B&W HTM61 vs HTM62 vs LCR60 & CC B&Ws

B&W HTM61 Centre Channel Speaker

No centre speaker in the entry B&W linieup has a more commanding presence than the beautiful & powerful HTM 61.

But when you throw that kind of money & sacrifice so much WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), you want to ensure it was all worth it.

If you are not sure what centre you need, or just cant afford a HTM61 or dont have enough space for the HTM 61, & want to consider the others B&W centres, then please read my previous article on HTM62 vs LCR60 vs CC6 vs LCR3 here.

This article compares the HTM61 to the HTM62, to analyse if people with the floor standers truly are better off with the bigger centre.

The primary objective for me upgrading to the 61 was NOT bass, it was the FST midrange.

The main reason I bought the 683 over the 684 was NOT the 2 woofers, it was the FST midrange!

So is the HTM61 significatly better than the HTM62, & worth the extra cost & space?

Short answer, YES!! The HTM61 is leaps & bounds better than any other 6 series centre speaker.

It is better in almost every way. The 3-way design has proven itself to be the king again.

Rarely would one suggest taking a stereo source & upscaling it to DD PL2x 5.1 as being worthy to test a centre speaker. But on this speaker, it actually makes a huge improvement.
Frank Sinatra never sounded this good out of the other speakers I have had.

I was simply playing out of a USB drive off my Marantz SR6004 with MDAX & Audyssey Flat turned on, & there is extensive improvement on the vocals.

If you have the B&W 683 & can afford the HTM61, & you have the approval of your lady to place a tank under your TV, then I have no doubt in recommending the HTM61.

Every other 6 series speaker is second class in comparison. The HTM 61 has met my expectations, & I despite it looking rather out of place under my TV, I dont mind it as the sound is brilliant.

I would also go so far as to recommend the HTM61 with 685 or 686. A lot of people ask me if a large centre will 'overpower' thier fronts. This is almost never a problem in my experience, because your centre channel levels can always be set down in your receiver. The timbre matching will not change with any new 685 / 686 + htm61 / htm62 lineup.
And contrary to opinion, you very much want a centre that is capable even for movies, because a lot of full range content is put through it.
The centre channel is NOT just dialogue, tough that is the main purpose in the original specification, it is no longer the norm. Sound engineers are putting a hell of a lot of content through it, & most tiddly centres are just dying when it comes to delivering all that.

So no matter what speakers you have from the new 6 series lineup, be it the 683, 684, 685, 686 or even the LM1, VM1, DD1! I would say go with the best centre you can get, it will do your systems justice & not cause any harm.

I had very high hopes from the HTM 61 & it is the one speaker that I really expect to blow my soundstage out of this world & one should not be able to decipher dialogue moving between the drivers.
 

This 'dialogue' also applies to multi channel DTS music DVDs which are my main use for my HT, so when I hear Don Henley's voice or his guitar in the Hell Freezes Over DVD from the centre channel, it should sound no different to the 683 fronts when the guitar is recorded for the front channels within the mastering of the same song. The sub crossover should be only a few Hz off from the Floor standers & I want to hear the 60-70Hz bass coming from the centre in a clean & rich prominent way.

The opening track on that DVD is a good starting test.

I am glad it has worked out.

Next, I will move to Starwars Ep 3 to check if Anakin sounds the same as his voice moves through all 5 speakers in the opening battle scene.

More coming tomorrow.