This has almost become a cliche but listen to what everyone has to say here but in the end,trust your ears.it is you who is going to be sitting in front of that system listening to music,not any of us !! And btw,welcome to the forum

If you were able to listen to the 816s with the Arcam and you liked the sound then that's all that matters. Arcam and JM Labs both make good stuff. I would only suggest looking at the impedence of the 816s to make sure that the Arcam can drive them because it doesn't like a 4 ohm load. If the 816s stay above 4 ohms or have relatively benign frequencies where they do dip down you are probably good to go.

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If you were able to listen to the 816s with the Arcam and you liked the sound then that's all that matters. Arcam and JM Labs both make good stuff. I would only suggest looking at the impedence of the 816s to make sure that the Arcam can drive them because it doesn't like a 4 ohm load. If the 816s stay above 4 ohms or have relatively benign frequencies where they do dip down you are probably good to go.

Yeah. The only thing is that the JM Lab 816s are considerably more than I originally planned to spend. It makes it a very tough decision. Also, the B&W's that I checked out were not in an ideal place. There were 2 different groups of people testing them at once and it was in a fairly noisy store. It was a bit distracting to say the least. I read a review of them (603's) and they got very high marks from the reviewer...
Basically, I'm torn.

If you are still torn, you need to audition more/again and, perhaps, in other showrooms. Don't let us or anyone sell you; sell yourself.

The Old Prof.

Welcome!

Both speakers are nice, so this is probably a low risk gamble either way. A no lose situation!

With shopping as a new convert, I'd say that it is surely worth the extra time to really sit for a spell with each.

Some suggestions:

Things you may not listen for now could become glaring issues as your "edumacate" themselves in the realm of Hi-Fi, so listen two ways...

1) Find reference discs you at least toerate, musically, and listen to the details to see which speaker pleases you more. Check them out with with very delicate and detailed treble sounds, a recording with lots of vocal details, maybe certain bass sounds. Listen for differences or flaws, look for how much information each speaker seems to be willing to give you.

2) Play discs you like, but don't care about in terms of recording quality. can the speaker make you feel as happy as that music usually makes you feel? Can you relax and listen to the music instead of the speaker?

Part of what you want is that the speaker not only do H-Fi things, but it should also be able to get out of the way and let you enjoy the music, too.

3) Make sure you are comparing similars.

Pardon me if I'm being too remedial, but

a) Try to use the same electronics, cables, sources with each speaker. That one's obvious.

b) Less obvious...make sure both speakers have been "out and about" being played, and that one is not new out of the box and another is 4 months in. Speakers typically get a little better with playing time, and if you listen to one that has not been "broken in" compared to another, your opinion as to which you would like to live with long term could be skewed. The one you might have liked best may have never gotten the opportunity to show you what it could do!

c) Anything you hear that stands out in a glaring way that strikes you as really good should not be trusted at first. A speaker that impresses you with loads of treble detail or huge bass may actually not be well balanced, over-all, and lead to dissatisfaction over time. A speaker with such a trait may be great, but you should make that assessment over a LONG listening session. This is where getting good help from a Hi-Fi nut friend or a good salesman can come in handy. They can help you learn to listen better.

Anyway, best wishes!

Keep us posted!

I agree with Buddha. I remember an old trick a lot of stereo shops would do during their sales-listening test: More often than not, the treble would be turned way up for the obvious effects...I would constantly make sure all settings were flat (I'm dating myself...remember the days auditioning equiptment with a huge Sansui reciever as the source?) Also, this is quite obvious: speaker sensitivity differences can make immediate A/B comparisons dramatic. Remember the days when you could push buttons on their switching consoles to compare often more that 10 pair of speakers? Try to keep the volume at similar levels you would listen to at home. I also agree with bringing two styles of music that your truely know: the high-fidelity analytical tracks and the visceral, fun, run-around the room tracks. Finally, bring a woman to your listening sessions...they have good ears!

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This has almost become a cliche but listen to what everyone has to say here but in the end,trust your ears.it is you who is going to be sitting in front of that system listening to music,not any of us !! And btw,welcome to the forum

I took a girlfriend with my looking for speakers once. She was surprisingly interested and patient. We went to three store that where close to each other and even went back to one store twice.

In the end we agreed on which was the best of the bunch and I got them. They were Mission stand mounted speakers. This was in the mid 80's, I think.

A few years later I sold them and bought Baby Maggies. I still have Maggies, only larger ones.

Anywho, if you have a girlfriend take her with you.

I listened to the B&W 603, 604 and 704, along with several other speakers. Both the 603s & 604s sounded great but when I upgraded the amp and CD player that I bought I decided on the B&W 704. Consider all the advice everyone else has given you and trust your ears the most.