Midrane, Bass, Detail, and LOOKS

Needs to be used with good quality hi fi, to their full protential.

These speakers are brillianr, iv'e used them for quite some time now, and im really impressed with them. They produce, very detailed crip sound, and the midrange is excellent. A lot of people are syaing that the CDm1NT lack in bass, at first I did. It's down to the interconnects, speaker cable you use, the speakers are very pickey, and will only show there full protentail. Took me ages to get them to sound right, but when i did i was delighted My system Musical Fidelity X - A200R (used as pre - amp) Musical Fidelity X - AS100 - Power Amp Arcam Alpha 6 - CD Player B&W CDM1NT (OAK) Van Den Hul The First Ultimate Interconnect - Used with CD player Chord Silver Siren - used between pre and power QED XTUBE 300 Speaker Cable

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b&w 602s2

build, technology, sound stage, bass, precision, seperation

dunno, cost of the other gear needed? :/

£480 sterling I'm no expert but i'll give u the low down the best i can. I picked up these little beauties a couple of months ago for about the going price of a second hand pair of NT's. I have them mounted on a pair of kudos s100 stands filled with fine round sand, my racks a glass and metal apollo aria rack and i'm using russ andrews wooden decoupling feet under the CDP, the CDP itself is a modded Marantz CD-63SE (warmish sounding) and i'm powering the speakers with a modded Rotel RA-970BX amp (neutral sounding) cables are all home brew, speaker cables are a biwire multibraid, CDP/AMP interconnect is a silver plated copper cable with telfon terminators (neutral, large open sound stage) The CDM1 nt's first off need a proper speaker stand and need to be filled accordingly with good quality round sand granule i gave them plenty of room away from the rear wall for a deeper soundstage and a slight couple of degree toe in as i'm a selfish stereophile and this gives me the highest quality open soundstage posible Once you have set them up for their intended use and audience in your room and you have all equipment properly decoupled |QUICK TIP| i suggest using wood or anything that doesnt resonate at a high frequency to decouple your equipment from your rack if like me your racks metal and glass you may find that this add's to the tweeters slight brighness, decoupling with wood or plastic will help control the tweeters brightness, also helping control them further is filling your stands (thin pole stands will sound ringy and crap so get a thick columb stands) with as much sand as your room will let you, i wouldnt use steel chip to fill your stands either once all thats sorted the fun begins. The kelvar mid/bass drivers are quite warm sounding so neutral electonics and cables are a must, the mids as i've said are warm and beatifully defined, female voices are perfectly reproduced and the level of deatil for example how your favorite female vocalist's inhilations are defined will make u pop a bone. The bass because of the larger cabinate and the quick fire reflex port give's these speakers great extention for their size once you give them about 10+ watts you'll be grinning like a cheshire cat. Upper frequencies if you connect the cdm's up with a good quality multibraid cable are very very accurate. Seperation between the frequencies is second to none and congestion really doesnt become a problem also because the cabinates are such a solid build and very well braced these beauties can go loud and keep there lower volume charecteristics when needed. The soundstage blows you away the depth of image is incredible and having a image width that can pass well beyond the speakers is very very nice, the precision of the image is astounding even when there is a hell of alot going on a expample of the image's definition would be ON THE RUN from DSOTM hearing a train come towards me while pasing a train going away from me was and does breath new life into classic fav's, hearing a spiral sound retire into the background is amazing experience aswell, these speakers can seriously perform.

Solid build, and intensely involving musical presentation that exhibits excellent clarity, coherance, and resolution.These are speakers that will dig up subtle details that will add considerably to the dimensions of the music you listen to, and reveal much about the recording quality ,as well.Properly placed, they will provide a soundstage that is both deep and wide, vivid,bountiful, and textured.

These speakers require patience. This may not seem a weakness, but for some people the process of integrating these speakers into their system and their living environment may prove frustrating. These speakers are sensitive to placement-very much so, and so some experimention is recommended and encouraged. Although B&W makes their recommendations, every persons room is different. It is possible that some people may find the cdms sound outstanding near a wall, on a table, etc. All the unimaginable scenerios! However, I assure you that when you have figured it out, these speakers will come into their own & reward you with their special abilities. This is to say that these speakers will respond to their environment & some care will need to be taken to be aware of the results until you have gathered the experience and evidence necessary to place them most effectively. Aside from this, they are a bit bass light in my room.The quality of bass is well defined and impactful, but not the sort of presense I expected. I was told that I expected too much given the technical specs, and I expect that is right.

I owned the B&W 602s for several years and recently decided to upgrade. I am afraid I am not an experienced audiophile, or someone has a wide experience with speakers. My post is not meant as an arguement for B&W speakers, or based on any relevant knowledge. I loved the 602s, and this led me to believe I should try the Cdm 1nts. Nor am I a very astute consumer. I paid full price for these. I should be too ashamed to admitt it. Unfortunately, I am the anti example.Dont pay full price! That said, the dealers near where I live are good people. They would have given me a break had I shown any imagination or incentive. Okay- all you need to know.These speakers have just gotten better with time.Even out of the box I was impressed by their clarity, something I prize very highly. Where some people may find a analytical speaker tiring or anti musical, I thrive on detail and accuracy.I want to hear just what is on the recording, good or bad. I would like to be the judge of this, so I do not require my audio equiptment to do the censoring for me. The Cdm 1nts reproduce recordings with a directness that truly impresses me. I do not believe they are the last word in monitering-not by a long stretch I am sure, but over the last months they have won my confidence with their ability to do this to more than a credible degree. I am hearing characteristics of voice and instruments that I have never heard before. I am beginning to investigate what I hear, and this long after the initial novelty of this purchase has worn off.They have exceeded my expectations of what speakers might provide for me, and all the more so because I have really not married these speakers to the sort of ancillery equiptment that would most likely bring out their full potential. An 80 watt amplifier proves adequate in my case, but it will not give you either the speed or agility they are capable exihibiting. Not a very informative post I guess. I only mean to add to the accolades that have been showered on this speaker, and hope I have conveyed my enthusiasm. I am going to give these speakers 4 stars even though I paid full price. I am a (usually intelligent,very nice,worthwhile) idiot! most people going to my dealer will pay considerable less. Even then, these speakers are a huge value at their price point. 5 stars for over all rating because I am continually impressed by their performance,even if they are a bit bass light..

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B&W 602s

Coherant, Clean, Seemless cross over, well defined bass (for cabinet size), image well and have a large soundstage.

Requires good electronics to shine.

Simply stated they sound great. I spent 3 months auditioning speakers, many manufacturers and models. I selected the CDM 1NT's. Their presentation and clarity are their strong points. I enjoyed the DM 601 and 602 S3's but they are not as clean. Give them plenty of break in time. They sound bright and incoherant at first. After break in....sweeeet.

Clarity and tonal balance.

Long burn-in time. Require good amps, cables and stands to acheive its best.

In a right setup, CDM1NT is capable of producing top class sound quality. Its treble is clear and airy. Mid-range vocal is warm and balance. Bass is moderate, but fairly good for bookshelf speakers. Compare to Nautilus 805, CDM1NT comes pretty close, except the 805 is a little more airy and has more bass punch. Compare to CM2, CDM1NT is warmer and has deeper bass. Like other B&W speakers, CDM1NT took 200+ hours to burn in. Before you reach that threshold, it is boxy, bright and bad tonal balance, i.e. too much high and low, but lack of mid-range. The CDM1NT also demand good quality amps. It sounds birght and harsh with my Denon A/V receiver. Stand is a must if you want a good sound stage. Cable matching is also crucial. Try neutral or warm speaker cables with bi-wire capability. System used: Classe CP-35 Classe CA-100 Marantz CD-17 MIT 330 Audioquest Crystal (bi-wire)

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B&W Nautilus 805 B&W CM2 B&W 601 S3 B&W DM303

Speed, Clarity, Imaging, Soundstage, Detail Retrieval, Grip, Stop-and-start Dynamics, and good bass for its size.

The speakers can sound bright, harsh and tinny if not matched with (a) high-end CD and amp and (b) warmer front-end electronics ... but this is subject to personal taste.

Amazing speakers! Excellent build, finish & looks. Treble extension, detail, air and separation is superb. Yes the metal dome tweeters do need a lot of running-in and taming, but once achieved, it is sheer bliss. Classical Music, Instruments and in movies where bullets fly around, reverb takes place or glass shatters the sound almost makes my spine tingle. It also has formidable bass extension for its size coupled with excellent speed, an even tonal balance, good definition and a fast, punchy, quick sound. I have mine placed on very solid stands, with good quality interconnects & cables, slightly toed-in and have run it in for over 50 hrs. Matched with high quality partnering equipment, totally broken-in, these speakers offer good value for money and a musically involving experience. I have mine playing through a Nad S500i CD player, a Pioneer VSA-AX10 home theater integrated amplifier (which I am using as the pre-amp), a Quad 909 2 channel stereo power amplifier and it sounds divine. It has everything I could want. The only downside is that with certain types of music, such as Rock, Dance, House, Percussion etc it doesn't have the bass depth that is needed but then I don't know of any similar priced or even twice the price stand-mounted speakers that do. So that isn't really the speakers fault. The midrange can sound a little lean and thin but in my set-up where I am using the above equipment and Cardas Cross speaker cables and interconnects it sounds perfect. Perhaps by-passing the Pioneer VSA-AX10 as the pre-amp and adding a dedicated tube pre-amp might make it sound better but I haven't as yet tried this as I wanted a home theater come stereo system that is in one room and the Quad 909 power amp also adds that extra bite to my movies.

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B&W - (CDM-7NT's, CDM-9NT's, N805), Pro-Ac Super Tablettes, Tablettes 2000, Infinity Intermezzo, Sonus Faber and Monitor Audio.

Clarity, great image and soundstage, amazing bass.

Picky on placement maybe.

I guess all of the good things have been said in previous reviews. I just want to add that the CDM 1NT will sing beautifully if you place it correctly. When I moved them from one side of the wall to another, the sound improved immediately. The bass is amazing considering the small size. Highly recommended. Also, need a week or so of break in.

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Kef Ref 2, B&W CM2, 603S2, Dynaudio Audience 52, Klipsch ...

Wonderful Imaging, detail and clarity. Overall very enjoyable and easy to live with.

not the deepest bass (but of course nothing their size can do any better)

OK... I'm a student in the UK, just turned 18 and about to goto Oxford University to study politics. I get constantly bugged by my friends about why I have a hi-fi that cost me £3500 and not much else but a lot of CD's... but that's my perogative. I love music and I have unfortunately cought the hi-fi bug, these being my most recent purchase a couple of months ago, along with the new Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD player, but that's another matter, and another review. Previous to buying these speakers I had a pair of Monitor Audio Studio 2SE speakers, which were about 14 months old. I did love their sound, they were small and precise and looked gorgeous. However, I needed a system to take to uni, so I thought that I would upgrade those speakers, and take my studio 2's to uni. Basically an excuse to get into a listening room and see what could better them. I was originally very interested in the Monitor Audio GR10, as i had heard these when auditioning my A3.2 and their sound was very similar to the Studio 2's, with more refinement and more base weight and impact. I would have happily bought them at £800. After reading reviews I also thought that I should audition the B&W CDM 1NT, although my local dealer said they were inferior to the GR10s, but then again of course they want me to buy the more expensive speaker (and the one they have in stock). Anyway I auditioned them, and I have auditioned speakers costing upto $3000 and I must say that I was very very suprised at the improvement I could hear. I also listened to the 9NT, and preferred the 1NT as, although bass was obviously not comparable, they had far better imaging and transparency. Seeing I have a REL Q200E sub anyway, I do much prefer standmount speakers. As a previous reviewer stated, I often switch the sub off and revel in the purity the 1NT's offer. I could of course jabber on for hours with all the usual stuff about air etc, but all I need to say is that, wherever you live, if you want to (and can afford to) spend $1000+ on a pair of speakers, they are perhaps the, or one of the, most 'true' or 'transparent' speakers you can buy at this price. I would seriously recommend an audition at least, that is unless you just want speakers that will shake your room and sound loud (then again try a REL sub :)). I found myself actually totally listening to the music for the first time in a while, and not

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Monitor Audio GR10 Monitor Audio Studio 2SE Cyrus CLS 70 KEF reference 1-3 B&W CDM 9NT/7NT Mission 782/783 Dynaudio Audience 52/62 Dynaudio Contour 1.1 Mk II Castle Harlech Linn

Crisp, detailed sound typical of B&W products. Good looks.

Lack punch; have narrow soundstage.

I was impressed by the looks and sound of B&W''s, and decided that these were best suited to my price range. But after I had them open and playing at home, I could not stop thinking I should have bought the Nautilus 805s instead. The CDM1s just sounded a little thin and lacked the range and wide soundstage I remembered the 805s had. I went back to the dealer to confirm my doubts, and decided to buy the 805s. My advice: spend the extra money if you can spare it; taken care of, these speakers will last a long time. Plus, the resale value of the 805s is high.

Detailed mids and highs

sometimes especially voices can sound boxy

My current system: B&W CDM-NT1 Fronts B&W CDM-NT Center B&W CM2 for Rears Velodyne HGS-12 Sub Marantz SR8000 Receiver Loewe Aconda HD TV I must say to me personally the looks and feel matter equally as much as quality of sound. I got both with this setup. These speakers looks very elegant in any decor in my case being a modern NYC apartment. I must say sometimes I am amazed by the clarity of this system at some times dissapointed mainly due to a bad recording. Overall I am very satisfied and couldnt have asked for more in this price range. Afterall I am dealing with a 2way box speaker and cant expect it to faithfully reproduce the whole range like a much pricier speaker..but paired with the awesome sub from Vel it floods my room with beautiful , lyrical and deep music. I must say however in few occasions I have found them to be somewhat boxy. Probably due to their size. I am not going for larger speakers untill i have a larger apartment. If you want your system to look good as well as sound better than those bose, gallo, jbl, infinity, AR crap get these