I recently aquired the b&w 600 series for my home cinema. FR L R are the DM602 5 S3 the cntr is a LCR60 s3 the subw is an ASW600 and the backs are LMIs. I use a denon avr 1905 as my receiver and music fidelity xa-50 A class amps to run each speaker (1 amp per speaker). A technician from the store came to set it all up.
I'm not happy at all with the sound. It is very bassy and not clear at all (distortion). Stereo is awful when I play music. Dialogue is very low and bassy. Basically treble is barely heard on movies (dialogue) nor music. Any clue anyone?
I'm no expert but something similar happened to me after I set up my HT speakers. My center channel speaker sounded very bassy; very little treble at all. Turned out one of the jumper bars that connects one of the high frequency terminals to the low/mid frequency terminal below it was missing. It made the sound, particularly dialogue, very muffled.
I don't know if that's your specific problem or not but I do feel it's a problem relating to how they're connected. B&W 600 series speakers are very nice sounding speakers; they should not sound like you describe them. I would go back over every connection to ensure that they are in phase and to ensure all the jumper bars are in place.
Thanks for the tip I will chaeck with the techy. He is coming back tmrw. I hope there is a solution. what do you think of my receiver? couls it be the problem (quality). Maybe it is not processing the sounds properly.
The 1905 does not have auto setup. Did the tech set it up with an SPL meter or by ear?
The 602.5s can be a bit rich in the bass for some tastes. However, it's more likely that the bass problems are due to integration issues with the sub (i.e. that the sub comes in too early). If you switch off the sub, does it sound better?
I doubt that the 1905 isn't processing the sounds correctly. It's actually a pretty good processor.
Incidentally, is there a reason that you went with the LM1s instead of the more appropriate DM600s? The DM600s match the sound of the rest of your system more closely than the LM1s. This is not likely the reason for your problem though.
I find the B&W 600 series to be a bit bloated in the bass and I have stated that several times here on this forum. I think that the more mediocre the electronics you use with them the more likely that characteristic is to accentuated.
I suggest to first have the tech look at it to make sure nothing is wrong. Then try different receivers if possible. Also Frank had a good point about your center channel for movies. If all else fails one is left with the conclusion that perhaps those are not the speakers for you. Good luck.