B&W MT-60D
Just Tested
DACs
Chord Electronics QBD76 HDSD
Chord’s QBD76 HDSD is a top-class converter that delivers a brilliant sound from a well-built package. It has plenty of visual appeal, too
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Hi-fi speakers
B&W 685
There are more talented rivals on the scene, but the veterans are enduring greats
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Home Cinema in a Box
Panasonic SC-BTT460
Cracking value for an all-in-one home cinema system with only a few spec and performance gripes qualifying our praise
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In this month's mag
July 2013
SUPERTEST: Soundbar solutions £250-£450
GROUP TEST: 46-47in smart TVs
GROUP TEST: Standmount speakers £350-£450
© 2013 Haymarket Publishing
Comments
Hello all, whilst I realise this is wholly subjective and based on personal taste I have today purchased both the MT60D speakers with PV1d and the Yamaha VXR 673 amplifier. I had originally intended to go for this but was persuaded to audition the Pioneer SCLX56 as the store told me this was a much more capable amp. I found the pioneer to be very very high in the treble stakes. Indeed it was bright. Sky falls motorbike chase over the rooftops produced a plethora of high frequency tile breaking cracks and even the crashes and explosions were not too convincing. They hooked up the much cheaper Yamaha and the sofa shook. The was plenty of detail but lots and lots more oomph. Thank god I auditioned before I bought them. listen before you buy is the real lesson here I guess.
I've listened to this setup with a few AV receivers now and still struggling to find the best match. I'm 50/50 split on music/movies and have been focussing on music more than movies during the demos
Pioneer LX-85 - A little bright, but really tight and clear sounds. Great on low notes and the sub sounded amazing. Had to use the Xcurve to balance out the brightness.
Arcam AVR400 - Disappointed. I was expecting more from the setup. It didn't sound as alive as the Pioneer.
Onkyo 5009 -Sounded great. Listened to this a few weeks after the Pioneer so difficult to know if this was better than the Pionner.
Yamaha 3010 - No great! Sounded very held back and the low notes were poor. Sounded very vale in both music and movies.
Is there something else I should be looking at? Is it time to look at different speaker setup?
Thanks!
If you like the Onkyo, why not go with that? Nothing wrong with the speakers, they're great, unless you want to consider a bigger, full-size package.
Thanks Andy,
Just wanted to check if anyone had heard this setup with another AV receiver that I should consider. The Onkyo is the most expensive of them all. RRP £2999, however some places have ex-demo for £2k! What's holding me back is that whilst it sounded better than the others it certainly didn't sound like a £4k setup.
I recently had one of these M1's on home demo as a centre speaker to go with my CM1's. The CM Centre speaker costs 3 times as much as the M1 so i was hoping to save a lot of money (and space) by using the new M1 for AV duties.
Cutting a long story short I think that if you own the CM1's your better off saving up for the CM centre. The M1s are quite different tonally and cant quite keep up with the CM1's. This is of course expected due to the price differential and the fact that its a satellite speaker, but just wanted to share.
Its worth mentioning though that the satellites are extremely well made and quite weighty. The speakers can only take bare wire although the speaker connectors are extremely well thought out and connecting up is a breeze.
Im demoing the CM centre in a few days so hopefully that should fix things, although my wallet wont be happy if i decide to buy!
I cant believe that with such a sleak model B&W have missed the opportunity to be innovative and really set the boundaries for other manufacturers to follow. I agree they have improved the speakers overall capabilty and this is why we will all buy them, but I am rather disappointed with integration features which they have absolutely missed.
My biggest issue is that B&W MT60 is not wireless, I love the PC integration - but in this day an age and for the money we all will be spending on this top model, we should really be expecting more for less - KEF KHT3005SE-W being a key example.
This and other integration features such as the abilty to just plug in your IPOD or Wi-Fi capabilties enabling spotify and other features would have been where I would have thought they would be pushing the boundaries of the MT60.
Of course we can do this though our AV, but B&W really shouldn't be scared on stepping on people toes with certain built in amp fetaures because we all know why we buy AV's. Subsequently the abilty for bluetooth or other connectivity options to have wireless-free M1's mounted from the walls... "come on is it just me?". Manufacturers want our money but dont want to intice us to buy with features that we cannnot find elsewhere.
Bitterly disappointed - but all-in-all good to see the MT60 is back in business.
Hmmm I'd rather they spend the money on improving the sound. They could address the treble issue rather than waste the mOney on gimmicks.
Making things easier to assemble with greater convegence and connectivity with devices around the house is not a gimmick, speakers whether you like it or not are items of technology - sound is of course the driver for speakers however if you ever owened a pear of mT-30's you wouldnt be saying improve sound...
Actually... having moved from MT30 to MT60, there's a very definite improvement in the integration between sub and sat, and much more attack with heavy soundtracks. Your amp does the integration piece for you, otherwise you're effectively asking manufacturers to double up on feature sets that amps already provide.
Don't quite fancy having to deal with wireless interference on multi channel systems, rear wireless systems thus far aren't of those I have seen, better than traditional wired solutions. The KEFs you mention you're only getting wireless rears which in themselves must be wired to eachother.
Your connectivity comes through your amp, unless you go down the powered route (which IMHO doesn't give you the control over input selection or upgradeability that a separates system does).
In the April magazine the MT-60D is recommendded with the Yamaha A2010, Denon DBP-2012UD and the Toshiba 46YL863.
Even with xCurve (or, say, THX re-equalisation) there's a harder edge to the B&Ws' sound that you don't get with the Dali Fazons. However, I don't consider it to be a problem: it's more a matter of preference. Much depends on the acoustics of your room and on where you can position the speakers to their best effect.
All the same, be sure to bring along some demanding test material to provoke their high frequencies. The Star Trek movie (2009) is a good choice.
Thanks Andy, I'll see if I can get hold of that before Friday. I was planning on taking the Dark Knight (tho nervous that I'll just end up watching Heath Ledger instead of evaluating the equipment) along with various CDs (my tastes are rather "eclectic" - my wife says "random").
Thanks for the tip - much appreciated.
As for the Fazons, I'm struggling to find any dealers in my area (Reading) who stock them along with the Pioneer amps. I'm really looking for somewhere which stocks the Pioneer, MA Apex, B&W MT60D and Dali Fazon3 so I can change between them easily. I'll see how I get on with the first 2 and if I don't like them, I'll have to go further afield to test the Fazons.
All sounds sensible. The Dark Knight is a great disc too: try the sequence where the Joker hijacks an articulated lorry and takes on an armoured vehicle with an RPG - there's plenty of potential for a hard edge to the sound there. Don't have the disc to hand just now but I think it's somewhere around Chapter 20, from memory. It's the scene that eventually leads to the destruction of the Batmobile and the arrival of the Batbike.
As to your speaker comparison: funnily enough, you'll find a Group Test featuring just those models you've cited in our next issue...
Hi Andy,
Any chance you could put the Arcam Muso & Logo in the mix too?
Thanks
Haider
Thanks for the reply Andy - sorry for the delay in replying - I've just moved house and lost internet connection for a week.
I auditioned the MT60D (and the MA Apex) on Friday, along with the Pioneer SC-LX85. Star Trek was a great call - it was a little bit bright for my ears I think, tho Beethovens 9th was wonderful (isn't it always?) and I had no problem with Dark Knight (and you were spot on with the chapter number - that might be construed as being sad!
). I loved the styling and the size of the M1s tho. They're a lot more subtle in terms of physical size tho, something that is important to me (in my current house - hoping to move later this year, I struggle for space).
I look forward to reading the mag - I'll go and purchase it tomorrow lunchtime.
Thanks again for your help - much appreciated.
Thanks for the review (most of which I'd read in the mag) - especially mentioning what kit (amps) you'd tested it with.
They do look lovely. Going to audition them on Friday, tho I am auditioning them with the Pioneer SC-LX85 (it's the amp which has all the features I want), tho I may end up getting something else (in terms of amp - aesthetics dictates style speakers) if I don't like the brightness.
Did the testing team find that using xCurve helped at all? Or was it still bright with xCurve enabled?
many thanks
In the review Onkyo and Yamaha amps were recommended. Which models? I heard the M1s only in a 2.1 system and noticed a big improvement from the previous model. I did notice that Pioneer Elite VSK 52 receiver which is similar to the LX55 was a bit bright and forward.Hope to hear the 5.1 system soon with different amps.
Thanks!