# Is adding a second set of front speakers a good idea?



## designosaur (Mar 2, 2013)

I had a nice, simple system in my old house with b&w 601s2 as fronts, and rear channels, with matched b&w center channel. All these were driven by a Denon 5.1 avr. 
In the new house I replaced the rear channels with in-wall units. Leaving me with an unused set of 601s. Would adding an amp and running these stacked with my mains provide additional presence and kick? 

What's the most cost effective way to do this? 

Thanks!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

In general adding another set of speakers to the same front channels is not beneficial and can cause issues. What Deneon receiver are you using? depending on what receiver it may not even be possible to add an amp if it does not have pre outs.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Hard to say for sure. My guess is it would cause more issues than it would solve. I think you'd get more presence and kick with a good amp and/or a second sub.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Image specificity would be blurred by driver lobing (drivers interfering with each other causing peaks and nulls). The B&W 601 would be particularly prone to this due to the shallow first order crossovers, the overlap would be even greater than usual.

This used to be popular back in the day, stacking Advent Large. You could (I wouldn't) try it just for fun, inverting the top speaker to get the tweeters closer so that they work in unison rather that in opposition (the shorter the wavelength, the closer drivers must be to negate lobing). Only do this with an amp that is capable of a 1 ohm load, though. I've owned B&W 601 and 602, those speakers are a DEMANDING load on an amp. Double these up and you could be subjecting your amp to a death sentence. That Denon won't cut it.

As you can see, it would probably be an exercise in futility for a few good reasons. I'd find another use for the second pair.


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Perhaps use the extra pair as sides?


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

It has already been said very clearly, but I had to chime in. Stacking another pair of front mains is likely to hurt far more than it helps. And you are starting out with a pretty nice pair of speakers, it would be a shame to compromise their performance.


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## designosaur (Mar 2, 2013)

Thanks for the great replies to my question. I loved the sound of the b&ws from the first time I heard them. No complaints on the sound quality. When I get some time and a few bucks put aside I'm hoping to build a pair of subs that add some weighty bottom end to compliment my mains. ( I'm running a battered bruised and borrowed JBL right now.). 


. I have a very large and open great room arrangement open to the kitchen, upstairs loft and kitchen. Its also very bright reflective and echo'y to my ears. Would the an audessy equipped receiver do any good here?


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

designosaur said:


> I have a very large and open great room arrangement open to the kitchen, upstairs loft and kitchen. Its also very bright reflective and echo'y to my ears. Would the an audessy equipped receiver do any good here?


It wouldn't hurt. Perhaps some absorption and/or diffusion treatments would help, too.


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