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January 20, 2013 - 4:53pm
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Jonathan499
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Sufficient Receiver

In the future I'm hoping to buy b&w 683 or cm9 speakers. I mostly listen to music, but I intend to eventually get the other speakers in the series for a home theater. I would love to get separates, but since I need the 5.1 surround, separates would be too costly right now.

What I want to know is, will a receiver such as the Marantz SR7007 or Pioneer Elite SC-68 be sufficient to bring the life out of those speakers? I'm really new to all this and with all my reading am not sure if the 125 or 140 watts will be plenty to make the speakers shine. Any thoughts?

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January 21, 2013 - 7:51am
jackfish
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Welcome!

B&W 683s are relatively hard to drive. Their impedance drops to 3 Ohms in a wide range of frequencies under 1000Hz. A receiver which is known to work well with 4 Ohm load is a must. On the other hand the B&W CM9 is not particularly hard to drive and could be used with a wide variety of receivers. Unless your room is cavernous, 125 wpc to 140 wpc should be adequate for both. Remember that those power ratings are for two channels driven unless specifically stated otherwise.

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January 22, 2013 - 4:59pm
Jonathan499
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Thanks for the reply

I know the elite is two channels driven, but the Marantz says "Fully discrete current feedback power amplifier design for all 7 Channelannels." What does that mean? And at 6 ohms it is 165 wpc. On the other hand, the Elite is 140 wpc, but it doesn't say anything about lower ohms.  

What setup would you recommend in order to do justice to the 683s in a 5.1 setting? I don't listen to music at head-banging volumes, but especially during movies, I want an engulfing sound level.

Sorry, I am just so new to this and really don't know what direction to take. I figured a 2k receiver would give plenty of amplification, but then again I am dealing with b&w.

Here is a link to the product page about the Marantz

Anyone? Any suggestions?

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January 22, 2013 - 6:34pm
jackfish
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If you thought you had $2,000 to spend on the Pioneer

you could get Emotiva separates which would have more power and a robust preprocessor.

UMC-200 $600

XPA-2 $800

XPA-3 $700

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January 22, 2013 - 7:50pm
Jonathan499
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Makes sense to me

I just had this suspicion that at that price I would be compromising on quality. But there seems to be a pretty high regard for them... Is the sound more warm or analytical?

Your suggestion brings up one other question. Why are hifi amps usually 5.0 instead of 5.1? That has been a big deterrent from separates, because I want a sub if I'm doing surround sound.

 

 

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January 24, 2013 - 3:14pm
Dobbler
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Subwoofers generally have

Subwoofers generally have their own amp, therefore an external amp isn't needed.

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January 24, 2013 - 4:45pm
jackfish
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The preprocessor has an output for an active subwoofer.

Hence, power amplifiers only have to drive the mains, center and surrounds.

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