Home Speaker Asylum

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

REVIEW: B&W CDM 1NT Speakers

Model: CDM 1NT
Category: Speakers
Suggested Retail Price: $1200
Description: 2-way vented-box design, free-mounted 1-in alloy-dome Nautilus tweeter; 6.5-in Kevlar cone midbass; 60Hz - 25KHz +/-3dB, 88 dB spl, 8 ohms nom, 50W-120W; 15.5x8.7x11.4 (HWD), 9.5 kg net each
Manufacturer URL: B&W
Model Picture: View

Review by ka7niq (A) on May 29, 2002 at 17:51:12
IP Address: 4.64.1.77
Add Your Review
for the CDM 1NT


These speakers take a long time to break in, a long time!
The nautilus tweeter is truly an amazing device, but ONLY afteer it has been broken in.
If you seek a speaker to make crap sound good, look elsewhere.
But with the right recordings, and of course the right electronics, oh my!
I got these from Sound Advice in Tampa.
They got bought out by Tweeter, and there is Bad Blood between Tweeter and B&W, so Sound Advice lost the line.
I actually took a Nautilus 805 home, I bought both speakers, I just HAD to know just how close the Nt was to the 805.
They are both good speakers, but IMHO, the 805 isnt worth the extra dollars.
Plus the CDM1NT looks so much cooler.
The advantage of 805 is the bass bump allows for farther out rear wall spacing for the last degree of depth, but ONLY in large rooms.
One must use caution NOT to get CDM 1 out too far from back wall or bass goes to sh..
Once you get em broke in, you will be rewarded with a 3 dimensional, accurate sound that can be stunning at times.
I am constantly amazed to hear subtle nuances masked by lesser speakers.
They like my Audire Parlando better than the Krell.
The Parlando has a sweeter high end, and with the Nautilus tweeter, sounds pretty right.
I do NOT agree with reports of a "treble peak"
Mercedes benz ride rough for the first 25, 000 miles too!
The Nautilus tweeter will not hide crap.
Garbage in, garbage out.
I agree with the rest of the world, this is a really good speaker.
What hi-fi goes a little far calling it the best speaker at its price IMHO.
Only YOU can decide that.
But if you seek MUCH of the sound and imaging of the 801 and 802, have good stands,, good wire, and a Pure class A amp, you are in business.
Could it be the Nautilus Tweeter is revealing Notch distortion?
Just for kicks, I hoked it up to a Harman Kardon AVR 7000, a big receiver, known for its sound quality.
No comparasion to the Krell, and certainly not to the Parlando!
It did seem to image well with whatever I hooked up to it however, but the Parlando really got hold of it and bass was much better too.
I had my neighbors over, and he got up and looked for rearward facing drivers on the BACK of the CDM1 !!
He kept asking how they did, that referring to imaging of course.
I literally blew his mind.
Since Sound Advice was really discounting the line, I also got DM303 too.
My friend got 604 series 2, they didnt work for him, and I had them over here too.
You gotta get while the gettins good, and B&w at 50 % off retail, why not?
The point is, at 50% off, I could have any b&w I wanted!
I chose the CDM1NT !
It is better than the 303, the 604 S2, and so close to the 805 that EVEN at 50 off retail, I took the 805 back!
Plus the CDM1 NT looks so cool, perched atop 24 inch OSIRIS stands, man, talk about sex!
They are delivering the goods, and the goods are a sound very, very close to the big B&w's.
I am a Ham radio operator, and have friends in England I talk to who are Audiophiles as well as Hams.
The word out of England is the Cdm1Nt is the hot ticket!
Yes, the Matrix cabintes makes a lot of difference, in a BIGGER speaker!
But lets not forget, both the 805 and CDM1NT are SMALL speakers, so the differences the Matrix cabinet makes arent as great in a speaker that is small!
Also, B&w wisely chose NOT to go after the low bass, so as not to hurt that imaging!
I like em!


Product Weakness: Long, long break in time, need Pure class A amp, good cables,will not make crap musical, and some will find THAT bad!
Product Strengths: 3 dimensional imaging, transparency, detail, complex music, speech reproduction, accuracy, Celine DIon sounds WONDERFUL


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Audire Parlando, Krell ksa200b
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Klyne, Audire
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Oracle, Koetsu, Itok, Krell
Speakers: Nautilus 805, Dm303, 604S2
Cables/Interconnects: Tara Labs, Audioquest
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical, Chamber, Jazz, Celine
Room Size (LxWxH): 18 x 12 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments: LE De
Time Period/Length of Audition: Owner
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Homebrew, Ham Radio Style
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Amplified Parts  


Topic - REVIEW: B&W CDM 1NT Speakers - ka7niq 17:51:12 05/29/02 (1)


You can not post to an archived thread.