New system for Home Theatre Room

[bratt01]

Hi everybody, this is my first post, although Ive been a long time reader of this website.
I would like some advise on some equipment for my dedicated home theatre room. (House in the process of being built).
The room is of small size. 4.3m wide by 3.8m deep by 3m high. (or 14.2ft wide by 12.deep by 9.8ft high.). My intention is for 2 B&W 685's, 2 B&W 686's, with ASW608 woofer & HTM62 centre. I intend to drive these off a Yamaha RXV3800.
I've got two questions -
1. Is the 685 & 686 combo with sub too small ? OR should I go 684 + 685 or 684+686 ?
2. And is the RXV3800 too much amp for the setup? Should I rather go for the 1800? (And maybe use the extra cash on a set of 705's instead of the 685's ?)
This will mainly be used for home theatre, although it will be used for music a lot too. My type of music is a lot of electronica, a little bit of rock, a another little bit of jazz & plenty female vocals.
I am not specifically set on the B&W's, its just that Ive heard them and my old man had a set before and they do sound good. So any suggestions on other brands will be good too.
Budget wise, well from the setup above you get an idea of my budget.
Any advice / enlightment would be appreciated.
(Note this system will supplement a full HD setup)

Thank you in advance.

[tonyvdb]

Welcome to the Shack,

The 685 & 686 combo will work just fine but I would highly recommend a different sub. Going with an SVS PB13 ultra or something like the Plus series of subs will give you much better bang for buck.

The Yamaha 3800 is a great receiver and you can never have "too much amp" as the head room is always a good idea.

[bratt01]

Cool thanks for that. I'll have a look into different subs. Any specific reasons for not choosing the B&W subs ? Maybe go for a bigger one in the range like the ASW610 or even the ASW610xp or something out of the 700 range?
Havent heard much about the SVS subs though, any reason why you recommend them ?

[eugovector]

The reason is that you will get better performance for less money with SVS.

There is a lot of info on SVS subs here, and pretty much everywhere on the net. They are probably the most highly regarded manufacturer direct Home Theater subwoofer co., right ahead of HSU and then, I don't know, Elemental Designs probably...at least in terms of performance vs price.

[tonyvdb]

SVS is hands down the company to buy a sub from I have been watching them for about a year and have not heard of even one unhappy customer including myself. SVS only sells online so you eliminate the middleman giving you a better sub for less.

[bratt01]

Good thanks for the advice guys, I will definitely look into it.

[mayhem13]

The B&W 684's would be a great choice for the fronts with their lower bass extension(-3db at 44hz) with 685's rounding out the rear. They're pretty efficient as well (90db) so they won't need tons of power. Outlaw 990 pre-pro is the way i would go instead of the Yami(s) and it would seem like you have a decent budget so may i suggest two JL Audio Fathom F113 subs. I know they're a little pricey but a worthy match to the SQ of your projected B&W system.