The new B&W CDM-7 SEs have got plenty to live up to. The smaller £600 CDM1 SE received a glowing report in our February issue, putting them among our favourite standmounting models. Many of those smaller siblings sonic attributes are present here, and in particular their delivery of high frequencies. Like the smaller models they employ an externally mounted tweeter and a Kevlar mid-bass cone, but with an additional bass driver in their extended cabinets. This is where the ‘SE’ version differs from the original: the cone uses a newly-developed material made from a mixture of Kevlar and paper, aiming to combine their inherent lightness and strength. The crossover is also modified, and a phase plug added to the mid/bass unit. The treble character is reminiscent to a pair of high quality studio monitors, with a clean and direct air dredging up plenty of crisp detail. It’s vivid yet unforced, giving a fine impression of instrumental timbre in the upper registers: taps of cymbal and tambourine ring impressively true on Marks Hollis solo début CD. The same quality spreads into the midband: assured and dynamic, it helps present sounds with a welldefined sense of space and timing, and no hint of blurring between different instruments and voices. Yet, with all this in their favour, we don’t find these new B&Ws consistently involving across a wide range of music. Bass is a culprit – these speakers undoubtedly go deep, but its character is rather dull and flat compared with the fast and direct sounding high frequency delivery.Rock and pop fans are likely to find the result too laid-back. Lacking the drive to to impress at £1000. All saints
Never ever proves disappointing, with a lacklustre bass performance and over dominate high frequencies adding to vocal nasality. It may be a typically forward pop recording, but it needs a more even-handed approach than this. It’s not only with pop discs that the CDM-7 Ses don’t quite live up to expectation. Faure’s Requiem doesn’t quite grab us as it can: overall tone and imaging are great, but the full drama and presence of the recording are somehow missed. Sensitivity of 90db/W/m and impedance of 8 ohms make them easy load for amplifiers, though these are speakers that like to be pushed quite serious muscle. Ultimately, these well-built floorstanders are attractive but the CDM series is STILL better served by the £600 standmounting CDM1SEs.

I had them demoed for about 1/2 hour in a store. I did not like the very accented midrange they produced, for me it seemed that the sound was about 2 metres too close to me without really putting me into the middle of the action. It was a bit annoying, but not very three-dimensional. I very much preferred a price-equal Elac speaker set (forgot the name) and some (more expensive) Dynaudios (though they were a bit unspectacular). The CDM7's just put me into stress after some minutes of listening.
After all, I decided to extend my budget and went for a reduced pair of ALR Jordan Take 5's, which I'm happy with. More detail, less stress.

After all the press and hype I heard about these speakers on these forums as well as magazines, I decided to go take a listen to them.I brought along some musical I am very familiar with to make my evaluation.
The amps powereing these speakers was the legendary B&K ARV 202 and Yamaha DSP A1. Regardless of what amp I played these speakers on, the results were the same.
Over emphasised midrange, unrefined highs, limited soundstage and depth, a very boxy and tinny sound quality. The sound of these speakers did not justify their price. I have heard many speakers in the $1000 price range outperform these speakers in every regard. I quite honestly don't understand why everyone goes crazy over B&W. The name really influences people. They forget what is really important. The sound. At such a contest, these speakers stand at a great disadvantage.

Two years ago B&W picked up an EISA Award for the CDM1, and the bestowal of this honour no doubt stemmed in part from exceedingly pretty styling and presentation. This compact stand-mount incorporates a luxurious real-wood finish, heavily post-formed edges, and an interesting shape. The top section of the front baffle is 'sliced off', creating an angled face which in turn permits the tweeter to be mounted proud of the surface in its own little pod. B&W has pursued this technique for most of its long history, but never has it been been more elegantly executed.
The success of the CDM1, in the context of a marketplace moving inexorably away from stand-mounts towards floorstanders, could have only one logical outcome: the introduction of the £1,000 floorstanding CDM7. All the CDM1's styling cues are retained, but the dramatically different proportions have unfortunate repercussions. The cute, chunky quality of the CDM1 has been sacrificed for something altogether less well shaped. Even the tweeter pod looks as though it is celebrating Black Nose Day.

Unflattering proportions aside, the ingredients look pretty promising. The smart cabinet is a clever combination of real-wood veneer with matching MDF inserts. It feels very solid and secure on its floor spikes, despite the modest footprint. A three-way driver configuration consists of a 120mm Cobex cone (plus port) for the bass, a 120mm Kevlar cone covering bass and midrange, and a 25mm metal-dome tweeter using neodymium magnets.

Bi-wire terminals only are fitted, despite the three drivers, and foam plugs are supplied to limit the port output (centred here around a low 30Hz) if desired. These were not needed for our tests, however, as room measurements showed an unusually even and deep bass extension with the speakers clear of walls. More worrying was the uneven midband.

Sound quality

I've got used to B&Ws doing well in the blind listening tests. And the CDM7 seemed an obvious choice for the preparatory run-through which introduces our listening panel to the musical programme. So I was a little taken aback by some rather uncomplimentary comments. However, these were only confirmed by the subsequent unsighted presentation: the CDM7 actually registered the lowest mark of the day, which was a real surprise.

The lab reports indicate (and the room responses confirm) that the CDM7 has a rather uneven balance. This could be one factor that distressed our panellists. Genuine deep bass weight is usually a definite plus-point, but there was criticism of timing and transparency, with the overall effect being rather thick, muddled and opaque, even though the overall spectral balance seemed quite well judged.

During extended hands-on work the bass speed and timing seemed to improve, suggesting that perhaps our test samples might have benefited from a longer running-in period. But the midband remains an unexpected weakness, and the overall effect never hinted at full and convincing top-to-bottom coherence or seamlessness.

Conclusion

Something important seems to have been lost during the translation of B&W's CDM concept from stand-mount to floorstander. It's called charm. B&W's speakers have performed so consistently well in recent years, it comes a surprise to find one which doesn't quite deliver. By no means is this a bad loudspeaker, and it did improve steadily throughout the test programme. But despite its generous performance envelope, I cannot avoid concluding that this design remains undistinguished within its price group.

I listened to these speakers at my local dealer. Couldn't believe the price. What a rip off. I laughed when the dealer told me the price. He then got out some Bose speakers which kill the B&W on price and clarity.
Obviously snobs will prefer the B&W but true audiophiles will give bose and other speakers like this a shot.

These are really great speakers! Very sweet and smooth, great imaging. Easy to drive & match well with most amps. Reviews that say these speakers are inferior to Bose do little to inform and should be taken with a grain of salt! Besides no reputable dealer would stock both B&W and Bose together!

These speakers are a joke. They have a very boxed in sound and very 2 dimensional. I can't believe how many people on these audio forums are brainwashed into believing these speakers are actually good.I will put a pair of Pinnacle Classic Gold Aerogels or NHT 2.5i up against these oil cans any day of the week.

B&Ws are not my favorite speaker but they make decent stuff. Just a warning, any time an audio salesman tells you Bose is better than X, an alarm should go off in your head, commision! Commision! Commision! Or if he is the owner, mark up! Mark up! Mark up!I've been down that road before. Yes, I was sold a pair of Bose speakers, once.

I recently replaced my mid-fi (Sony) components with a very fine amplifier from Proceed, the AMP 2 (list $2k) and a Marantz AC-500 CD/tuner/preamp combo unit, based on the sucessful and affordable CD-63. I had been using B&W 602s (nice speakers, for the price, a little bright) with my old system, and also with my new amplifier and CD player. I took advantage of the one year tradeup my dealer offers, and replaced my 602s with CDM7SE. I was originially set on getting Nautilus 805s, and after auditioning both the 805s and CDM7s I was still set on the 805s. My ultimate goal is to upgrade to the amazing Nautilus 804s within a year. Being a decidedly loyal B&W fan, my choice was quickly narrowed to the CDM7SE and the Nautilus 805. Since the 805 are priced at $200 more then the 7s (not counting the necessary stands), and lack the bass of a full tower speaker I decided to go with the 7s, though in my heart I really wanted the 805s. During my demos I was not as impressed with the 7s as I had hoped, but I accepted them as a transition piece to what I really want, the 804s. Still, they clearly blow my old 602s out of the water, so I purchased them. Upon setting them up in my room I was instantly impressed, without even a breakin, their sound far exceeded my expectations from my listening tests. They lost all hint of the harshness and brightness I had become accustomed too with my 602s, perhaps a little on opposite side, but none the less I was impressed. The bass of these speakers astounded me after a significant amount of tweaking, the concrete floor probably helped, but it was far superior then what I had heard when auditioning them. They don't touch the Nautilus floor-standers, but at half the price of the 804, they are an impressive bargin, amazing what B&W can squeeze out of a 6.5" driver. Anyone who does not think they produce enough bass should hear them in their own room in their house, which will usually enhance a speaker's bass performance much more than most stores rather open setup. Most amazing is the midrange of these speakers, which is warm even on my solid state Proceed, and wonderfully musical. I have yet to completely break these speakers in, and my speaker cable does need upgrading, I hope that these speakers will improve even more. I may be even a little sad to see them go when I move up to 804s. I would rate these speakers a 4 but feel inclined to give them a 5 because of the few undeserved 1 and 2 star reviews I've seen
Derek Johnson

I auditioned these speakers at my local dealer for several hours along with other speakers in the same price range. I tried very hard to like these speakers as it seems everyone on this site goes nuts for them. I listened to music sources that I am very familiar with to pick out characterstics I like or dislike. These speakers sounded very boxy and 2-D. They had very clear midrange and tight midbass but lacking in low bass. The soundstage however was extremely compressed and limited. It sounded like I was listening to music from a speaker and not the real thing. I later compared these speakers to Totems, Thiels, Dynaudio, Kef and others. While each speaker had different sound characteristics, all of the brands I mentioned were superior to the B&W CDM 7SE's in their respected price class. I cannot recommend these speakers as they were designed primarily for looks and not sound quality.