Speaker Help

[family man]

Could use a little help please.

I am just about to order a Marantz SR4200 amp and I want to see if my speakers are up to the job.

I have a set of B&W DM602's which are about 5 years old but still seem pretty good??

For the rear I have a pair of Gale Mini Monitors MK2, fairly cheap but seem OK.

Do you think these speakers will do the Amp justice (will mailnt be used for DVD's)?

If no any sensibly priced alternativs would be appreciated.

Ta.

[MikeK]

Originally posted by family man
Could use a little help please.

I am just about to order a Marantz SR4200 amp and I want to see if my speakers are up to the job.

I have a set of B&W DM602's which are about 5 years old but still seem pretty good??

For the rear I have a pair of Gale Mini Monitors MK2, fairly cheap but seem OK.

Do you think these speakers will do the Amp justice (will mailnt be used for DVD's)?

If no any sensibly priced alternativs would be appreciated.

Ta.


They'll be fine.

The DM602s have always been good speakers (if a little overpriced IMO) - just because they are 5 yrs old now doesn't change that (just about run in nicely)

As for the rears - well these are not as important as the fronts and centre. That's not to say any old speakers will do, but you can certainly get away with lesser units as rears.
Try the Gales - while they've never been world beaters they are fairly decent budget small speakers - my guess is you'll find them fine as rears.

If I were you, I'd keep what I had, for now at least, and spend any spare cash on a decent centre speaker. Unfortunately deals on B&W kit are few and far between, but Hyperfi recently advertised the old model B&W CC3 for £70 (may not have any now though). You may be able to find a CC6 around at a reasonable price too.
Obviously the new B&W S3 centre, the LCR60 would be a candidate, but they aren't cheap - around £200.

There are various alternatives as well though - the Wharfedale Diamond Centre can be bought online for about £85 delivered, and places like Richersounds always have something on offer.
The Kef Cresta centre is about £60 (no idea how well this would match up with your 602s though).
The Eltax Monitor centre is pretty good too, especially for the £60 they are asking.
They also have an online exclusive deal at the moment for a Celestion Ditton DC12 centre speaker for £30.
I've never heard it, but the spec looks OK, and Celestion have a decent name amongst speaker makers - it may be worth a punt for that sort of money!

[family man]

Thanks for the advice MikeK!! I will give the speakers a go and see how they perform.

Another daft question if I can??

What benefit does a centre speaker give you? Is it just extra base?

Also where does it go? I dont have any space in my TV cabinet so not really sure where to put one?

Thanks!

[MikeK]

What benefit does a centre speaker give you? Is it just extra base?


No, it's a subwoofer which gives the extra bass.
A centre speaker locks the dialogue (and anything else which should be) to the screen. You can try running without one, but it's not really very convincing, especially if like many people, your main fronts are not ideally positioned. When running without a centre speaker, left and right front speaker positioning is critical, and even when you get that right, only the "hotseat" will get a reasonable sound image, anyone sat off the the centre axis will get more of say the left speaker, so dialogue will appear to be coming not from the screen, but from the left speaker.
This, IMO, is unacceptable
To get decent performance, a reasonable quality centre is essential!

As to where you put it, usually it's directly below, or else sat on the top of the TV set (which can look a bit silly, depending on which TV you have etc etc).
If you really can't accomodate a centre speaker, you could use the TV itself. You would need to make up a custom lead however, to go from the centre preout on the amp, to the audio pins in the SCART cable. That said, unless the sound on your TV is exceptionally good, it won't be anywhere near the standard you are getting for the other channels, especially front left and right.
Again, to get convincing performance, the centre channel should be a reasonable acoustic match to the main fronts, and while most TVs are OK to listen to the news and the odd soap etc, the sound capabilities are usually poor compared to proper home cinema equipment.


If you are going to buy into multichannel sound, don't sell the system short. Get a centre speaker. Move equipment out from the TV cabinet if necessary, but find some way of getting a centre speaker in and positioned correctly. Believe me, it's worth it.
There are some smaller centre speakers around which are still pretty good and should slot into the average TV cabinet without too much bother.l

[family man]

M8 you are a star!

Thanks for all your help, I think your right if I am going to do this I might as well do it properly!

The fun bit will be setting it all up now so it sounds right. My only experience is from using a cheap Sherwood surround amp, when I did get it set up it was very dissapointing!

Also trying to find somewhere else to put the stuff in the cabinet (I have a Tosh 43" rpt and the cabinet is only just big enough to get my Amp, DVD and sky digital box in) should be fun??. I may have to look at some sort of home entertainment stacking type system.

Thanks again.

[MikeK]

Probably not a good idea to put your equipment in the same cabinet as the centre speaker - certainly the DVD player at least.
This type of equipment is prone to vibration, and it can affect the performance.
If possible get it all out, and just put the centre speaker in there.

As it's a Tosh 43" RPTV, you could look at using the TV's onboard sound system, instead of a centre speaker. While it may not stack up against dedicated HC kit, the sound system on these type of sets is usually a cut above the usual fare in most TV sets, and may well be OK at normal listening levels - it will run out of steam a long time before your SR4200 and DM602s though.
Doing this can cause some usage inconveniences though, compared to having a dedicated centre speaker.


Another option is to buy a pair of Mission m70 (or something like - make sure they are shielded), or even a pair of small centres turned on their ends, and wire them in parallel to the centre speaker terminal (make sure you get at least 8ohm units).
Then place on either side of the TV (on stands, wall brackets or the TV shelf if it's big enough), practically butted up against it, and toed in slightly (ie pointed to a point where they cross each others path just in front of the main listening spot).
This works just as well as a dedicated centre speaker - the speakers are too close to the screen for the dialogue not to be locked to it, and too close to each other for anyone to be able to differentiate the two apart (unless you are within 4 ft of the screen, which is fairly unlikely). In fact it may be better in some ways - the speakers are positioned at exactly the right height.

[pwray]

Hey family man

I also have the 43" Tosh and a Marantz 4200. The Mission m7c1 centre sits very nicely on top of the telly and sounds just grand, though I have no idea how good a match it would be for your existing fronts..... :)

[family man]

Originally posted by pwray
Hey family man

I also have the 43" Tosh and a Marantz 4200. The Mission m7c1 centre sits very nicely on top of the telly and sounds just grand, though I have no idea how good a match it would be for your existing fronts..... :)



Doesnt it wobble about a lot?? The top of the TV is pretty thin.

[family man]

Have just ordered the Marantz 4200 and the The Mission m7c1 from HiFi Junkies.

Must admit the service was superb and so were the prices. Got the 4200 for £230 (UK supplied) and the Mission for £75!!

All being delivered on Thursday so I am now officially excited!!

Thanks for all your help!