I was auditioning some speakers a month ago to replace my old Klipsch Epics system.At that time i've listened to a couple of really good one's from NHT,ENERGY,PARADIGM,INFINITY until i ended up in Sound Company ( B&W Dealer).Nothing more to say except that i ended up buying a whole new system( CDM 7,CDM C,CDM1)SE's.I went home and hooked it up to my Marantz SR-18 AND LEMME TELL YA!!
I could'nt be more happier!It's worth every penny of it!!!!!!

These are very nice sounding speakers. Good soundstage, nice imaging. If you are into looks these are good for that too. I still prefer the PSB Silver's in this price range (they have real bass, no sub needed and the imaging is even better) but these are up tere with the Paradigm 100's and Vandy 2ce's.

I have had these speakers for almost a year now, and I must say that I am still impressed by the sound quality and performance. Usually after I buy a big-ticket item, I still casually shop around to confirm that I did indeed get the best speaker for the money. I have yet to find anything that even comes close.After reading some of the negative posts in this forum, I felt I must respond. Normally I don't downplay other people's comments, but comparing with BOSE!? Please. I didn't even care for B&W until I heard the CDM 7SE. In fact I was already writing the check for another speaker when the dealer convinced me to listen to the B&W's.
All I can say, is that if it doesn't sound good to you, then the equipment is either setup incorrectly, or you are tone deaf. Try going to another dealer, or try it on real equipment (where you listening to the speakers on a Sony or something? I'll bet the dealer used something like lamp wire for the speakers. In that case the BOSE probably would sound better as they don't require as much power).
For God sake, please do some real research. Really look at the stats, take a good music CD with you such as Stravinsky's Firebird (or something you like, as long as it's not all from AC/DC and Metallica).

I auditioned JM Lab cobalt 815 and B&W CDM 7 SE speakers last week. I had spent about an hour to make my final decision. B&W CDM 7 SE got my attention at first sight due to it's appearance(as compared to JM Lab). For the sound quality,JM Lab tweeters produces a dry and little too bright sound for me. For CDM 7 SE, it's a fine all-rounder. I go for CDM 7 SE without any hesitation!

For the 3rd time I went back to my local dealer and listened to these speakers since everyone on these websites seem to love them.I came to the same conclusions, as did the salespeople at the hifi shop.

These speakers have nice clarity, decent imaging, but no deep bass or soundstage. They sound very boxed in and 2 dimensional. At high volumes they sound compressed and unrevealing.
Why anyone would spend this much money on speakers with such poor performance is beyond me. I can name so many other products in this price category that do not suffer from these problems. Of course they don't have the prestigious B&W name that so many people are brainwashed into thinking they must be good if they are B&W.

I cannot endorse or recommend these speakers to anyone. Their bookshelfs mated with a good sub yield much better performance.

Clarity, details

a little low bass shy

This is to control the damage that the person just before me decided to spit out. Some people I just cant understand.


I find these speakers truly great for their price. I bought these in 1999 and have enjoyed them ever since. Very detailed, strong in the midrange and detail. Poor recordings are not favored by these. I Bi-wired mine about 4 months ago. Im still not sure if I can hear a difference though. No reason to undo it though. It did not hurt the sound at all. The only problem I have with the speakers is that the kevlar 6.5" driver has to reproduce the low bass too. I have to be easy with the volume control because the 250W/ch amp I use will physicaly over extend the driver on bass notes. I dont have a sub yet but soon I will have one, then It will be like the best of both worlds.

For a long time I had a pair of Cerwin Vega DC 10's, one of the better speakers from Cerwin if I might add. My problem was that I wanted more clarity and depth in stereo perspective, and my taste in music had changed a bit. I stoped listing so much too heavy metal(almost), and started hearing more blues and jazz. So I wanted a speaker that could give me a relaxed but still a very firm sound without giving me the satan BASS experience that Cerwin Vega so abundantly provided. Cerwin Vega makes David Sanbourne sound like techno what can I say, apart from that I really needed new speaker.
I went to my local store to find a pair of speakers, actually I had not imagined that finding new speakers would be a big problem at least not if you are willing to spend around 1600 - 1800$. But for me it was rather difficult - sorry for this long story but some of you who have been trough this process might understand why I'm telling this. First I tried to listen to a pair of Snell speaker, not that they were bad or anything. They were just way tooooo bright for me, and in the long run not very pleasant to listen too! Then I tried to listen to Dali 850 and Dali grand coupe and both of them lacked warmth.

Then I listened too B&W CDM 7, and I liked what I heard! they had warmth!! deeeep and very clean bass everything I was looking. Just for the kicks I tried to listen too some off my old heavy metal stuff, and it sounded great. These speakers seemed to be able too play anything. There were just one problem, the voices/vocals were a bit drawn back and not clear enough! Therefore I waited patiently until the special editon came out here in Denmark, and it took a while. But when the arrived I was not disappointed! One of the best sounding speakers I have ever heard, and it feals like having the leadsinger right in your own livingroom. Who says it expencive to buy hifi, try paying for a private concert with Eric Clapton and Gary Moore. B&W have really outdone them selves this time!

Boy was I impressed.
I listened to a pair of CDM7SE's today on a Meridian 501/555 amp pre-amp combo with a Meridian CD Player. I had listened to a pair of the CDM1SE's a week ago connected to a Bryston Amp and the 970 Rotel CD Player (among others) I could never get comfortable with the sound, what I heard fits with most of the reviews in the CDM1SE section. But wow, what a difference adding 6 to 1 makes!!! I had listened to a pair of P5's a year ago on an Accurus system and was very impressed, I was kinda sad that they were no longer available now that I looking to buy.

But my sadness left me as I listened to the articulate, well sound-staged CDM7SE's. 0 boomy bass, large, ever present mids and highs, comfortable to listen to, no brashness or "painful" highs, just a full, rich sound stage.

This probably isn't the best speaker for a lot of bass, but that is not my style. It is present and tight, but never boomy or muddy!

I had listened to a pair of Vienna Acoustics speakers on the same system with the same music and was not particularily impressed. Nice, but not it. When my friendly hi-fi salesman swapped in the CDM7SE's I knew in short order, that this was my "sound."

Hopefully they sound as well in-home as in-store!

Are Anders and I the only people that have ever listened to this speaker?

what did you think?

I just listend to the CDM7's for the second time. That was enough to convince me tomake the purchase (that and the fact that the store sold them to me for $1200, new in the box)
Compared to the Energy C8's and NHT 2.5's, I thought the CDM7's possessed a much more accurate
soundstage, with tight bass, excellent highs and an impressive amount of "depth"
and imaging.

Having read several of the reviews for the CDM7SE, I was obviously concerned that
perhaps I should swallow the extra $600 (based on retail price) for the "upgrade" to
the new model. But based on what I heard, I'm comfortable that the extra money
would be better spent on the CDM center channel. As soon as I have 3 or 4 grand to drop
on the rest of my system, I'll let you all know how the CDM7's sound in my house!

I am at the point of buying new speakers. The last couple of years I had a pair of Driade 9 speakers, which look superb, but the sound of it never really engaged me.
The CDM-7 SE's are high on my list, although I am also still considering other B&W's (P4/5; CDM-1 SE)
and even speakers from other manufacturers, like the
Dali 450/850,
Celestion A1/2,
Mission 753,
KEF Q55/65,
Castle Avon/Harlech,
Acoustic Energy 109/120,
Monitor Audio MA 70# PMC,
Ruark Acoustic Scepter
So, it's obvious I still have quite a lot of listening to do.

My amp and CD are from Harman/Kardon (6500 and 730, resp.) wired with Van Den Hul cables and interlink. At this moment the CDM-7 SE's have my preference but I don't know how they hook up with my amp and CD. Your experience on any of these speakers or suggestions are highly welcome.