Dispersion of sound, sound quality, build quality, overall design and look, ease of installation

Removable bottom panels are loose and sometimes show that they are not all the way in. I find myself pushing them back in frequently. Other problem I found was also minor. When you take off the covers to look at the speakers, there is a grey rubber lining around the woofer and tweeter..these are not attached very well. Like any dipole, these speakers can't have anything on the wall immediatly in front or in back of them.

I was very excited to install these speakers in my home. In fact I stayed up late to get them installed the night I brought them home (till 2am).
I decided to try these speakers on two different systems. First my Marantz AV9000 w/Transparent cable. Wow! They sounded better than I hoped! The dispersion was excellent and I really had a feeling of being surrounded. Much better than direct firing surrounds, as far as I am concerned. I noticed that the pillars I had on the wall would have to go in order for the speakers to sound their best. The B&Wfs were right behind alder pillars I had installed. The pillars blocked the sound a bit from the forward speaker.
I got curious a week later and wanted to see how these speakers performed on an older Pioneer Dolby Surround system, with THX Monster Cable (this should be interesting right?). Well I must say that for a regular Dolby system, these speakers really help improve the surround quality. It's always been amazing to me how some good speakers, properly placed, can drastically improve sound quality even on a cheaper "Circuit City" type of sound system. No offense to the Circuit City people!
The B&Wfs also provide a modern look to the room that is really eye catching. In other words, these speakers really look great!
I was a little disappointed to discover that the Kevlar cone wasnft similar to the Kevlar cone in my CDM 7SE. They used a cone like the ones found in the regular CDM 7. So instead of a fixed center, itfs attached to the cone.
I heard a rumor that B&W planned on discontinuing these speakers...maybe an upgrade (I hope). I think they would be foolish to do so.

Clarity
Precision

absolutely none

These are the most amazing rear speakers I have heard to date. The solid construction, tight mid-bass, and sound movement is incrdible. Granted at $1400/pair they should be. For Dolby Digital, and especially DTS, these make a world of difference. I am still a true believer in 2 speaker stereo though.

Similar Products Used:

Boston AVR

I have ordered a pair of the B&W THX SCM-8 dipoles. Of course these speakers are using the famous kevlar cones as they are using in most of their speaker line.I listened to them at the store, and I must say that I was very impressed with the performance. The only dipoles I felt were better were the Revel Embrace Dipoles, but the Revels were hundreds more in price.

B&W has always impressed me, I hope that these speakers will sound just as impressive at home as they did at the store. I will post an update once I have them installed.