B&W vs B&W (1 Viewer)

[Craig Blackburn]

I was leaning towards the CM7's when I visited my local dealer last weekend but over the last week with the ton of searches that I have done, I haven't seen any glowing comments on them. The latest review that I found in one of the HT mags this month wasn't the greatest either.

Do the CM's stack up that poorly against the "step down" model of the 600 series, which I found the 603's to sound almost the same? Should I suck it up a little on the budget and go with the CDM line? What difference have people heard when comparing the two? Lastly, I want to go with floor standing speakers but can compromise for a better sounding speaker, are the bookshelf CDM's or even Nautilus 805's going to blow away the floorstanders?

Thanks for the help. I am using just a mass market DD receiver for now but will be upgrading in the future.

 

[rodneyH]

let me tell you my opinion as a owner of 601s, 804s, former owner of CDM7nts, and 602s, etc... ANd as someone who just happened to be talking with a friend of mine who owns a B&W dealer. He tells me that the 603 is an amazing speaker (603s3 that is) and he said it sounds very similar to the CM, but is much less in price b/c of finish. He loves that speaker for the $$$$. If you are going to spend the $$$ for the CM, I think you might as well save a bit more and go with teh CDM line, yes they will blow the others away. ANd the 800 line is even a step up from that. If you have a good sub already, perhaps you should listen to teh CDM1nt or 805, but be careful, you might want to take them home with you, so be prepared

 

[Craig Blackburn]

Thanks, rodney, that was the kind of info I was looking for. At first I thought I could hear a better staging with the CM's but as I went back and forth on A/B, I started to lose that difference and figured that they sounded very much the same, this with the 603's $400 less. I thought the 603's sounded fuller than the 604's.

I haven't listened to the CDM's but am going to do that today. I really wanted floor speakers but the more I read this forum the more I see people going with bookshelfs and using a good sub. I was looking at getting an SVS no matter what size speakers I buy (also because of the info from this forum) so it may make more sense to get the smaller speakers after all. If you look at this thread again, do you think that the SVS will take care of the low end problems that the bookshelf CDM's or the 805 have?

Thanks again.

 

[Larry B]

The CDM line is more refined than the 600 series, IMO. This is readily apparent on movies; I don't know how significant it is for explosions.

Larry

 

[Mark C.]

As an owner of Nautilus, CDMs and 600s, let me tell you that the combination of the CDM1NT with a good sub is as good or better than going with the CDM floorstanders if this is primarily a HT system.

If, however, you want your HT to act as your music system also and don't want to include a sub for music listening, then obviously floorstanders would be better.

 

[Ned]

Larry-

Explosions are so much better on the CDM's. The detail, the texture, the layers, come on!

I agree with Mark on 1NT vs 7NT. The 7NT's have noticeably better detail and extension in the bass for straight 2 channel listening but that extra bass extension is not utilized when used with a sub for movies. For my money I would go 1NT/7NT or straight to the 804's. For what the 805's cost I'd rather have the 7NT or 9NT.

I'm not sure what the point of the CM line is. Rather pricey but without the nautilus style tweeter.

 

[Jeremy Hegna]

"....do you think that the SVS will take care of the low end problems that the bookshelf CDM's or the 805 have?"

They don't have low-end problems, only limitations. The 805s are out of this world, even for 2 channel listening without a sub. I don't have much listening experience with the CDMs, but I'd bet the same would be true. The SVS is an excellent match for all the speakers you are considering. The question is how much music listening will you be doing compared to your HT percentage. If you are a fan of music, the Nautilus line is a great place to end up, but most B&W dealers will allow for trade-up. If you start with 600s and move up to the CDMs, then the 800s, you should ask if they will allow full trade-in value. If they will and you can swing it start with the CDMs, not the CMs. Cosmetics is the only difference between the CMs and the 600s.

If HT is your game, I don't think it is necessary to even go with a full set of CDMs...You may want to use the CDM center and mains, but 602s will be excellent on the sides and in the rear.

My 2 cents.

Jeremy

 

[rodneyH]

good point Jeremy, I am using 601s with my 804s without complaints

 

[Craig Blackburn]

Again, guys, thanks for the info. Jeremy and rodney, you two really made me rethink the whole thing once again.

I decided to go with the CM's as I couldn't get the 604's to sound as good for my ears (maybe I need to trade in my ears).

My B&W dealer doesn't carry CDM's as he doesn't sell much and he didn't think they had enough improvement for the money. Flame him not me! I will say that he and I usually had the same feel for the sound of each speaker.

I tried the 802's just to get the feel of a HIGH end speaker. Again, for me, the CM's just sounded much closer to these and much more vibrant than the 600's.

I also tried the 805's and figured I needed a tower as the music side wasn't extended enough for me. I mistyped earlier, definitely not a problem with the low end on these bookshelfs, what I meant was that their extension doesn't go down as far.

So, I went against the grain on this one. I went with the CM's up front and in the center with the rosenut grain with VM1's for the rear. I am holding off on the sub and probably going with the SVS. All for around $2100. I guess I will be the devil's advocate now in the B&W discussions.

 

[Ned]

If the CM's sound good compared to the 800 series then they must be pretty decent. The CDM's sound very similar to the 800's, sort of an 804/805 Lite. Let's see some pictures

 

[Jeremy Hegna]

Congratulations Craig, and welcome to Camp B&W
There isn't a bad speaker in the bunch...B&W's trickle down of technology makes them all a winner and sometimes better aesthetics mean a better SAF
What did you think of the 802s? I began in much your same situation 4 years ago...with a pair of 602s in the front and and LCR6 in the center. I'm closing in on my end-game these days, but man, I'd love to have a pair of Sig 800s down the road....someday
Jeremy

 

[rodneyH]

congrates, the interesting thing in the post is that you were origionally comparing them to the 603, then later you mentioned the 604, from the conversation I had with my buddy the 603 is actually the one that sounds better than the 604, and much more like the CM, I don't think you went wrong though,even if they sound the exact same as the 603 (which I do think they still sound slightly better?) the construction and cosmetics alone maybe worth it. They are beautiful speakers and sound great as well. At some point you have a budget and have to stop at some point, That is why I origionally got the CDM7NT and later went with the 804. B&Ws are great speakers, now just sit back and enjoy the music!!

 

[JordanS]

I recently auditioned the CDM NT1's and the Nautilus 805. Front end electronics were all McIntosh equipment. Both sets of speakers in the same room in front of me.

In my opinion, there was absolutely no comparison between the N805 and CDM NT1. I thought, for the money, that the CDM NT1 was really overpriced. However, I was totally blown away by the N805. The CDM 1NT's seem to be severly lacking in the upper and low midbass region.

Midrange and treble were ungodly on both sets though.

 

[Craig Blackburn]

I'll try to get some pics later this week. The shipment didn't come in on Friday so I have to wait until tomorrow to get the speakers.

Jeremy, no doubt the 802's were gorgeous in appearance and more importantly in sound. I haven't had too much experience listening to extremely good speakers so I wanted to compare the CM's (that I like) to what a very high end speaker sounds like. The 802's were amazing. Besides the aesthetics (very attractive and very dead sounding box), the sound was very realistic. Nothing bright but very alive is what I would have to say about them. The CM's seemed a little brighter than the 802's. If I had the money, the 802's would have a new home. I just thought the CM's mimicked the 802's more so than the 600's.

Rodney, I may have made the mistake of not testing the 603's and instead used the 604's. I do think there was more difference in this test than last weekend when I used the 603's. Like you said though, aesthetics would still have played a big part. I didn't want the maple color and the black in the 600's was non-grain not that it makes a better speaker but my wife and I like the rosenut veneer more. The CM's didn't sound as dead when knocked on as the 802's and 805's but the CM's were still solid sounding.

These speakers will be 80% home theater but the remaining 20% was important enough for me to go with the floor standers. Most importantly, another Bose system will now go unused. I will sit back and enjoy. Thanks.

Any pointers on subs (looking at SVS but am unsure of size needed)?