13yr old speaker upgrade


Okay I have a pair of dm604 s3 towers. My first big boy speakers. Incredibly happy with them. But I don't know any better cause I haven't owned anything else. I have the smaller of the two center channel speakers of that B&W series. I have moved into a bigger home. And now have them in 21'x17' room that opens up into a kitchen. I have in cieling surrounds that do the job. And a JLf112 subwoofer. I'm using a onkyo 818 av reciever. Now one of my towers have failed. (Suspected crossover). I want to purchase three similar front stage speakers. Three similar towers. I kinda want to keep my budget around $3000. I am also open to maybe going cheaper on the towers and purchasing an Emotiva amplifier to really drive the speakers to pick them up in performance. Any suggestions??
cisko213
Monitor Audio Silver towers (the bigger ones) and matching center. Or at lower price point, PSB Image towers (the bigger ones) and matching center, more left over for your amp.
Even by today's standard, the DM604 S3 is still a very good speaker and worth decent money used, however not much with one not functioning properly. Crossovers rarely fail. What is the sound coming from the speaker? Just guessing, I'm wondering if by going to a larger room with the system, and if you occasionally play it loud, then maybe a blown tweeter. Does the speaker sound dead, like a blanket is covering it while playing? Even if you want new speakers, it should be worth repairing the DM604's.
I'll echo what Tls49 said, but do you suspect the crossover b/c you're not getting any sound output from the speaker at all? If that's the case, I'd first check to see if your speakers have any fuses (possibly a dirt simple fix)...or, if it really is the crossover then there are plenty of very reputable HiFi repair companies out there that could easily and rather cheaply do that kind of work. All you would need to be able to do is to find a way to reliably uninstall and reinstall the crossover to allow you to send it in for repair by itself (MUCH cheaper than shipping the whole speaker). But even if that was out or the speaker was otherwise effectively dead altogether, unless you're just itching to try something new, I'm supposing you could always just buy another (used) pair of the DM604's and the one you have left over now could be your center tower, if that works for you (and the center tower is not going to be too tall for your app, assuming you're not needing to go horizontal with it). Or if you have any HiFi shops within driving distance you may want to see what you might arrange to audition, or even borrow if the dealer can be worked with (just be sure not to borrow anything you can't afford ;^) But, even if all that's out, then I do believe I'd second the Monitor Audio Silvers as well.
Ivan_nosnibor, I'm very familiar with the DM604 S3, and to my knowledge, there is no fuse, however that was a good suggestion. Cisko213, can you describe the symptoms you are experiencing?
If you like the sound of the DM604, include the B&W CM9 and CM10 on your shortlist. A pair of CM9s is right at your $3K price point, with the CM10s (as yet not released) ball-parking at $4K a pair. If you have the room to let them breathe, the CM9s will be a nice "new and improved" extension of the DM604s.
Well I got a wild hair to switch my speakers to full range to see if I could get more powerful bass across the room. And honestly when I did this I didn't even notice the speaker was not working until I removed the grill and noticed the two lower end bass drivers not moving. I then confirmed this by switching places with the other tower and getting same results on the right channel. But with the grill on you can not tell the bass drivers are not active because I assume the JL F112 absorb the low end sound so good. Bit the tweeter and midrange worked. So my electronics buddy came over with a meter and checked the resistance across the terminals. Everything read good. But it showed an open circuit. So we proceded to dissect the speaker and checked both bass drivers and they showed good resistance on the meter. We confirmed this by connecting the speaker cables to the speaker at low volume. They both worked. My buddy then proceeded to remove the crossover internally located in the speaker. And we mocked up the connections again. And it would not pass thru to the LF speakers. My friend was very impressed with the speaker that it could be taken apart and rebuilt. And the fact that it is built with MDF. I ordered the crossover from a B&W dealer. $150.00. I have decided to keep these speakers and only replace my center with maybe a 683 or 684 tower for the center. I can't justify the cost of the CM's in that I would rather save up and invest in the D805's. but then reality is I have a 5 and 7 year old around the house. And I can already see them knocking one over running around. So maybe I will invest in a Rotel 1565. But then again I have no distortion in my sound. And I crank it when I want to enjoy a movie. The only thing I think may have happened. Was I lost the bi-wire links years ago. And when I was watching hunger games at te Onkyo THX reference level 82.0. The scene when she explodes the pile of supplies. The reciever shuts down. At low volumes it stays on. So maybe my make shift connector shorted the reciever out and fried the crossover.
I wish I could find a dm604 S3. And guys I had a failure with my math. I don't know why I stated 13yo speaker. They were made in 2005. Sorry for the mistake.
I am going to suggest the new B&W CM 10's as well. I just took delivery of a pair two day's ago, and am breaking them in now. So far they sound awesome but BN tight, so will only get better with time. I bought them based on my owning & loving the CM 9's in the past. Yes they are $4k, but I got a deal on mine and suspect you can as well.
Remember i actually want to buy three similar speakers. I don't really like the look of the CM10. I actually do think they forgot to add a tweeter in the box and made a quick fix and just added that nub of a tweeter on top. I've actually looked at Ken Kriesel speakers. I can't justify the cost for the difference of sound for the 600 series and the CM series. I would rather save up and buy serious upgraded speakers for the front stage. For the future, I'm gonna start researching mixing studios and mastering studios here in Los Angeles. I want something professionals use not just speakers sold in a store.
Hi Cisko,

That's fine, good luck in your search, but no, the tweeter on top was not a last minute quick fix, that a little stupid to think so actually. Not liking it's looks is a matter of taste of coarse, but it sounds fantastic. In person they are stunning looking, and no pic really does them justice. Very well thought out design IMO. Having owned the DM 604's, I can tell you there is no comparison.
Thanks Telescope. I will give them a gander on Saturday. Also I'm assuming with the shape of the tweeter it is not the same as the tweeter from the PM series.
No not the same at all. Make sure when you listen they at least take off the tweeter protective covers that they ship with. I doubt the pair they have will be broken in yet unless they got them at least a month ago. Give us a report if you get to hear them.
Fixed my woofers. Upgraded just my center channel. Had my video and audio system calibrated. I'm back in business