[fezzzywig]

I'll start off by saying it is all Nuance's fault. Nuance don't take that the wrong way it's a good thing. I found this forum after reading; My journey to find the "perfect" speaker, amp or preamp (I cant remember) and the Salk thread on AVS.

I'm currently in the process of budgeting for a basement home theater. I have a modest 5.1 system consisting of a Denon 3806 receiver, B&K 7250 (200x5), Paradigm Studio (40, CC and ADP) all V2, Oppo DV-980H, 42" Panasonic plasma, and a SVS 20-39PC+. I am thinking of going to a 7.1 system, which I would move the 40's to the rear, ADP for the sides, and replace my front 3 speakers. I would keep the B&K 7250 and power the rears or sides with the Denon. I am interested in the Salk SongTowers and have a few questions. 

1. Has anyone used the B&K 7250 with the Songtowers and Center? How would they sound with warmth of the B&K? I really like the combination of the B&K and Paradigm. The warmth of the amp smooths out the forwardness of the Paradigm's.

2. I know matching the front 3 speakers is the most important, but I was wondering how would the Songs up front sound with the Paradigm in the rear and sides?

3. If I can stretch my budget and get a pre with the HT bypass like the Parasound 2100 and get a 2 channel amp for just the fronts; what amp would be recommended for the SongTowers? Another B&K to keep all the amps alike? Or something different?

4. And final question, is there anyone in the Southeast willing to demo there SongTowers? I'm in the Birmingham, Al area.
 

Thanks

[rahimlee54]

I can offer help with #3, if the budget gets really tight on the preamp with HT bypass, Emotiva is about to release a unit with that feature very cheap.  That may ease your budget a little.  The unit isnt out so there is no knowledge whether it is good or otherwise, but that is just a thought.

I will leave the rest for others with more knowledge of B&K.

[Nuance]

Well, I will start off my response by apologizing.  hehe   

You already have a very nice system there, so the B&K brand is a good one; one that the ST's will sound great with (I believe Richard (Swerd) uses one).  I think B&K makes the ATI amps too (or vice versa), and there are some happy ATI owners here as well.  Both brands offer great bang for buck IMO.

1.  Others like Swerd will better answer this one

2.  If you are just watching movies it should be fine.  But if you plan to listen to multi-channel music, you'll have to really listen to see if you can hear a difference in timbre.  I suspect you will, in which case you can always replaced the Studio 40's later on down the road.  The front three are the most important, so they should be done together.

3.  Sure, another B&K would work great.  Of course, it is a subjective question, so best to experiment and listen for yourself, but I haven't seen anyone post anything along the lines of "amp "a" doesn't sound good with the ST's, but amp "b" does."  The SongTower's are a neutral speaker, so finding a neutral amp would be ideal IMO.

4.  Good call on auditioning first.  You may have a reason to be upset with me later on too, as the ST's may not be your cup of tea.  I hope they are, though, and I hope there is someone local who can hook you up with an audition. 

[R Swerdlow]

fezzzywig

I'm the guy Nuance mentioned.  I have a pair of STs with the standard OW2 dome tweeters and I use them in a 5 channel system.  Originally, I used an older Denon AVR-1800 receiver (75 wpc bought new in 2000) combined with a 2-channel B&K EX 4420 amp (similar in power to your 7250 amp).  The Denon worked both as a preamp and directly drove my NHT center and rear channel speakers.  The B&K amp drove the STs.  For 2 channel music, I was very happy with that arrangement.  STs do very well with that kind of power, although they don't require it.  The Denon/B&K combo you have now should be excellent with STs.

Last February, I replaced the Denon receiver with a used B&K AVR 507 receiver.  Again, the receiver functions as a preamp driving the STs via the external 2-channel amp, and directly drives the center and rear channels.  The extra power of the B&K receiver did help noticeably for the center speaker, and it's FM tuner is better than that of the Denon.

As far as your question about B&K's reputed warm sound.  Now that I have the B&K receiver, I do notice that, but I never noticed it when I used the Denon receiver as a preamp with the separate B&K amp.  Is it a problem with the STs?  Not at all.

You might consider getting a used B&K HT preamp/processor.  B&K has a new model (Ref 70) with all the latest video bells & whistles (very expensive), and because so many audiophiles seem to be unhappy without the newest and shiniest gear, there are now good deals on used B&K pre/pros.  I found my B&K AVR 507 receiver that way on Audiogon.  For you, I recommend the Ref 50 - I believe its audio sections are identical to the new model.  It comes in the original Ref 50 version and the somewhat newer Ref 50 series II version.  Depending on price, I'd pick the series II over the original version.

I'm in Gaithersburg, MD and if you ever come to the Washington, DC area, you're welcome to come listen.

Richard

[Big Red Machine]

#2 - You'll be fine.  The most important step you are taking is getting a Salk product!  You won't be dissapointed.

#4 - Ask Jim for customers in that area.

[audiotom]

fezzzywig

if you don't mind a 5 hour drive down to New Orleans
I'd be more than happy to show you my V3's and monster center in a 5 channel setup and my HT3's in a dedicated two channel setup

i don't have songtowers - but the v3's are great speakers for home theatre and the ribbon tweater is very revealing

a friend has HT2 TL that we might be able to hear

more of my details on the audition thread  page 5
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=20721.80

or on audiogon - I'm audiotomb  there
I recall someone in Florida willing to demo as well

Jim and Dennis' speakers are so maxed out in value, high grade components, and thorough real world engineering that it's really deciding how much you would like to spend.  I've been very pleased with the HT3 and V3 and I bought both without listening to them first but going by recommendations from others I trust

I've met Jim and he really stands behind his product

personally I'd stretch the budget on the front speakers as much as you could (ribbon ST, V3 or HT2)
get the amp later and use the old speakers as 5.1 surrounds then move up to 7.1 speakers and the amp when you have more funds to apply


on a 2 channel resolving amp - Moscode 401 HR is pretty hard to beat for the price. You probably aren't looking to spend that much, I imagine

the B&K are good HT, I have Arcam there

cheers