I've been busily researching speakers and components before I dig in and shell out the big bucks for a serious audio system. I've collected business cards (and thus reccomendations) from just about every salesman in a forty mile radius and listened to a number of speakers, including NHT, B&W, Mission, Paradigm, AR, Definitive, and yes even Infinity and Polk. I am determined to get the best I can for my dollar.
That said, I'll probably trot willingly into debt to get a pair of the B&W CDM7SEs. I liked Paradigm, and the NHT 2.9's were impressive, but nothing had the natural, open sound the B&Ws mustered. I think the only real competition came from the pricier NHT's, which overmatched the B&Ws in bass response but couldn't touch them with regards to detail, imaging, and a practically panoramic soundstage. I even preferred the CDM 7SEs to the (much) pricier Nautilus 800 series, which sounded hollow and flat in the midrange.

If you're going to get a pair of speakers in the $1500-2000 range do yourself a favor and get the B&Ws. In fact, if you were looking at spending more, get the B&Ws. Heck, if you're looking at cheaper speakers, borrow some money, get a loan, or whatever. These speakers are an investment.

I have been shopping new speakers for two years. I've listened to JMLab, Tannoy, ProAc, Martin Logan, Aerial, Linn, Genesis, "you name it," etc... After all this, I chose the B&W CDM1SE's because they simply had the BEST sound in terms of accuracy, clarity, soundstage, & sweetness of sound. I just traded my CDM1SE's for the CDM7SE's and unless something changes in the future...the CDM7SE's are better!! As for comparing the 7's to "BOSE"....that doesn't even warrant a response.

I recently bought these fine speakers in the red ash, and boy I am satisfied. I compared them to Jamo, Paradigm, Tannoy, Monitor Audio, and PSB. These were by far the most accurate in music reproduction. The highs and mids are clear but not too bright. The bass is okay, but a sub will take care of that. I am extremely happy with them. I got them and the CDMSE center for 2,400.

Re: Monitor 5These speakers are a joke. I compared them to a pair of B&W CDM 7SE which are a little bit more expensive (obviously better brand) of the Silver 5 and the CDM 7SE blew them away hands down. The highs are more detailed and smoother on the CDM 7SE. The midrange is so forward and 2 dimensional sounding on the Monitor 5 that Sade's voice sounded like she was in a box. I set her free once I switched over to the CDM 7SE. It is amazing how one company could make a product which not only looks better, but sounds superior. Don't waste your time with the Monitor 5 garbage cans, go out and audition the CDM 7SE. Those who make the comparison will see the light of day and realize just how bad the Monitor Silver 5 speakers really are.

Very accurate highs and mids.

Very unforgiving highs and mids, poor bass response.

I have the complete CDM front array with a CDMCSE as center and the 7SE towers as mains. The sound from the towers is incredible. Albeit a bit weak in the bass department, but you can't ask for much with compact tower speakers. A good trade-off for size vs. deep bass response. I have the Sunfire True Sub MKII and it fills in nicely where the CDM7SEs fall off (at about 45Hz).

The highs and mids are among the very best I have ever heard in any speaker including the highly acclaimed Nautilus series. The soundstage is deep and very accurate. You can close your eyes and actually see where the musicians are located, sometimes even how far or close from you!

These are exceptional speakers for jazz recordings (live or studio recordings) as well as for acoustic and classical recordings. These are not intended to be placed outside by the pool for a new year's party. These are refined speakers for refined listeners who know where to position the speakers, where to position themselves and have a knowledge of fine audio details, as well as respect the flaws inherent in many recordings (did I mention that the B&Ws will bring out the worst in poorly-recorded CDs?). They are to be pushed with good amplifiers like the Sunfires, Classe, Krell or Brystons. Anything less and they will not shine as they should. One more thing: they love to be bi-wired!

Equipment List:
Krell Home Theater Standard Preamp/Processor
Classe CAV150 6-channel amplifier
Rotel 990 CD Player
Sony S7000 DVD Player
B&W DM602 rear surrounds
Monster M series bi-wire speaker cable
Transparent Audio Interconnects

5 stars for these beauties.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM Series & Nautilus 804s.

Imaging, soundstage, clarity, smoothness, beauty!

Bass response

I have had my speakers for 9 months and love them! I recently added a REL Storm III sub and they sound even better. I admit they are lacking in bass response for Dolby Digital but I was happy with them for music. The sub has only made them better. The sheer beauty ( I have red ash) of them won my wife over. I have the CDM CSE center to go with and they sound perfect, escpecially with the sub tuned in correctly. I highly recommend them!
Rotel equipment
Pioneer DVD and Laser Disc

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Thiel, Martin Logan, Jamo, Definitive Technology

well in previous posts, i have always referred to myself as an audio enthusiast, but where do you draw the line between an enthusiast and an audiophile. im not really certain, but audio is a very important part of my life, ive been a musician for 16 years, been around studios and audiophiles for a majority of it, and i guess while i always considered myself an enthusiast, i guess with the amount of importance and time i spend and place on audio, im proclaiming myself a beginner audiophile :).
anyway, on to the speakers. i just replaced my dm603's (great speakers by the way) with a set of cherrywood cdm-7se's. source is a sony dvd s7000, preamp is a lexicon dc-1, amps are parasound, cables are monster m1.4 biwire. also i have a b&w asw3000 sub.

all i can say is my god. i sat on the couch last night just listening to my only test CD over and over until 2am. absolutely crisp highs, imaging after some playing around with position is amazing. soundstage is very good, but my room just isnt large enough, one of the speakers is stuck over toward a corner while the other is out in the open and there isnt much i can do about it. regardless, these speakers are absolutely amazing for the money. i havent heard them without the sub, but i suspect if they are anything like the 603's, they will be a little weak, but not surprising. throw in the asw, and just wow. i cant help but wonder how these are going to sound once they break in. i dont give out 5 stars ever, as i always feel there's something better out there, but they dont have a 4.5 and these are definately better than a 4 before breakin, so.... 5 it is. im sitting here at work dying to go home and pick up some reference cd's on the way. my week is shot.

The 7SEs are fine speakers for those who want more OOMPHH than available in a bookshelf style speaker.
The 7SEs are good at everything but great at nothing. They are still the best towers available in the price range (since most in this price range are average on high end and good on low). The 7SEs are more than adequate for listening to Home Theater. For pure music, you should look at the 1SE since it does not exhibit the slight distortion at the highs that the 7SE has. This is not a problem with the drivers on the 7SEs, but rather limitations of the case in a speaker that is trying to accurately reproduce sound across the entire sound spectrum (and not cost as much as a new car). If you want tower range w/ bookshelf clarity you need to look at the Nautilus series (starting w/ the phenomenal 804).

If you want accurate reproduction of music, go for the 1SE paired with a quality sub. If you want overall strong speaker performance w/in a budget the 7SEs are a good bet.

Accurately reproduces the recording with plenty of detail. Attractive wood vaneer cabinet. Easy to drive.

The 6 1/2 in. bass driver lacks the ability to reproduce loud low bass, so if you wanna thump it looks like you'll need a sub to fill out the system. To keep a speaker at a certin price point, limitations in design are necessary. Obviousley, the cabinet construction is not on par with the more costly Matrix/Nautilus series,but it's about as good as any others I've seen in this range.

Setup:
Getting the 7SE's properly set up in my small room required a considerable amount of time and patience. Even minor changes in toe-in, and distance from boundries dramaticaly affected the sound. I ended up with them 30 in. out from the front wall, 24 in. from the side walls, with about 15 degrees of toe-in. I used custom sound bases under them instead of the spikes, to de-couple them from the floor. Once I was sure they were placed to give the best in-room response, I began to experiment with room treatment. This required even more tine and patience, but the end results were well worth the effort. Products used were RPG Pro Foam and Michael Green Designs Mini Corner Controllers. (Pressure Zone Controllers)

Note:
It should go without saying,that any speaker review should be done only after listening to a well broken-in pair, with reasonable associated equipment, in a real home system. It can take hours of listening just to find the best placement location. I doubt that some of the one and two star "reviews" have met the above criteria. Reviews based on in-store demos are meaningless.

Sound:
How do the 7SE's sound? Pretty damn good. These speakers seem to excel at reproducing good jazz recordings. The 7SE's are so clear and detailed when reproducing jazz, that you'll practically be able to hear the spit dripping from the sax. (Talk about details, there's one you probably didn't need to know) And even though it only uses 6 1/2 in. drivers, it can easily reproduce the real sound of a drum, so it doesn't sound like a bunch of rhythmic thuds.

Piano? No problem. You know, a good acoustic piano sound can be a tough goal for an audiophile to achieve. The piano is difficult to record, and even more difficult to play back. And yet, with everthing from Elton John to the classical stuff, the 7SE's allow a piano to sound like a piano. Just the way it should be.

Want to hear great guitar solos? So do I. Check out some Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, or B.B. King on the 7SE's. They will effortlessley reproduce every last blusey riff.

And what about vocals? Try out some Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, or maybe some Toni Braxton. On Cassandra's New Moon Daughter, her voice takes on a deep, breathy, sweet tone that can sometimes make me believe I'm about to get a kiss when listening to her through the 7SE's.

Drawbacks? The 7SE's are accurate enough to make certin poor recordings sound pretty bad. Then there's the subject of bass. The 6 1/2 in. bass drivers simply can't move enough air,or go deep enough to crank out the loud,low bass that makes listening to rap and heavy R&B fun to listen to. So, if your a bottom feeder, you'll need to add a sub, or look elsewhere.

In summary,the 7SE's are a great choice for all kinds of jazz, vocal, and acoustic music, and can also rock&roll when asked to. They are competitive in their price range, and can be recommended.

Equipment used for the review:
Rega Planet CD Player
Bryston B-60 Integrated Amplifier
Tara Labs RSC Reference Gen II
Tara Labs Missing Link
Tara Labs RCS Prime 500 Bi-Wire
Synergistic Research AC Master Coupler
Monster HTS-2000
Hubbell Spec Grade 20amp AC outlets
Target Rack

Similar Products Used:

Other floorstanders I listened to in this price range were Meadowlark Kestrel, Vienna Bach's, NHT 2.5i, PSB Stratus Silver, and Paradigm Studio 80.

Matrix series drivers in a lousy cabinet with plenty of resonance. For nearly the same coin you could have previously got the Matrix 804s (before the series was discontinued) which are FAR superior. For all those that think the CDMs are so good, have a listen to a used pair of Matrix 804s if you can. The CDMs are designed to produce decent home theater sound with mass-market mid-fi stuff, but when you compare them to what was previously available from the Matrix series you really have to wonder how B&W could produce such a well groomed dog and sell it for nearly the same price. Hang your head in shame B&W, these speakers aren't worthy of your emblem!