My new AV setup - PICS!

Associate
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Two years ago I had the opportunity to sample the most excellent B&W Nautilus whilst chilling out in a rather nice hotel in Portugal. I can easily say that it was the most amazing sounding speakers I have ever heard in my life and sent me on a crusade to upgrade my existing setup.

Now I fully appreciated that these speakers are worth somewhere in the region of £50k before adding the expense of a decent amplifier(s), but I had been used to a £50 5.1 virtual surround sound system fronted by a pair of 10 year old Phillip’s HiFi speakers. Not that there was anything wrong with them, but the difference in sound was absolutely out of this league, staggering. Probably the first time I ever sat down and found myself appreciating the quality of the music rather than the actual music itself. After a while though you start listening the music itself again and the quality is just *there* not overshadowing it (difficult to explain). Anyway I came away from that experience wanting nothing short of B&W perfection.

Following this I moved into a new flat with my girlfriend and the speakers took a back seat to more needed items/commitments. It wasn’t until around 6 months ago I started getting serious about upgrading my audio, queue the next few months of avforums browsing, whathifi reviews and bugging my girlfriend to go into every HiFi shop to listen to what they had available every time we went anywhere.

On one of these occasions I went to small outfit in Gloucester and they had some Monitor Audio BR5’s on demo, I stood there listening to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and thought they sounded incredible. Up to this point I was still suffering from the B&W syndrome so had discounted anything ‘not B&W’s’, but these Monitor Audios showed me I was being ridiculous.

I decided that I wanted a system that would play probably 60% music 40% film/tv. Initially looked into KEF 2005 ‘eggs’ and was very impressed, but wanted something a bit more musical and with a bit more presence. The B&W 685 home theatre package was an obvious choice, however I wanted floorstanding speakers, mainly for aesthetic purposes. I looked into the B&W 683 package very closely but ultimately decided that this would end up being a lot more than I wanted to spend.

In the end I went back to the initial brand that showed me that B&W weren’t the only decent players in the field, Monitor Audio. I tried to get hold of the end of the line RS6 range but by the time I had made my decision these were quite rare and out of stock in most places. I spoke to one retailer who had some left but he offered me some fantastic discounts on the new RX range, sold. Although I had missed some bargains in the RS range I am now actually pleased that I did, boy are these speakers fantastic!

Obviously looks and sounds are subjective but I think they look more elegant than the RS and B&W’s and the sound is just perfect for my requirements. I am pairing them with a Yamaha RX-V2065 (I just couldn’t justify the extra £350 for the RX-V3900).

First album I sat down and listened to was Dark Side, the resonance and clarity from the clocks at the start of ‘Time’ is spot on and the vocals on ‘That Great Gig in the Sky’ just sound emotional. Then I slapped on Transformers, the sound of the opening credits whizzing around all speakers really puts you right in the middle of it from the very start. Band of Brothers also amazing, the sound of bullets whizzing past your head or a rocket being launched from behind you and exploding in front of you just never gets boring.

So if anyone is looking to upgrade their home audio in the near future this setup comes fully recommended from me!

Full system:

Monitor Audio Silver RX6 Fronts

Monitor Audio Silver RX Centre

Monitor Audio Silver RXW-12 Sub

Monitor Audio Bronze BR-FX (Didn’t consider the RX rears to be worth the extra cost)

Yamaha RX-V2065

Van Damme Studio Grade Blue Speaker Cable 2.5mm

Total Cost: £2340

And some pics:

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Thanks for reading!
 
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Associate
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Thats a bloody nice set of speakers n i like the story behind it too, i first got a set of quad's because they looked nice and the price was good and the specs looked good too! and since then ive just gone from place to place upgrading to new toys :D
 
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OP
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Thanks!

Oh and RE: TV size, I know I need to upgrade it now! Problem is I don't want it blocking too much of the window.

Oh and here is a pic of the BR-FX's:

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I love how subtle they are, I'll take a pic with the dust cover off and upload that at some point as well as they look quite impressive, very 'theatre-esque'.

Edit: Here they are:
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Soldato
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Wow, great thread, really nice to read. I am thinking of purchasing some RX-2's and this thread has pushed me ever closing into sorting that out, im not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.
 
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OP
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Location
Bristol
Wow, great thread, really nice to read. I am thinking of purchasing some RX-2's and this thread has pushed me ever closing into sorting that out, im not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

Thanks, follow your heart :p

Awsome, Im going to be doing what you've done in a few months, and I cant wait:D

Yeah took me a while to research it and find out exactly what I wanted, used the time in the meantime to save for it!

Here's a pic of the previous setup (sorry for the poor quality photos - all phone pics!)

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Soldato
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17 Dec 2004
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8,696
The prob Im having, I cant decide on the speakers I keep changing my mind, but the monitor audio's are dam nice, but I fear that the monitor audio's will be no more when I come todo my project.
 
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OP
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Location
Bristol
Thanks for the comments! :D

Just thought I would add a few notes on the sub. Being in a flat means that I can't ever really notch it up and as a result it spends its time on a low setting.

For the most part it isn't needed anyway as the type of music I listen to doesn't really require it (rock, alternative) so it spends most of its time switched off. But if I were to crank the volume up then you can begin to notice the lack of the lower frequencies and you would definitely need it, I can't think of an occasion where I would need to have it this loud though.

If I wanted to listen to something a little more bassy like some DnB, RnB or trance etc then the speakers are lacking a little bass department, but the sub really fills out the rest of the range very nicely. If you like heavy bass then you would need to turn the sub up a bit to appreciate it, especially at lower volumes.

Unlike music it is a must for films even at lower volumes. The speakers handle everything brilliantly but for certain sound effects (think explosions and other bass riddled sound effects) the sub adds a completely new element to the experience, really adds to the cinema experience.

Obviously if you are watching a 'romantic comedy' or similar the sub isn't really necessary, but it does add a very subtle cinema style sound. For those action/sci-fi/war blockbusters then yes, needed 100% every time.

Cheers again :)
 
Soldato
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Your sub beats my BK XLS200 hands down, yours is 500watts, 12". Mine is 275watts 10"

But a sub isnt ment to be cranked up at all,, their just there to blend in with the main speakers to produce the frequncies your main speakers cant

For example.......
My speakers frequncies are 70hz - 20khz, so Ive set my sub todo everything 80hz or lower, so now my freqs range from about 17hz to 20khz. The reason its slightly crossover is cos speakers are not great at producing the lowest frequices, so you give those to the sub to handle better.
The volume/gain on the sub should be set so it blends/with your main speakers and if you can hear where the freqs from your sub is coming from, the sub is too loud. The freqs from your sub should sound like its coming from your speakers.
Now on to the power thing. If you have a low power sub and if you have powerful speakers, the sub will be maxed out before your speakers are, when you crank up the vol. So you can never have a sub with too much power, cos you can always turn them down to blend into any speakers.

Hope this info is useful;)
 
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Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2005
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22,598
I just bought a pair of RX6's and RX Centre too and they are indeed fabulous - have to admit to pairing them with a Pioneer LX52 instead though, Ive never personally been a fan of the Yamaha sound - but Im gllad OP is really happy , setup looks great

I already had a good SVS sub so I didnt need to buy that element but it certainly sounded great in the demo
 
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