I found out just a few days ago the speakers i was using for the past ten years were totally unsuitable for my 7 channel AV receiver (Yamaha RX V1700) and my old amp the Yamaha A595. The speakers in question where the B&W DS6 THX surround speaker and the B&W S2 CC6, originally made for pro logic equipment probably running a nicam VCR as a source. I only found out the devastating information from B&W themselves after my offending speakers started making a distortion snapping sound, when i was watching some Blu Ray's. Problems like these could apply to other people using older type centre and rear speakers. Since replacing the DS6's with MS 902i's there has been a massive improvement in the sound quality. I still haven't replaced the centre and I'm now running that channel through the mains speakers which still sounds better than the CC6. I know that almost any new replacement centre speaker will sound amazing for true 5.1 covering the full frequency range as an actual discrete channel. I'm really looking forward to hearing true 5.1 as it was meant to be for the first time in 10 years in my home cinema. If any one is still using the old DS6 and CC6 speakers i would advise them to replace ASAP you ain't heard nothing yet, the MS 902i's are great replacements for the DS6's and sound totally amazing for inexpensive speakers, it's almost like a totally different system. I could maybe use some advice from the What HiFi team for what entry level centre speaker to buy, I'm on a tight budget and think i probably need surround back L/R speakers for 6.1.The word needs to be spread about these old B&W's I hope there aren't to many people still using them. I'm still trying to get over the mistake with my dealer partly to blame and now enjoying some good sounds.
Important AV information reg. DS6 and CC6
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Interesting post. Could you explain exactly why these speakers are unsuitable? I may be missing something here, but I'm not aware of any speakers that were manufactured "for pro logic equipment...running a nicam VCR as a source" or with any other particular source in mind. Surely all speakers simply respond to the analogue signal provided by the amp/receiver to which they are attached. With the signal decoded at source, I don't see what difference it makes to the speakers. For example, I run B&W 601 S3s (front), 600 S3s (rear) and a CC6 (centre) off my Sony 2400ES with no problem, but your post made me wonder if I was mising something with my centre. Ideally I would run the B&W LCR60 with the series 3 B&Ws but it literally doesn't fit. But I still don't understand why the old CC6 (and DS6) speakers would be specifically unsuitable to work in a 5.1 set up. Thanks.
The problems you had with your DS6 and centre speaker are not typical. I used them up until recently and they sound fantastic. The reason your DS6 crackled is probably because you are sending them a full range signal which they are not deigned for. For a 5.1 system, you should ideally set the crossover on your system to 80Hz or 90Hz. That way you will send any frequencies lower than this to your subwoofer which will cope perfectly. If you send a full range signal, going down to 20Hz to the DS6 you are asking for trouble as it is not designed to play these frequencies. I'm not surprised they were not happy. If you need some help, please ask me, I'm happy to help. Just don't blame the equipment when user mistakes have obviously been made. No offence meant as we all learn from our mistakes.
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