Upgrading my Home Theater SystemIntroThere was a time when all I wanted to do was build a real 5.1 home theater system. I started by selling my previous 4.1 computer system and learning about what makes a decent 5.1 system. I learned what I could from audio review sites and manufacture sites and gave it some thought. That was how I came up with my 1st 5.1 system.Times have changed and now after owning and enjoying my 1st home theater system for a little over a year, it is time to upgrade again. During the last year, I have continued to do research on audio equiptment and have come to some new conclusions. Here are the details of my upgrade
B&W LCR3 and LCR60 Series 3
This is where my upgrade started. I found a local dealer for B&W speakers and decided to take my Acoustic Research AR4C in and compare it to what B&W offers. After hooking it up and comparing it several different centers, I decided that the even the LCR3 (B&W's low end center channel) sounded better than my AR4C. The biggest difference I noticed was the ability of the B&W centers to accurately reproduce spoken tones. Being ported helps play the lower tones and the tweeter seems to be less bright. It is hard to put into words exactly how they differ, I was just sold. I was informed that if I were to purchase a speaker today, I would be able to bring it back within a year and receive what I paid towards an upgrade. Again, I was sold. I decided to buy a B&W LCR3 with the intention of upgrading it later. The LCR3 is a 2-way left-center-right speaker that sports a 25mm (1") aluminum dome tweeter and dual 110mm (4.5") woven fibreglass bass/mid-range drivers and lists for $230. I choose black ash vinyl to match the rest of my components. The LCR3 helped to fill out the lower midrange in my system and overall I was very impressed. The LCR3 was a very nice speaker and I truely enjoyed it but there is always a bigger and better speaker out there and it was time to upgrade. This lead me to the B&W LCR60 S3. The LCR60 is a 21/2-way left-center-right speaker that sports a new 25mm (1") aluminum dome tweeter, a 130mm (5.5") woven kevlar bass/mid-range driver and a 130mm (5.5") bass driver and lists for $350. B&W DM600 Series 3
After buying and playing with the LRC60, it was evident that a set new front channels was needed to compliment my new center. Back to the B&W dealer to compare bookshelf speakers. It took me about an hour of listening to decide on the DM600 S3. I was torn between three different models, the DM303, DM600 and DM601. They all sounded very similar but each step up was rewarded with a larger sound and more bass. In the end it came down to the fact that I was not willing to pay $450 for the DM601 and decided to settle for the DM600 for $350. Again, I can trade up within the next year with no penalty.
The system as it is now.
|
|
|
