Recommended AV Receiver and centre speaker for my B&W speakers

[Trailblazer]

HI everyone,

First post here, i would like some advise please, i'm currently looking to build my first HT system and need a bit of advice on matching up some of the equipment i've got.
I currently run an old Philips CRT TV through a Nad 302 amp with a pair of B&W 602 s3 speakers connected.
I acquired a Panasonic 3D Blu Ray Recorder last year (DMR-BWT720) hence the need to update my equipment to fully utilize the recorder.
The TV i'm probably going to get is a LG 42LA690V
Now initially i plan to just add a center speaker and possibly a subwoofer to the set up, 3.1 so to speak, this is where i could do with some advice/recommendations.
First off is getting hold of a centre speaker to match my other speakers, doing some research it seems that the B&W LCR60 s3 is the best match, but looking at the dimensions, this is going to be a problem in that it will be too large to accommodate. The other option is the B&W CC6 s2 Which dimensionally is better for me, but apparently does not sonically match my current speakers.
Has anyone had any experience with this match? I'm no audiophile so would i really notice a difference to spoil my enjoyment?
Next is getting an AV receiver to best compliment these speakers, as said above i would only be running a 3.1 set up so a 5.1 AV receiver would be sufficient.
I also like to listen to music through CD and turntable, i am aware that i will have to purchase a separate pre-amp for the turn table, so bearing in mind my love of music are some brands better at this than others?
My budget would be appx. only £300 for the AV.
Lastly is the subwoofer, would i actually need one with this speaker configuration? If so any recommendations on matching this possible set up?

Sorry if there seems to be a lot of questions, but this is my first step into HT and as i'm on a limited budget, i don't want to make any obvious mistakes.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[BowserWilkens]

Hi there,

I would go step by step in improving your system.

Firstly, the CC6 is a fine centre speaker to match your 602's. I ran the same set up before getting my B&W P6's & CDM CNT.

However, there's no point buying the centre speaker before you have an AV receiver to power it. 300 pounds is a tight budget but cheaper Denon or Yamaha amps such as the AVRX1000 or 2000 or 575 might be ok for you. Going from the NAD to one of these might sound drastically different - if you spent some more, you could hold onto the NAD and use it to drive the front speakers - you would need an AV amp with preouts for the front speakers. Most amps have a phono stage built-in; of course you could upgrade to a separate phono-pre-amp later.

I think that once you've sorted out the amp and bought the centre, it's time to save towards a sub and some dinky surround speakers - 3.0 is fine but doesn't give the immersive sound of 5.1 or higher. The B&W 686 is a small but fine speaker or the DS3 which offers dipol diffuse sound but costs a bit more. As for the sub, the small B&W 608 sounds good but I'd say the subwoofer is less brand-matching critical - in other words it wouldn't have to be a B&W sub.

Unless you have to have everything at the same time, I'd go slowly - my set up took over 7 years to complete but that's half the pleasure - at each stage, things sound great & you know that it can sound even better over time.

 

[Trailblazer]

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and give me some advice/suggestions.

Yes looking at the Denon AVR-X2000 it seems that it might meet my needs, in that the price is within my range, and reading some reviews the sound in stereo is quite good aswell for an AV Reciever in this price cattergory.

I will definetley give this one some consideration.

The only reason i was going to get the speaker first is that im obviously going to have to buy a used one, and any suitable, like the ones mentioned are hard to come by now. So if one comes up for sale, then that will be my priority.

Thank you again for you advice.

Best Regards.

 

[chrisup]

Hi,

I have an Onkyo 905 which I use with my B&W 685 Theatre and I upgraded the sub to ASW610 instead of the ASW608. I also have the Pansonic DMR BWT 720 and use it to edit out the adverts by using Partial Delete in the option menu. It my 4 th Panasonic Hard drive recorder and I bought after my other was wrecked by flooding. They are very reliable and easy to use. Quite a few people on the site use Onkyos with B&W speakers. I hope you enjoy the audtion process.

Best Wishes

Chris