Before I report my experience with the two B&K systems and the Parasound one that I auditioned for several hours yesterday, thought I would give a bit of the back ground as to why my HTsystem has become more of an addiction lately.
Back on 12/16/05 I had a heart attack, and well being in the hospital for a few days, I made the decision, that I was going to change some priorities, and start doing more things just for me. <g> In the mid 80's I invested about $ 25k into a audio/video system, and the power system was all Tandberg, it was far from inexpensive, but I used it for over 12 years, and when I sold it in 1996, I actually had a 72% return on the original investment, and not one single problem with the system in all those years of use. I doubt this will ever happen again. <g>
Once home from the hospital and recovering, spent a lot of time researching for upgrades to the existing system, and in a week or two, started ordering new toys, the Sony 60" HDTV was the first to arrive, then the Axioms and the Outlaws.
So when I started having the Outlaw issue and it started to take more and more time to trouble shoot, I was thinking this sucks, and started to research a new power system. Here are the main requirements of the new power system that was complied over the time.
1) Budget/Quality : well not being overly wealthy, quality was going to be first, not that spending more always assures better quality.
2) Product Support : this time I wanted to avoid tech service over phones, and UPS/FedEx shipping and possible more damage to products if service was needed.
3) Multi Channel Amps: There are conflicting reports to pros/cons of 7 channel amps, but I had decided I needed separate amps this next time around, minimum was a 5 channel and a 2 channel, mono blocks were also a contender.
4) Amp Cooling: with the current set up, heat has become one of my main concerns, and have decided I want the heat sinks external to the amps.
5) Wattage: With my db listening area ranges, and future changes in speaker locations, or speaker brand changes, I wanted to have equal wattage to all 7 channels.
6) Investment/ Aesthetics: If I needed to invest a larger portion of the HT budget to the power system, than I wanted the new units to show it. <g>
7) Used/New: Because of the long term investment and warranties, e-tailers and used were eventually ruled out. I have purchased both for years on the web, and never had an issue, but since the health issues, I do try to eliminate stress as much as I can. <g>
So with the above thoughts I once again began the research of the half a dozen or so that I had in mind. Over 3 weeks of reading reviews, forums, and talking to people that have made similar investments, the search started to show that no matter which brand, I was getting into the $ 6 - 7 thousand range.
Living where I do, and not wanting to spend time driving a great distance, it was rather a limited choice as to brands. Eventually I had B&K and Parasound, as the main choices. Well B&K did not have all of the above requirements, It was looking as a good choice, especially at the cost factor, was a real bargain for the price.
I talked with B&K techs, very helpful people, and after hearing my concerns and issues with the Outlaw system, they assured me the Reference 200.7 would handle the Axiom with no problems. After hearing this, I contacted two dealers in the area, to see what models were available for audition. neither had the ones I was interested in, but did have the Reference 200.5 and the Reference 50 S2. So I figured that was close enough, and went out yesterday to take a listen.
Well it was rather a disappointment as to the speakers that were being used in both dealers auditioning rooms. Both are more of a HT selling store, and have the HT rooms built so you do not see any of the equipment or speakers. All speakers are recessed into the walls or celings, and well both used a real channel speaker and sub, these two are in the front wall to wall cabinet, behind doors with grills.
As for brand of speakers, subs, don't ask, I did not take notes as I had never heard of any of them, and as for quality of sound, this was not going to do the B&K Reference units any justice at all. Even with the speaker system it was not a waste, the Reference line was impressive, and did run very cool, but then again, no real load on then either.
So the B&K I felt would do the job, at at the $6k, was a less expensive way to go, and with B&K's reputation, felt I would have a great product. What turned be off to buying from both local dealers was:
1) Would not take even $ 1.00 off of retail price, not even on a $ 6,000 sale.
2) When I requested in writing on the sales contract that if the B&K would not handle the Axiom speaker system, both dealers backed out of the sale, stating unless they could install the B&K system, and use one of their speaker lines, they could give that kind of a return policy.
So I thanked both dealers for their time and headed home. Made a phone call to Good Guys to see if the sales person I dealt with when purchasing my 5.1 sound and the video system for my workshop that I built about 18 months ago, happened to be working. He was and told me it was no problem for me take over the Parasound auditioning room for a few hours. So grabbed about a dozen disks, one of my roomies, and off I went
First impressions when walking into the Halo room, they meant the aesthetic requirement, they look like something that would be in a professional set up, the external heat sinks are on the sides and the rear and yes, were warm to the touch well they were not even running any audio or video.
The speakers they were using for my demo time were all the Energy line, about $ 8,500 worth between the fronts, center, surrounds and rears. The Veritas i's were great looking speakers, and made a statement , the fronts were V2.3i's, surrounds/rears were the V2.ORi's, the center, V2.OCi, sub was a Velodyne PS-10.
We helped close the four sets of double glass doors, were told the Denon cd player was all set, and to feel free to run the Halo's any sound level I wanted, the sales person left the room, and that was the last we seen of him for the next two hours.
The Veritas speakers are nice speakers, just a different sound, for lack of a better word, not as forward as my M80's. The Halos performed great, and yes, they did get warmer well I ran high volumes, but not to the point that I could not touch any area of either the A51 or A21.
Was difficult to make a great evaluation of the sound quality of the Halo's after listening to the M80's for week, the Veritas were just not the same. ;-) But was good enough to sell me on the sound quality of the Halo system. Did look for the reported hum, of course it was not present.
After listening to the Halo's for over two hours, and not being able to cause a heat problem at all for the Halo's, packed up the cd's, thanked the sales person and told them I would get back to them with a decision.
Returned home, and well listening to the Axioms, went through my list of requirements, and
decided that I was going to just spend the extra amount over the B&K, and gamble on my feeling that the Parasound is what I wanted, and that I would be most happy with for all of my requirements.
Back to the store, and after an hour of talking about delivery times, and cost, managed to get them down a grand, and had it in writing that if the Halos can not drive my Axioms at the listening levels and for the run time I plan on using the system for, they will be returned for 100% refund, no questions or arguments.
Also I learned that Good Guys have 60 stores, and the A51,A21, and the C1 is the top line system for all of the stores, Parasound produces them on a need basis, so I will have a week or two wait for them to arrive. Another one of my sale term agreements was that they will contact some Halo customers and see if they are willing to call me and recommend the Halos.
I was told by the sales team in this store that yes, like any electronic equipment, Halo's do have issues, but they are solved, and they have not yet had a customer demand returning the Paraound units for another product or refund.
So I returned home less $ 9,600 of money, and now waiting for the new toys to arrive. I took some pics of the new cabinet that is still being finished up with wiring, and the pull lut shelf for the M80 center channel. Did some playing with the photos, and put the Halo set up in it to see how it will work, pics are below.
Any and all input will be appreciated, pro or con. ;-) Thanks for all the help and support over the Outlaw issue, nice to have people to talk with that have experience in this expensive hobby. ;-)
New cabinet as it is today :
With the new Halo's in place:
