Speaker set up for new home for a newbie: KEF R300 + ??

[vainbugger]

Hi everyone,

I have just gotten a new place and I am looking to set up a new hifi and cinema system. I have been to audition several speakers and I liked the B&W CM9, 685 and the KEF LS50s, R100, R300, R500s.

By some luck and coincidence, one of my close friends decided to let go of his pair of R300s and I took the chance to snap them up slightly cheaeper than the retail prices.

The problem is, as a relative newbie I am not quite sure how to match these with other equipment. My usage pattern would be about 70% music and 30% movies. I would appreciate some advice by the experienced folks on here as to how / what equipment would be suitable. My budget would be about 1500, if that makes sense.

One question I always wonder about is matching equipment from different brands. How difficult is this and will performance suffer? For example I like some of the Q Acoustics, B&W, KEF, etc. pieces so I was wondering if I could match say, the R300s at the front LR, maybe a B&W sub or center and Q Acoustics rears? Would that be a problem.

Centre speaker - I am looking at the R200c but there are some that mentioned i should be looking at the R600c which of course costs a whole lot more. Would the R200c really be that "poor" matching with the R300s.

Rear speakers - I am looking at possible pre-owned (pretty old) B&W DM302 as rears. Would this be a problem? Else does anyone would have a recommendation?

Subwoofer - reading the reviews I see that the PV1 or PV1D is an awesome subwoofer although I think that would blow my budget. Would the B&W 610 be alright?

AV Receiver - I have no real idea about this, but randomly after reading the reviews I am looking at the Denon x3000, Yamaha A1020, Yamaha V673?

Reading my posting, most of you will understand that I am a real newbie at this. I am really interested in music and about setting something up for my new place but of course I don't want to blow my wallet.

Really appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!

 

[DocG]

Hi and welcome,

If your main interest is music, you laid hands on a nice pair of speakers and you plan to spend 1500 quid, it would make sense to keep it simple: get a quality stereo amplifier and drop the surround sound...

What source/s do you have (or plan to get)? Included in the 1500,- budget?

if you need to dilute the budget over an amp, a centre, a sub and rear speakers (and maybe also a CDP/BDP and/or streamer), you will end up with very mediocre sound that won't do the R300s justice!

Just one man's opinion of course...

 

[JohnKK]

Receivers that you listed are in my opinion all significantly below R300 and R200c and R600c level, you will have to go 2 or 3 levels up in models to get amplification that can run those speakers right, say Yamaha 2xxx or 3xxx, Denon at least X4000.

Otherwise you most probably will have boomy bass and overall feeling that amp cannot control speakers.

For example Yamaha 673 according to specs is pushing some 60-70 watts in surrond mode and that is relatively low for R300 (from AVR, stereo amps are different story).

 

[Leeps]

Hi and welcome,

If your main interest is music, you laid hands on a nice pair of speakers and you plan to spend 1500 quid, it would make sense to keep it simple: get a quality stereo amplifier and drop the surround sound...

What source/s do you have (or plan to get)? Included in the 1500,- budget?

if you need to dilute the budget over an amp, a centre, a sub and rear speakers (and maybe also a CDP/BDP and/or streamer), you will end up with very mediocre sound that won't do the R300s justice!

Just one man's opinion of course...

Agree with the above. With such decent speakers, most of your budget ought to go on a decent amp that will sufficiently control the bass.

However, if your heart is set on surround sound, I'd get the matching KEF centre and something like the Pioneer SC-LX57 (as a minimum, or better still look for last year's discounted Pioneer SC-LX86 or Marantz SR-7007 which, with the KEF centre should come in on budget), then add the sub and rears later when the budget allows. The reason being is that the centre channel in my opinion is the one you'll miss most when watching movies. The way a lot of movies are mixed is that the explosions and effects are way too loud and you can never hear the dialogue, most of which comes through the centre channel. The AV receiver will enable you to make the dialogue more prominent depending on the individual movie.

If you want it all straight away, then I'd go with DocG's stereo suggestion. I'd steer away from the warmer end of amps like Arcam and Roksan which would likely over-emphasise the full-bodied nature of the KEFs. I'll pass the baton over to R300 owners to actually recommend any specific stereo amps that would suit.

 

[vainbugger]

Hi DocG,

Thanks for the great advice. I guess the R300's aren't such a "blessing" after all seeing that I have to match it with potentially expensive equipment! If I were to go with simply a stereo, what would you recommend for the budget? In terms of sources, I would have CD players, Bluray, PS4, if that's what you mean?

Hi JohnKK,

Your advice is very valuable. As a newbie, I do not fully understand the pros and cons of the receivers. I was seriously considering a pre-owned Denon X3000 but it looks like I might have to look at something a level up.

Hi Leeps,

I will keep an eye out for the Pioneer LX86 and amps at similar levels. What you mentioned about the dialogues in the movies is something that I have experienced. I often have to turn down the volume during the action sequences then crank it up during dialogue. Looks like it might be a feasible idea to focus on a good centre. Would you then know if the R200c or the R600c would be a good match? I am gravitating towards the R200c because of budget.

As an aside, I passed a store today that carried the PV1D - it sounded awesome but definitely out of budget. Assuming it is not out of budget, would that be a suitable match?

 

[JohnKK]

I have made full circle - first I had AVR with 5.1, then went for stereo system with good stereo amp and DAC and after that I sold that and went back to 5.1.

Stereo amp has better sound quality for music (compared to AVR), but everything else is on AVR side:

- connectivity, HDMI switching

- using mobile apps and macbook air as remote

- streaming FLACs from NAS (all from 1 box)

- night mode - you can watch movies at night at moderate level with clear dialogues and when explosions occurs you don’t need to panically grab for remote and decrease volume (this was big issue with stereo amp for me - when watching movies - remote was always in my hand and alway had to increase-decrease volume 10-20 times during movie)

- No sync issues (I had significant sync problems with audio being "in front" of picture when using Popcornhour)

- clear dialogues in movies (with stereo amp there was a "hole in the middle" and voices were always to quiet. If I increased volume - I had problems with explosions as stated above)

- Tuner (radio) from 1 box (I didn’t had tuner with stereo amp, tried using radio from IPTV, but it didn’t worked right and with lot of fiddling)

- ....

So if you have to choose btw AVR and stereo amp - you will made some compromises. You will have to decide what is more important - better sound quality for music or convenience and movies.

Regarding speakers and AVR, I thing that R300 and R200c would be killer system, just get good enough amplification.

Regarding, sub - you can get serious sub for half of the money of PV1, I would direct that difference in better amp.

 

[vainbugger]

It's me again!

Looks like monitoring the web incessantly does pay off! i have busted my budget but I couldn't turn down this deal i found (maybe i should have?) on a PV1. Found a seller who was letting go of this B&W MT-30 set and convinced him only to sell the PV1 to me.

So now i have a pair of R300s, a pair of Mordaunt Short 10i pearls, and a PV1 Sub. The MS 10i were really an impulse buy (for 100) and I am sort of facing buyer's remorse at the moment, though I must say they sounded great in a small room. I wonder if I can just leave them as rears?

So I guess now what's remaining for me is a player and a receiver. I am reading reviews that absolute gush about the oppo-95 and oppo-105. Would these be suitable?

If i do get either of the above Oppo's, would i still need to get a receiver or can I run the Oppo's analogue outputs direct to the speakers?

If i need a receiver with the Oppo's, which ones would be good matches?

Appreciate advice! Thanks.