ADS L570 vs. My new B&W DM 11s

[StarMover]

I found a vintage (1983) pair of B&W (Bowers & Wilkins) DM 11 speakers at the GW yesterday. The price was way right at $4, so home they went.

My first impression, visually, was that they looked a lot like my ADS L570 bookshelf speakers. About the same cabinet size, 2-way sealed acoustic suspension, 6" woofer and soft dome tweeter. I could tell by how heavy they were that they contained quality drivers.

When I got home, I hooked them up to my Pioneer amp and they sounded great! Nice and crisp and clean. The kind of speakers that classical music sounds great on.

I brought out my ADS L570s for an impromptu speaker war, stacked them together , connected both pairs to my A-B switch and did a little critical comparison while enjoying a cold beer.

Not so much to my surprise, I could hardly tell the difference between the two makes. Both have that distinctive clean, bright sound, not bassy and muddy like some big ported speakers can be. I think both are also about the same vintage.

Now that I have four closely-matched bookshelf-sized speakers, I think It may be time to build that surround sound system I've been thinking about. :yes:

 

[Blue Shadow]

That is a good idea. I have a friend that bit on the Insignia craze and got two pair, allowing a upgrade to 7.1 HT (he is an HT buff) and allowing moving the Paradigm Monitors from the rear channel to the bedroom. He paid a lot more than $4 ($70 acutally) but he is very happy with the completed 7.1 and good speakers in the BR.

 

[wank]

I've got a pair of those DM11s, and they're really nice speakers. Nice to hear they measure up against the L570.
They've got a great voice, are really smooth and musical, but alse nicely detailed. The imaging - so long as you position them to cross soundfields about 2 feet infront of you - is amazing. The only complaint I have - and it only becomes apparent when I direct compare to significantly larger speakers, is that they lack in the lower bass. With a sub, these guys really shine.

 

[StarMover]

This would be my first surround sound system. I assume I can use these four speakers on the corners, then add a center channel and a sub. Isn't that the typical configuration? :scratch2:

 

[thedelihaus]

5.1 goes like this...

for the "5", you have-Front left "corner" speaker, Center "placed" speaker for the center "channel", Front right "corner" speaker, rear left "side" (called "rear") speaker, rear right "side" (called "rear") speaker.

For the .1, you add the subwoofer.

6.1 adds a true rear (behind and center) placed speaker as well.

7.1 adds two true rear (behind and center) placed speakers.