B&W CM9's

[longgone]

I was listening to a pair of B&W CM9's for a few hours the other day. They were powered by a McIntosh 602 (600 watts per channel) amp, a McIntosh C2300 pre amp, a McIntosh C500 cd player, and a McIntosh 750 server. The room was about 15' X 30' with some sound treatment behind the speakers and at the far end wall some wood baffles... a dealer's showroom.

I got listening to a MOFI (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) version of Muddy Waters - Folk Singer. Folk singer is deceiving. WOW, what an awsome recording of a really splendid blues album.

This system sounded real real good. The speakers were beauties. Beautiful to look at. Beautiful to listen to. The sound was great at low volume as well as higher volume. It was a wonderful listening experience. I played with the pre amp some but mainly flat. There was a real noticeable change of soundstage when you move around the room.

Would the CM9's be responsible for the soundstage and the shifting of it or do you think a component is more responsible?

At home I tried the same piece of music with my McIntosh system. I have Linn speakers, 'though (sorry, I'm shopping) ... and I found no shifting of the soundstage like what occured at the showroom.

Any opinions or experience along these lines?

[Alaric]

That's a big room! I'm at a loss as to what treatments might be of benefit in front of the speakers , but placement , objects/furniture , proximity to walls , ceiling height , etc. will all affect the coherence of the musical 'picture' presented. Can you go back and play with placement yourself? What you find might surprise you. From the first Google page under speaker placement. http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/how...placement.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10061319-47.html

http://www.tweakshop.com/Speaker%20Placement.html

Go armed with some notes , especially from reviews of the CM9 , and see what you can do! They are a highly regarded speaker , and the store may be grateful if you can show them at their best! And listening to new gear is always a good way to spend some time.

[dan87951]

The CM9's are probably the best bang for the buck from B&W. I had a set for a few years before upgrading to Diamonds. Awesome speaker! My guess is it was more the speakers than the electronics. However so many variables play into account like room treatments and placement.

[wowo5]

I am also impressed with CM9. It is a truly great speaker for the money. There is a little treble harshness at really high volume but other than that it is great. It gives relatively little to 804. 804 has deeper bass (but boomier), better detail and better imaging but CM9 comes close.

[stuofsci02]

I am very surprised that you found the 804Di to have boomier bass then the CM9.. It should be quite the opposite... Ahh.. I see from your other thread that it was different room...

Cheers...

[wowo5]

Maybe it was the room, maybe electronics although I doubt it. It was powered by big, meaty Mark Levinson amplifier (don't know the model number). Hard to tell. 804 is a better speaker in almost every respect as it should be considering price difference. It does go deeper into bass (38 Hz versus 56 Hz at +-3dB per B&W website). It just sounded boomy in that particular room with that particular setup.