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Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: B&W CDM 9NT Speakers by jackyo123@yahoo.com

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REVIEW: B&W CDM 9NT Speakers

4.21.122.92


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Model: CDM 9NT
Category: Speakers
Suggested Retail Price: $2600
Description: Floor standing / 3 way speaker
Manufacturer URL: B&W
Manufacturer URL: B&W

Review by jackyo123@yahoo.com ( A ) on November 26, 2002 at 10:24:47
IP Address: 4.21.122.92
Add Your Review
for the CDM 9NT


Associated Equipment:

Classe CAV-75 power amp, 6x75 w/ch(both tried in bridged (150 x3) and unbridged mode), $2500
Musical Fidelity A3CR 120x2, $1500
Classe SSP-30 Processor, $3000
Sony SCD-XS777es, $3000
Rega Planet 2000, $1000
P1a/P3a Dac's w/ monolith power supply, $1200
Nordost SPM Ref speaker Cable, 12ft / side, $4000
Nordost Red Dawn Interconnects, $500 / m, x 3 pair
Monster Cable Silver Digital Coax, $200 /m
Monster HST2000 Power Center, $200
AudioPrism Quiet Lines (8) $200
Nordost Pulsar Points, $100
Center Speaker - B&W hst1 - $500 w/tributary speaker wire (25)
Rears - Nautilus 805's - $2000, w/ tributary speaer wire, 25 feet/side ($100)
WBT spade lugs - $400
Subwoofer - Sunfire True Subwoofer Junior - $600 (?)


Total System Price : $21,300

I bought the CDM-9NT, quite simply, because the Nautilus 803's were too big for my apartment in New York. Now that I live in a house in Westchester, I will be upgrading soon (the 804's weren't enough of a step up to consider for their price).

When I first got the CDM's, I was disappointed. They were far too bright. This was with a big ass Adcom GFA 7500. Not sure if it was because the Adcom, the B&W's, or both were not broken in. Either way, I ditched the Adcom for the Classe Cav. the treble grain was immediately gone, replaced by a dead quiet sound floor, and silky violins. In fact, the treble was so damn good that I bought at least 20 violin cd's within the next few days. I couldnt get ENOUGH violins. The sound was SILKY sweet, made you literally get chills. The rest of speaker sounded good, with that slight nasal tonality that the B&W's are known for, and that ultra transparent rendering of anything with strings thats plucked.

After a few weeks, the treble receded even more, and now that sweetness that I fell in love with was gone. Yes, violins still sounded good, but they didn't have that 'piping' quality that I fell in love with. Where did it go? Did the Classe break in make it vanish? the Mid range? The tweeter?

Ok, here is my impression of the speaker, after full burn-in (6 months) with the Classe amp (not the Musical Fidelity):

the speaker throws nice bass, a little on the loose end, but, provided you have it REALLY coupled to your floor (I used a gob of blu-tak to couple it to my wooden floors - even better than spikes). The bass went DEEP, and was musical and taut. With the spikes it was deep as well, but not as musical. Without either, the bass was too lean.

Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke, and Al Dimeola is a great cd to test out this speaker. It is 3 instruments - deep bass, acoustic and/or electric guitar and violin. The mids were clean, transparent, and showed up equipment and cable swap outs fairly readily. For instance, swapping out the Red Dawn interconnects for Cardas Golden Refs, I clearly heard a difference. Mind, I didn't know which was BETTER, since they both had plusses and minuses (the Cardas were warmer, more 'bloom', richer textures. The Nordost were better dynamically, quicker, better transients and less overhang, slightly 'harsher' treble, but still smooth).

The treble - well, I like it. The semi-nautilus tweeter (the 9nt DOES have a different wound tweeter than the nautilus line - I have replacements for both, and they are DIFFERENT) is very strong, and in a bright room is troublesome. But the sound is pleasing, and not fatiguing.

Soundstaging is good, but not superb. The 803's, by contrast, have such an amazing center image and deep soundstage that I SWEAR evertmie I hear them that they must have a center channel speaker turned on! You dont get that with the 9nt's, and occasionally the central image will 'drift.' Even though I haev the speakers well into the room (better lateral and vertical depth - too close to the wall and they are boomy and 1 dimensional), the soundstage doesnt go beyond the edges of the speakers, and instrument height and 'air' is average. Not as good as the less expensive Nautilus 805's, but once again, the bass is good, whereas the 805's needs a subwoofer.

Overall rating with the Classe - 6 out of 10 (for comparison, I rate as follows: Monitor Silver 9i - 4/10, Nautilus 804 5/10, Nautilus 805 6/10, Nautilus 803's are 8/10, Nautilus 802 and 801, Wilson Sophias and Sonus Grand Pianos (all 8 - 12k speakers) I rate 9/10, and the Kharma Refs, the big Genesis system, and the huge Dynaudios are 10/10 - I have never heard the Krell Lat-1s, the Soundlab M1's, the Rockports, or the big Egglestons (I heard the Nearfield Pipes at a party once, but there was so much background noise I couldnt judge them).

Now, when I switched to a new amplifier - the Musical Fidelity A3cr, with its big current reserves (after you turn off the power, the music plays for like 10 more seconds, at least - with the big Adcom's, maybe 5 seconds, and with the Classe ca101, maybe 3 seconds (0 seconds with the Cav75). What a difference. The treble became more articulate, the mids were clearer, the plucks on acoustic instruments better defined, more solid center image.

What can I say about this? Clearly, the Cav75 6 channel simply doesnt have the necessary beef to run these speakers properly. So, even though minimum recommended power is 50 watts, dont get less than 100. And get an amp with plenty of juice. This speaker drops to 3ohms at some frequencies, so even though it is fairly sensitive (89db), it needs plenty of amp muscle. Listening to it with the big levinson monoblocks was a revelation - they sounded AWESOME. So goes B&W's hi-end gear (as opposed to their budget and 600 series lines) - *VERY* dependent upon upstream electronics. Shit in, shit out. They wont make a wimpy amp or lousy source sound musical or good).

Regards


Product Weakness: very dependent on upstream hardware
Product Strengths: finish, transparent, nice musical sound


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: mf a3cr and classe cav75
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): classe ssp30
Sources (CDP/Turntable): rega planet and sony scd
Speakers: cdm9nt/naut 805
Cables/Interconnects: nordost
Music Used (Genre/Selections): rock/jazz/classical/blues
Room Size (LxWxH): 14 x 22 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments: none
Time Period/Length of Audition: 6 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): monster
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: B&W CDM 9NT Speakers - jackyo123@yahoo.com 10:24:47 11/26/02 ( 0)