Imaging, transparency and ''make you sit dowm and listen'' power. Every bit as good as the N805''s and extra money to upgrade your front-end.

May turn you into an audiophile...

What a revelation! Those Brit reviewers at "What HiFi?" are not lying. These beautiful(even the wife likes them without the grills) speakers need a two week continuos break-in. Using the technique of running the speakers "out of phase" facing each other and a dedicated break-in CD 24/7, the tough kevlar driver starts to ease up. This sounds extreme but my Monitor Audio''s need even move time. The sound is pure Brit, crystal clear mid-range, extended highs and precise tight bass. I do not test my equipment with an audiophile CD, with which the 1NT''s excell, but with Madonna, Macy Gray and other pop artists. A speaker has to be musical, before I will pamper it with a Chesky recording or Yo-Yo Ma solo. What some reviewers may find is that relative to their full range speakers low bass is missing. That would disqualify most stand-mount speakers in the market today. Buy a sub. I have a 15" 1200W MONSTER for making my floor rumble, BUT 9 times out of 10 I cut OFF the sub and let the 1NT''s SING. And sing they do running on my Marantz SR19 receiver. This has not ended my search for the perfect amp with YBA and Roksan as the two front runners. It is simply amazing to hear the B&W''s react to high, high-end electronics. You will quickly realize that as you upgrade elsewhere, the NT''s will follow right along..Just try an Arcam FMJ and the speakers create holographic images while retaining a deep soundstage. The only speakers that approached the NT''s were the Proac Response 1SC''s. The Proac''s sounded very bright at first, but within seconds you were seduced by the deep soundstage, The B&W''s at almost half the price matched these speakers and trounced them in transparency. I felt a little guilty when looking at the components I have short listed for CD player and amplification due to the fact that the speaker cost 1/5 of the price of the whole system..but it was the only sure thing on my list. I bought the B&W stands but not before leaving these speakers for a short time on my bookshelf, they sounded fantasic for those of you who are going to stash these babes on a desk top etc. After suffering great anxiety with all my HiFi purchases it is great to have hit the ball out of the park on this one.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor Audio, Mission, Proac and Mirage

detail, transparency, midrange purity, good bass for their size

slightly shrill and fatiguing top end, qualities don''t always gel into musically satisfying whole

I owned these speakers for one and a half years. I paired them with a B&W ASW1000 subwoofer. They are technically very good in many areas such as transparency, detail & resolution, midrange purity & clarity, especially considering their price. Unfortunately, as a whole and especially in terms of musical balance, they disappointed me. On first listen these speakers impress with their open midrange and extended highs, which I admit gained my favour. However, upon repeated listening I began to realize they were tiresome. Too much detail and a top end that was a little exposed from the rest of the music. This led to listener fatigue and a lack of musical balance and cohesiveness. Don''t get me wrong, I don''t hate these or any other B&W speaker. In fact, on many occasions the CDM1NTs amazed me with their individual abilities. But I think that was part of the problem. I was so taken with the constituent parts that I forgot the musical whole. I explored all avenues to see if the problem lay elsewhere in the chain or room. I upgraded my source, added power conditioning, changed cables, fiddled with room acoustics and isolation products. While all were worthwhile improvements, I still detected the same problem in the long run (ie. not as musical as I wanted). Finally, I changed speakers to Kef Reference 3s (used pair bought for a little more than I sold the NTs for). Problem solved, but not a fair comparison. These speakers didn''t work out for me, but they do deserve an audition. Other speakers near their price or worth saving a few more dollars for and that were very musical to my ears are the Oskar Aulos, Reference 3A De Capos and Meadowlark Kestrals. My rating reflects the CDM1NTs general quality and my belief that they are better than average. Perhaps a 3.5 stars would be more appropriate.

Similar Products Used:

Kef Reference 3, B&W CDM1se

Very flat frequency response, very accurate, uncolored sound.

none found

I have listened to these speakers with numerous variations of equipment in many different rooms and felt these were the best in their price range. If they sound bright or different than others it is probably the epuipment or the recording. One thing I have found is that B&W speakers truly reveal if you have a good recording or not for your program material. I have been extremely pleased with these speakers!

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics, Atlantic Technology, Definitive technology, JBL

Detail, resolution and soundstaging.

none

Don''t listen to amateurs like Cal below. These speakers are truly one of the best in their class. The sound is very detailed, and the resoulution is excellent, which is how speakers should sound. Other speakers tend to hide defects in equipment and recordings, so good recordings do not sound as they were intended (i.e. smooth up everything). People who are inexperienced with hifi may even prefer this sound. Burn-in is about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks of continuos play. After this period, the speaker develop a beautiful midrange with sweet highs. I also found that placing the speakers further apart (about 2m) improves the soundstaging.

Similar Products Used:

PSB, Revel, Missions.

Detail, resolution

None

This is one of the best speakers in this price range. It''s ridiculous to rate this product with such a low rating. Sure, with certain amps it may sound forward, but with the right equipment the sound cannot be beat. Detail is wonderful as is resolution and soundstaging when the speakers are placed far enough apart from one another (~2m). Maybe some people don''t like the speakers because they are too detailed, therefore exposing many poor recordings. Nevertheless, this speaker does perform well beyond it''s price.

Similar Products Used:

Revel, PSB, M Logans..

Clarity, soundstage, midrange, treble, and bass response (for their size)

Sensitive to type of amplification, placement sensitive

I just want to begin by saying that the CDM-1NTs are the best bookshelf (standmounts) in the $1000-$2000 price range. It won the EISA award in 2001 in Europe and was What Hi Fi magazine''s best buy in 2001. Anyway let me begin to confront any of the idiots in these reviews who gave these speakers less than a 4. Either you are tone def or you don''t realize that most music is recorded above 50Hz while these speakers will dip to around 45Hz -3db (I tested them). The bass is excellent for a speaker of this size. If you want more bass then buy a floorstander and sacrifice clarity or use some of your neurons and buy a fast and musical sub. Another thing you have to realize is that B&W speakers require very high quality power to bring them to life. For non-audiophiles I will explain in lay terms, you cannot use recievers, mid-fi amplification, low-fi (ie. Circuit City, Best Buy etc..), and at least 100watts/channel of clean high-current power to bring them to life. Also, you need the CDM stands or another very high quality stand to sonically prevent resonance which muddies up floorstanders. Placement is very crucial too. If all of these requirements are satisfied anybody who has even a hint of audiphile synapses in their brain would rate these a 5. I have owned a lot of speakers over the years and these are easily the best. Are there any true two-channel guys left out there?

Similar Products Used:

Theil, McIntosh, M&K, New Castle, Magnepan, Jamo, Boston Accoustics, Sonus Faber, NHT, etc..

Detailed, great resolution, imaging.

None.

I think it really is unfair for such a high quality speaker to be given such a low rating. The B&Ws are probably one of the best speakers at this price range. The different layers of a piece of music can be pinpointed, so different instruments or voices can be followed easily. These speakers are also very detailed, and needs to be positioned correctly to achieve best results. Ideally, as wide a gap (i.e. more than 2 metres) should be between each speaker to produce a wide soundstage. Some people say that the speakers are bright and harsh, but personally, after the break-in period, the sound improves dramatically, sounding very clear and clean. Bright sounding electronics tends to highlight the treble, so try out the speakers with different equipment for the best combination.

Open sounding,Gorgeous cosmetics

See Below

I did not really buy this pair, I wanted to buy it but also wanted to see if it really is as good as everyone claims it is, so I brought a demo pair at home. It was broken in as well, that is what the sales person told me.
I did not like them at all, why you ask? Well it sounded very very bright, boxy, too much, again too much detail, and sound was right out "Aggressive". What I was looking for is warmth, relaxed yet detailed presentation and of course musicality. The CDM1NT had none of these.
I was really disappointed. Then I thought that it is my electronics(Creek 4330R Integrated Amp, Micromega Stage 1 CD player), so three days later, I took the speakers back to the store, I auditioned these with Rotel, Arcam, Bryston, the speaker's bright and boxy character did not change with any of these amps.
I cannot believe how bad these speakers are and to make things even worse, they are expensive. I do not mind paying but give me the sound I am looking for, which is not here with CDM1NT.
Then I listened to Nautilus 805, did I hear a difference, yes, big difference, not really, 805 was alot smoother, more bass, but still lacked warmth I was looking for.
Again very disappointed, I was about to leave the store, I asked if I could hear CM2's small standing mounting speakers, mind you I was on my way out, and honestly I was not expecting them to be good at all, but boy was I wrong.
The moment they (CM2'S) came on, I love their sound, very very warm, I forgot about the speakers and started to snap my finger and my foot start to tap the floor, there was rythum, pace, musicality, warmth, everything I like. So I bought them.
If you can find a dealer of B&W in your area, I would ask you to go and give a listen to CDM1NT, Nautilus 805 and CM2's, and tell me which one you like.
The CDM1NT and Nautilus 805 were both disappoinments for me and just when I was about to hate B&W's, they gave me CM2's, I love those monitors, you really should go and auditioned those small CM2's.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Alpha

i like the cdm1se better than thecdm1se. the se tweeter is harsh and too book shelfish sounding. do not ever buy any stereo stuff that is harsh causesome cds sound good, but most sound like a pianos very top keys. harsh stuff damages your ears and may be ever so slightly clearer. the nt tweeter is in too small a cabinet and no one likes too small speakers, i am talking about the tweeter box, not the woofer box.a big speaker has no strong mid sound.all these people below. you do not understand. you all say this speaker lacks bass.let me tell you. all speakers need a sub. this is the perfect size speaker. now some very large speakers do not need a sub, but large speakers have a dead sound in the mids and a large speaker sitting in the middle of a floor does not have the bass, as a sub would against the wall.and almost all big speakers still needs a sub. if you want the best, get an integrated krell, get cheap audioquest speaker wires, also get audioquest coral interconnects, and a cdm1se speakers.again almost all speakers lack bass. another thing,the cdm1 has louder bass than any speaker its size i have ever heard.

Extremmely smooth high, great imaging and articulate voice

Very expensive

this is a great book shelf speaker but it is certainly expensive when I auditioned at the retailer. But when I took it home, it didnt sound any different than my Mission 772 speakers except a little more bass. I bought this pair, CDM-1NT, because I read the home theater magazine(they gave the perfomance 97) which was a real decieving. A word of warning to anyone plan to buy this pair, listen to it carefully or buy it at any place that you can return.

I've own the sony TA-E9000ES(digital processor,) TA-N9000ES amp and Marantz SR-19EX( which isnt a good reciever either. I hope I can return it for the Denon AVR-4800.)

Similar Products Used:

Mission 772