Large room with enagaging sound - advice

[singhmrp]

Hello,

I have a pair of B&W 684 floorstanders along with a center B&W HTM61, these connected to a Marantz SR5009.

The speakers sit in a room, approx 24ft by 18ft.

The issue i have is when i play music I dont find the sound engaging. In a smaller room of my house I have a old Cambridge Audio A1mk3 with some really old/second hand speakers - its so great to listen to however I dont get the same with speakers in the bigger room.

So my questions are to get the sound to be more engaging/moving as is when listening in a smaller room - what options do i have:

- I forgot to run rear speaker cables at the time of construction in that room, so getting rear speakers is something that will require plastering etc which i dont really want to do.

- Should I really use a integrated amp like Marantz PM6005 instead of av reciever?

Thanks

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Have you tried moving your "old stereo" into the bigger room? That would help tell you if it's the electronics or the room you're having problems with.

FWIW most, he said risking an instant backlash from the rest of "us", AV receivers aren't generally considered great when it comes to reproducing "good old fashioned stereo". A compromise I've used in the past is to use the front left and right pre-amp outputs from your receiver and feed these into the Aux inlets on your stereo. That way you use the stereo for, erm, stereo, and also as the front left and right for surround sound. Only possible drawback is that you have to adjust the volumes separately every time you switch from surround sound to stereo and vice versa.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

I concur with Benedict_Arnold, AV receivers, not even the very expensive ones at more than £1,500, are not considered to be good for plain stereo sound. For instance, in the What HiFi review of the Yamaha RX-A3040 £2,000 receiver, here http://www.whathifi.com/yamaha/rx-a3040/review they say "It’s listenable, although we’d suggest you plug in a dedicated stereo amplifier if you’re settling down for some serious listening."

Try the old stereo in the bigger room.

 

[CnoEvil]

I concur with Benedict_Arnold, AV receivers, not even the very expensive ones at more than £1,500, are not considered to be good for plain stereo sound.

Have you heard the Arcam AVR600 or 750?

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Have you heard the Arcam AVR600 or 750?

No, I have not heard these Arcam receivers. Nor have I heard the Yamaha RX-A3040 receiver that I quoted, though I do own the step-down model from three generations before, the RX-A2010. I'm happy to concede to your knowledge of the Arcams's stereo performance, maybe you can link to some reviews? But I can't help thinking that they will cost much more than the OP was considering spending.

 

[CnoEvil]

Here is a comprehensive, though slightly OTT review:

http://www.iar-80.com/page161.html

 

[CnoEvil]

No, I have not heard these Arcam receivers. Nor have I heard the Yamaha RX-A3040 receiver that I quoted, though I do own the step-down model from three generations before, the RX-A2010. I'm happy to concede to your knowledge of the Arcams's stereo performance, maybe you can link to some reviews? But I can't help thinking that they will cost much more than the OP was considering spending.

Here is a comprehensive, though slightly OTT review:

http://www.iar-80.com/page161.html

I totally agree that it is probably outside the OP's budget....I was just challenging your assertion that you can't get good stereo performance from AV amps over £1500.

I preferred its performance to amps like MF M6i, Coda CSi or Moon i7....it took the 35i to give a marked improvement.

FWIW. Out of what I've heard, Arcam AV amps is the only brand that I like for music...especially their Class G.

 

[chebby]

If possible listen across the width of the room. We have a. 21x14 room and i listen across the 14ft dimension from about 9 ft distance. We have a large, solid oak book cabinet (filled with books) at a right angle to the wall forming a false 'corner' at the open end of where the system lives. A smaller book cabinet sits in the same position - in the 'real' corner - at t'other end.

 

[jjbomber]

A compromise I've used in the past is to use the front left and right pre-amp outputs from your receiver and feed these into the Aux inlets on your stereo. That way you use the stereo for, erm, stereo, and also as the front left and right for surround sound. Only possible drawback is that you have to adjust the volumes separately every time you switch from surround sound to stereo and vice versa.

You can connect stereo sources direct into the, erm, stereo and just connect surround sources to the receiver. Cut out the middle man.