I posted this question in both the receiver and the speaker forum.. My wife surprised me with a new Pioneer RP HDTV for Christmas, and I now want to install a home theater surround sound system in our family room. I spent a couple of weeks preparing this room 15&1/2' by 22' (removed a door, window, painted, carpet, installed speaker wire. It's been many of years since I've purchased audio equipment and we live in a rural area, so the nearest (2) audio stores are 40miles, and then there is a few other stores an additional 40 miles. So my purchase present some problems, and I decided to do a search on the web for audio/video forums and got lucky stumbled on this one. Its good to hear the knowledgeable comments on your forum, terms a old timer understands, like laid back, mellow, not to harsh of speakers, receivers, certain speakers match-up better with this receiver, etc. My wife and I both like the same sound, a detailed but a laid back/smooth sound. It can become a little tiring and confusing when listening to a number of receivers/speakers, so I was hoping with advice/suggestion from you of which speakers/receivers to steer away from. As an example, we listen to Audio Monitor Silver speakers a little on the bright side for us (powered by Denon). Also the B&W 703 series, very detailed, but a little bright, and then a set of Definitive 2002 (Rotel powered), but I'm not sure about these speakers due to the critical placement of these speakers. We're taking a long weekend this week to review speakers and equipment. Would appreciate your advice, and opinions to direct me towards the laid back soft sounding equipment, Thanks Tim
1. B&W 703 These speakers are good ones. They produce clear and detailed sound - it's the main benefit of B&W 70x series. But they are very bright and absolutely not "smooth". My personal impression - it's hard to listen these speakers as laid-back ones. Also they have aggressive bass and if your room is not big enough - it will be not nice.
2. Monitor Audio Silver series Hm... It not good to compare these speakers with B&W 70x - they twice cheaper. Actually I do not like MA Silver. I do not think they are balanced enough (quality for buck). Silver speakers are just a little bit better then Bronze series, but cost much more. Even B&W 60x are better choice then MA Silver (and there are a lot of other options to choose from...). At the same time MA Gold is a very good choice and I like them, but they are expensive.
3. Paradigm Reference 60...100 I want to say that these speakers are good ones. Good balance of quality and price. And they are heavy like a hell (so shipping cost may cost a lot). Since you have experience with B&W 703 I can compare it with them: They have a little bit better bass (80 and 100 model), but not as much detailed as B&W. They are not aggressive at all and very good for classic/smoth music. They are BAD for rock of any kind (again, it's IMHO), but HT set may be a good choice. But overall I can say that B&W 703 model is a better choice then Paragon Reference. (Again, B&W costs 30% more, then these paradigms)
4. Just a suggestion. Since you like smooth sound - I suggest you to try something with silk tweeter and paper bass drive. For example I have a very good impression about Mission 783 speakers. They have very-very smooth and comfortable low bass (actually up to 25Hz). They are very detailed and not so bright at high as B&W 70x.
So, there are many choices and main suggestion here - try to listen as much options as you can. Do not hurry to buy something. Ask dealers to "give" you items to test it at home (even if nearest dealer in 50 miles).