure - marketing. They fully understaznd their market segment (heck, they created it) and they are very good at servicing it. None of us may be in it, and i'm sure they are losing untold seconds of sleep over it. Anyway, before this becomes another tiresome Bose-bashing thread ...

Z,
Are you really in this for the music or the movies? If it's movies, I'm afraid I would have to beg to differ with the prevailing sentiment here and say that a decent modern receiver (say a Newcastle, Nakamichi, NAD, Marantz, etc) will get you much more quickly and cheaply into a very nice movie experience, and a quite adequate music experience, until you can afford to add a separate 2-ch preamp (with receiver still used in surround processor loop) and a high quality 2-ch amp for the mains. I'm not convinced that a $1000 used pre/pro and amp will be of that much better quality than one of these receivers, especially if you buy one of them used.
zstokes OP
124 posts
 
Inscrutable,

I am actually trying to get a system that is little more centered on music, hence the main monitors, sub and electronics first. I am going to try to pick some speakers and a pre/pro that will give the ability to do Digital Dolby/DTS if not great, at least well.

I think I have narrowed my pre/pro & amp choice down to somthing like the Rotel RTC965 & RB1070 or RB1080m OR, a B&K Ref20 or Acurus ACT-3 with a yet to be determined amp. Now, I want to stess that I haven't listened to anything yet, and I am going to 'shop around' for at least another month before I buy anything (unless I find speakers I fall in love with). Anyway, do the above choices make any sense for a newbie, sound first but HT compatible system? I know the electronics also kinda hinge upon the speakers, but I am looking for ballpark opinions here...

Thanks again for all your opinions. I really appreciate your time spent thinking and typeing. I really don't think I could do this without all of your help.

Z
danheather
108 posts
 
I have to agree with Inscrutable here. I would not rule out a very nice receiver in your search. Pre/pro is a nice way to go too, but I would hazard to guess that you could to MUCH better by purchasing a high quality receiver (NAD, Marantz, Onkyo Integra, Rotel) on the used market and use the money that you saved on better speakers (also used).

Many posters here will instantly discredit mass market gear w/o having ever even heard it. Contrary to popular belief, some of the mass marketers (including Denon and even Sony - ES) do make some very nice gear. It's not all crap. Don't get caught up in the name game.

Anecdotal story: My father has gotten off of the Audiophile Merry-Go-Round and has been using the same gear for a good number of years. Prior to quitting the hobby, he had gotten into home theater (ProLogic!!). He has since parted with all of the surround speakers but kept his Onkyo Integra Pro series receiver. He uses it in two channel mode and, honestly, it sounds terrific. He's driving a pair of old Thiel 3.5s (not an easy load) and it really does a nice job. The point here is that many of the elitists on this site would laugh (literally) at the thought of using a ProLogic receiver to anchor an "audiophile" music system. He would have to spend A LOT of money to do appreciably better.

It's easy to get caught up in the hysteria and lose sight of your goal and objectivity. Take your time, leave your preconceptions (misconceptions?) aside and keep your focus. Who knows...? When it's all said and done, you may not even have a single "audiophile" component in your system....and that's not necessarily a bad thing :-)
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