B&W CDM 7NT & CNT & 1NT

[DigitalKnight]

I came across a set of these speakers and wanted to know if they are any good or should I say... what are some opinions of them?

How would they compare to say Swan Diva's 5.1 speakers?

What would be a good price to offer for the set?

Also I take it the SNT surrounds are hard to find?

[htsteve]

DigitalKnight,

First of all, welcome to the forum. :T

As to your questions. The NT series is a predecessor to the current 700 series (several generations back). I had the center channel once in my system. It was a very good perfromer. I would expect these to be very good performers.

Since these are an an older style, I would expect that finding the center and surround channels will be hard to come by. If this is a complete set, that's quite nice.

As to what to offer, that's hard to say. B&W's tend to hold their value. My guess is that this set would have been about $3,000 to $4,000 in it's day. You can compare some pricing on audiogon.com to see at what discount B&W's sell for. Hopefully, you can then figure out a price.

What do you currently have for speakers? The Swan Diva's? I have no experience with these, so I cannot cannot compare.

Do you have a chance to listen to these? Your ears are the best guide in speaker selection.


Hope this helps.

[AVspec]

Thanks for the reply htsteve.

It is a complete set which looks to be in very good condition. They look to be the same color as the ones in this old, but very good review: http://www.hometheatermag.com/floorloudspeakers/71/

Which is a light maple finish???

The current mains I have in my system are the Swan 5.1's

http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=152

along with the swan C3 center

http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=158

and R3 surrounds

http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=138

all of which I like but I feel they are a bit much for my 14'x15' room and I would like a little bit more detail from my speakers.

There also some pictures of my speakers on my website.

I would like to use SNT for surrounds but they do not seem to be available anymore and I can not find any used ones online so I am not sure what I would do for surrounds if I were to pick up the set.

[DigitalKnight]

Well I picked the set up today (They are dark cherry colored?) and I could not pass the price I got all 5 of them for.

I will do some A/B testing and will report back.

[htsteve]

Well I picked the set up today (They are dark cherry colored?) and I could not pass the price I got all 5 of them for.

I will do some A/B testing and will report back.

DigitalKnight,

Excellent. I think you will like these. It's quite hard to put together a used set of past speakers. You did well. There is also synergy in a complete system from the same line. I've experienced this first hand as I recently upgraded my rear speakers to the same line as my fronts. I'm quite happy I did it.

The nautilus tube tweeters are excellent and should give you the detail you seek. The kevlar midrange is particularly sweet, smooth and detailed. The midrange is generally B&W's strongest suit, but all areas are quite good. I think these will do quite nicely.

If the speakers are medium or medium dark, these are likely cherry. Maple is a very light colored wood. It would look like a cream color. A dark wood might actually be Walnut. I think that series had this as an option.

Post some pictures when you get the chance.

Let us know how it goes.

[DigitalKnight]

Some very large pics








I am going to say they are Rosewood color???

[DigitalKnight]

One of the surround CDM 1NT



This is were I think I am going to need to make some changes on the surrounds.

I would like to get some of the CDM SNT in this color but they are next to impossible to find!!!

[1oldguy]

Very lovely looking setup.

[htsteve]

DigitalKnight,

Very nice setup. Have you had a chance to compare the sets of speakers? I think you might like the 1NT's as rears. I went from on wall to direct speakers behind my couch and that made a very improvement.

Also, love the Stewart screen. I have a 100" Firehawk G3. Very nice.

[DigitalKnight]

Thanks 1oldguy and htsteve,

I had surgery on Friday (nasal) so I really have not had a whole lot of time to compare but I did some 2-channel listening and I really do like the sound of the B&W speakers... but then they have always been one of my favorites.. along with Dynaudio and Totems.

I guess the best way to describe what I hear between to the two sets of speakers are that the B&W are more "open" and "detailed", kind of like lifting a vail or more like a thicker blanket off the speakers. I would say they have some of the best midrange detail I have heard in some time. Not colored in anyway... just very detailed. Of course the problem with that much detail is that you start to pick up defects in the recording material and I can see (or rather hear) that 128kb MP3's are not going to cut it with these speakers... looks like FLAC is my new choice for music backup.

I am going to try a little Hi-Def Bluray (DTS MA and Uncompressed PCM) audio today since I am still stuck at home recuperating and it is raining out... so what better time I say...

Will have to see how the 1NT's work on there stands for now. Still would like to find some SNT's though....