On a limited budget in england for a year i went searching for a speaker under 500 poundsThe p4 have great balance a beautiful aural colour and stereo image and a punchy though not deep base, and very sharp transient attack.
My test tracks were beautifully delineated and complex orchestral music diected with great simplicity. In fact tracks that i knew well well again holding me in fascination for elements that were brought to the for.
More dynamic than many B&W speakers in the past
PLayed with Cambridge CD4se and dac and alchemist axiom amp

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 speakers from other manufacturers as well, 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.

i compared these to paradigm studio/20 and mission 733i,after dismissing the two it seemed that the P4 is beyond comparison,
this is the most warm-sounding speaker i have ever heard,
and it only loses to kef`s Q35 in terms of transparency.
this speaker makes GOOD MUSIC. it is very enjoying.

I must say that I'm extremely pleased that other posters on this site have high opinions of this wonderful speaker. I've owned the B&W P4 for nearly two years now, and it is a speaker which has had an amazing effect on how I've listened to music.
This speaker is FANTASTIC. Let me tell you about its sound. Firstly the P4 is quite a small floorstander with only a single 6.5 inch Kevlar driver, a 1 inch tweeter and a rectangular port. The cabinet design allows the full floorstanding box to be used by the driver though, and this means extremely suprising bass response and genuine bass punch is provided. The powerhandling is also quite amazing (it can handle 100W at 8 ohms), without any trouble.

The Kevlar midrange is almost hypnotic in its transfer of the musics emotions to the listener. It has very high resolution and a very British sound (wonderfully warm). It is the best mid I have heard ever.

And the tweeter is very good too, conveying a spaciousness of sound and providing clear representations of instruments.

The speaker has a very small footprint and looks beautiful especially in cherry and rosenut finishes.

I cannot recommend this speaker highly enough for the job it does of combining sensational imaging, accuracy, and also providing a non fatiguing sound which does NOT ruin bad recordings. This speaker outputs ALL types of music (and I mean ALL types) brilliantly. It is extremely hard to walk away in the middle of a song.

These are speakers that you LOVE and the music that they make becomes a part of your life... Trust me.

Shame that B&W's terrific P4 loudspeakers are no longer available in the United States. They are wonderful sounding speakers which seem ideally suited for use in an apartment setting where space is at a premium and club style bass would cause problems. The P4s are ravishing to look at and were available in three real wood veneers. The cherry veneer, of the model that I chose, glows as if it were on fire, such is the beauty and quality of the wood.
Furthermore, these slender and elegant towers bespeak B&W's attention to detail in every feature, from the gold plated bi-wirable binding posts to the complete concealment of the fixing screws that bind the 1-inch metal dome tweeter and six inch kevlar woofer to the speaker baffle, which itself is chamfered at each corner to reduce sound diffraction and improve the speaker's look.

The P4 utilizes a form of transmission line to extend bass performance. The t-line design seems to improve the quality of bass over a standard vented box design. The result is a fantasticaly linear and controlled bass response which does not exhibit the bass lumpiness and boominess of a ported design.

The treble quality of the P4 sounds extended, lively, and sparkling. When you mate the sparkling treble, and big, bold, rhythmic bass to a neutral, slightly laid back mid-range, the result is a speaker ideally suited to reproducing every form of contemporary music. Consistency with classical music is more difficult for the P4s however, because the quality that makes the P4s so sparkling and lively with contemporary music can ruthlessly reveal the upper harmonic structure of orchestral strings. Quality recordings always sound good, but rough recordings are often exposed.

The B&W P4s are audiophile speakers that demand top quality electronics. The P4s are descended from B&W's long line of studio monitors, monitors used primarily for assessing the quality of classical recordings. The P4s will reveal the quality of a recording as well as the quality of the source and amplification with which they are paired. They really only achieve the kind of musical fidelity that they are capable of when paired with high quality gear.

When matching the P4s with source and amplification, I believe that it is important to mate them with the most "refined" equipment that you can afford. Sources and amps priced at twice the P4 list price of $1300/pair would be appropriate. Look for budget gear exhibiting the refinement of high end stuff.

The P4s sound lean and very explicit. The sound possesses no excess richness or romance, but the P4s will reveal these characteristics if they are present in source and/or amp. The explicit, wonderfully revealing nature of the P4s really reward the use of electronics capable of highlighting fine musical detail and nuance. An overly smooth sounding source or amp will sound like what it is through the P4s, as something robbed of musical insight. I find that CD players capable of great resolution can really bring out the best in the speakers. Furthermore, make sure the source is absolutely refined in the treble and mid-range, as any glare or harshness will be revealed. I would recommend CD players like the Rotel RCD971, 991, Arcam Alpha 9, Rega Planet, Musical Fidelity E624, Audio Analogue Paganini, or MSB Technology Link DAC.

Moreover, the P4s require a certain amount of muscle as well as musical finesse in order to sing. I have found the P4s to be somewhat tricky to amplify. They do not really achieve true fidelity with budget amps. With that said, it is not impossible to find budget amplification with the necessary current capabilities and the necessary musical finesse. Tube amplification is thus easier to mate with the P4s than solid-state. Budget solid-state simply will not bring out the best in these speakers.

Look for amps that are strong with imaging and soundstaging. Furthermore, look for amps that sound harmonically natural. Tube amps, with their natural harmonics, thus make excellent matches.

Moreover, amps with a sweet, warm, but explicit tone make the best matches for the B&W P4s. Because of the P4's revealing and explicit nature, amps that sound too astringent and explicit or that over-emphasize upper harmonics, should be avoided. Neutrality of harmonic emphasis is essential for the best results with the P4s.

The P4s possess a dynamic ability that makes them kings of transient response. While not as loud overall as larger or more efficient speakers, at medium, everyday volumes, the P4's ability to move from soft, delicate, and small sounds to thunderous, loud levels, is always thrilling. The keys to this incredible transient response are the P4's extended, ultra-explicit treble and fast, linear bass. The P4's reflexes are lightning fast and they have the ability to drop low and deep, which means these speakers sound particularly skillful with percussion, from the pin pricks of light in high-hat rides and other forms of treble percussion, to triangles, bells, cymbols, and drums of every description. They all sound wonderfully authentic and thrilling. In contrast, the P4s are less successful with sustained or rich tonal colors.

These qualities make the P4s ideally suited to the orchestral music of Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Prokofiev, and Sibelius, late nineteenth and twentieth century composers, but less successful with the rich string based compositions of composers like Hadyn and Schubert. Chromatic sounds are easier for the P4s to reproduce and the P4s sound breathtakingly accurate with piano, brass, and woodwind.

The P4s thus excel with Mozart's large body of concerti for woodwind, brass, and especially piano, Brahm's Piano Concerti, Piano Quintet, Quartets, and Trios, as well as the work of Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann.

Beethoven's body of work really tests the P4s though. They struggle with his orchestral textures. The P4s lean, incisive nature lacks the necessary smoothness and elasticity for absolute consistency with works like the 3rd, 7th, 8th, and 9th Symphonies. The dramatic, transient rich, and more richly scored 5th and 6th Symphonies sound more convincing. Moreover, quality amps, sources, and recordings go a long way toward extending the P4's strengths and minimizing their weaknesses.

The P4s can really rock. Their deep and linear bass response is completely devoid of fat, overhang, or excess. The bass response sounds extremely tight and rhythmic. The P4s can keep up with the best in terms of bass rhythm, but their bass does not sound cinematic. The tight, deep, and natural bass of the P4s is thus more suited to music than home theater.

Furthermore, the P4s will not plumb the very bottom-most octave (20Hz-30Hz). This can easily be remedied by the use of a quality sub-woofer (as opposed to a budget or home theater design). A quality sub will possess the necessary speed and control as well as bottom octave extension to mate well with the B&W P4s.

The B&W P4s are true monitors in the sense that fundamentally they reveal the quality of the electronics with which they are used. The P4s possess an extended, explicit, and revealing treble, neutral mid-range, heart stopping transient response, and uncharacteristically linear bass. Because of their abilities as monitoring tools, the P4s (as well as their smaller twins, the B&W CDM1s) are capable of extraordinary fidelity when used with refined and natural sounding sources and amps.

nice cabinet, great sound, good size for apartments

a little top heavy, pets or kids could knock over

fantastic small floorstanding monitor speaker. Clean detailed sound needs quality amplification (I use with a classe cap-100) and associated equipment. Great for small aprtments where space and neighbors are a consideration. Tight, controlled bass is great for tw-way vented design, and very musical. no complaints, only get better after 2 years.

Nothing to add to my previous review, really, just a couple of things: The aged Pioneer was replaced by a Primare A-20, the feeling didn't change at all: one of the most sweet sounding and enjoyable speakers around. Too bad that it's discontinued... It's six years old now, and never showed up any sign of tiredness, nor it demanded any sort of maintenance, although my amps are never switched off. A real classic.

Jaw droping tight tight bass. Spine tingeling highs. Very cool looking~!

Stabillity - very top heavy (I know, I know, but I had to put something~!)

I have been building my home theater/audio system for two years now.(I know, it can't be done the best of both worlds, until now...)
listening to these speakers made me realize what I have not been hearing before in my old system...... Everything ~ !!!!
They will make you listen/enjoy your favorite works of music in an entirely new light ~!
They work superbly in an audio system & very well in a home theater. They do not blend as well as Bi-Polar Hometheater (Definitive Tech) speakers will. But the sacrifice is worth it when you listen to music on them.

They are not cheap but often times something worth having will not be. If you can still find them buy them ~!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS3, Definitive Technology

High is not up to latest B&W with Nautilus tweeter.

The P4 is very musical with excelent mids and very good highs. However, I found it to be inferior to all the B&W which has the new Nautilus tweeter, in the high frequencies. But I guess this is to be expected, how can an 4 years old technology compare with the latest. I also found the 600s2 sound stage to be more 3 dimensional then that of the P4. Probably due to the tweeter. The bass is tighter than the 602s2 without becoming a boom box. Even then they are really close in performance that I wouldn't hesitate to put either as the main speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Monitors, B&W 600s series 1 and 2.

Breathtaking midrange, ultra clear treble

Low end needs re-inforcing with a fast tight subwoofer. (Works very well with a REL Strata II or a REL Storm II)

These speakers just rock. I have been very pleased with them. Bought them in England in 97 and haven't had the need to change them since. I use them in the following set-up:
B&K AVR307 receiver
B&W matrix HTM1 centre speaker
Monitor Audio 3i's rear speakers.
Rel Strata III subwoofer.
Pioneer 606 DVD player
This system just rocks. Sounds really together and the bass is nice and tight. (tried a Velodyne HGS15, but it was too loose and I went back to the REL)
The finish on them is just immaculate, (I picked the cherry finish).
These actually work very well with the Matrix centre speaker. I was very surprised at that.
I can only wholeheartedly reccomend it.

Similar Products Used:

Mission 752i, B&W CDM1