B&W Owner's Thread - Page 398

I currently have my wires,10ga, connected to the receiver with bananas and bare going into the speakers. I find it difficult to connect bare wire into the receiver. So i do it that way.

So your saying it's good to always unplug and re tighten them in the bananas?

Well, I just bought myself some CM9s and couldn't be happier with them.

Just a quick question, I only have the CM9s setup at the moment (couldn't afford the centre speaker just yet), however I have some OK yamaha bookshelf speakers laying around doing nothing. Would it be a good idea to hook them up and use them as rears? or would the lesser sound quality of them affect the overall sound that I would be getting?

Thanks guys.

In bananas - no. The weak link is a contact between banana plug and socket. I know that some devices have locking nuts that locks plugs in sockets, but this is uncommon.

I have cm9 in less than a month and was given 60 days to return them if I don't like them. I have been trying to compare lsi15 and lsi25 to my cm9 and I notice that the difference is not that big. In fact, I don't notice that difference at all exept for the base. Do you think buying lsi15 ( worth $950 pair ) or lsi25 ( worth $1300 pair) is worth than keeping my cm9 ( worth $2500). My set up is 2.0 or 2.1 for music only ( 100%). I just bought a new pre amp from emotiva (xsp-1) and I will use it for my 2.0 or 2.1 system. What do you think?

I probably would. If it is just you and you're able to sit in the sweet spot you may be able to get enough a surround envelope to survive on the CM9's alone. However if you have to listen in a less than ideal spot or you want to entertain, the extra channels will be probably be worth any sound degradation.

Congrats! Worth trying the Yamaha's as surrounds, should be fine for HT. Suggest going for the CMC2 when you can afford it, better center than the CMC.

What differences can you hear between the CM9 and the Polk LSi 15 or 25 series when listening to music?

So you hear a slight difference and you're asking if that difference is worth $1150-$1550. I suppose that all depends on your disposable income. If you don't put the money into the speakers, what does the money go to next?

I bet if you compare them with B&W 683 you won't hear difference at all. Still more than $1000 saving.

You know I've seen that mentioned before in this thread. I originally auditioned the 600 series when I looked at speakers and recorded some differences between the lines. But since I kept seeing this being said I took a morning while the wife was getting her hair done last month and sat down the the 683's again at the same place I purchased the CM's. The 683's were notably lacking in the midrange performance compared to the CM9's. Not bad, but certainly not in the same league. The 683's imaged well, but their soundstage wasn't quite as wide and wasn't as detailed. The CM9's had more sparkle at the top. I would put the 683's between the CM1 and CM5 based on their midrange/high performance. The CM5's are a close match in the mid-high performance to the CM8/9 and better than the 683's in this regard. I found the CM1 slightly worse than the 683's all around. Now having said that the 683's are full range and the CM5's are not. So depending on your goals for a speaker the 683's may be a better fit. I'd even go so far as to say that comparing to the CM8 the 683's may get a nod simply because of their low end extension. However if you have a good sub, I would put the 683 squarely between the CM1/5.

It's interesting how we all hear differently and is exactly the reason it is so important to listen to speakers yourself. When I compared CM9's and 683's I also noticed the extra "sparkle at the top" of the CM9's compared to the 683's. But to me it sounded overemphasized and almost harsh where the 683's sounded overall flatter and more true with a better reproduction of lower bass notes. But we all hear differently, and I'm sure the environment where we do our A/B testing in affects this as well. I did mine in a Best Buy, so maybe not the best. But this is why they make so many different speakers. What sounds good to some does not sound as good to others and vice versa. The important thing is that you listen to them and find out what you like.

my local B&W diamond dealer says rosenut diamond speakers are on backorder from the manufacturer and won't be shipping until early december.

anyone else hear anything like this? i'm waiting on an HTM4, and i've been waiting since october 1st, and now i'm told that i'll have to wait till december.

To clarify the same listening room was used for all speakers mentioned. Room correction was used. I would suspect something was amiss in your audition. The CM5/8/9 all exhibit similar high/upper mid performance. I have not seen it mentioned that they were "harsh" before. It could be differences in hearing, it could be the listening area overemphasizing a certain range. My guess would be the latter. The only criticism I have seen on here in other threads is that they aren't "lively" enough, which I don't agree with (nor would I call the 683's dull either). Professional reviews are very positive on this aspect, but most consider them suspect so it's probably not worth digging any of that up. I am surprised that you did not hear the midrange deficiencies in the 683's. I listened to music that I'm very familiar with and that aspect jumped right out within a few seconds of listening. It was quite noticeable. The differences at the high end were more subtle, but there. I noticed the more compressed soundstage more than I did that last little bit of high end performance. Bass wise the 683's seemed to be equal to the CM9's. Which is why I said I could see someone purchasing them over the CM8's if they lack a good subwoofer or don't wish to use one for 2ch listening. I will say that the CM9's did seem to be slightly tighter when listening to things like low drums and synth. The 683's were a bit more loose/boomy, but not unpleasantly so. It's really preference at that point.

In the end, your point about listening for yourself is what really matters. None of the speakers we're discussing are duds (though I have to say the CM1's really should be better). I'd never suggest spending money on differences you can't hear.

I can say that cm9 is crispier and more detailed than polkaudio lsi25. The reason why I want lsi 25 is because it is onsale. It's more than 50% off than the regular price. What do you think?

If you were on my shoes, what would you do?

Hey guys, sorry for randomly posting here. I recently purchased a pair of PM1's, and while the vocals sounds absolutely fantastic, I'm a little disappointed in the midrange (less than 10 hours play time currently). I'm running them off of the new yamaha rxa2020 in 2.0,and I'm thinking about purchasing a new amp and using the yamaha as a preamp since these things seem to love some power. Any thoughts on amp choices?

Also, how does everyone have these wired? I'm currently biamping them

Hi friends
I am going to move up to a 804D from the current 805s + HTM4S HT / music setup.

Some reviewers have remarked that the 804 tends to be a bit on the bright side compared to the older 805s, is that right or does it need to run in more?


I might spring for a Mcintosh MC 8207 power amp for my HT den, or just stick to the Musical Fidelity stuff, any suggestions for a warm setup?

So I just got done listening to a little Diana Krall.

No, I mean I was WITH Diana Krall. She was right there in the room with me.

These speakers are f..ing amazing.

Just got my 805D and HTM4 set up, and I'm blown away.

I know I want them to sound good to justify the $$$, but damn these sound good

DS3 surrounds come on Saturday and I will probably try them in monopole and see how I like it.

Fronts and center were assigned "large" by Audyssey. Would it be a good idea to change that to "small" with a 60hz crossover?

if you don't mind in audiogon are selling one with only two month of use.
Edited by leo2498 - 11/8/12 at 8:45pm

Well I'm thinking that 100HZ or 80 is a better initial point, besides the 805D have a good bass performance but lower levels of them maybe it's not a good idea. my 805D was set to 80HZ but they are handle surround duty.

have you thinking in get a better preamp? maybe emotiva if you budget is narrow, I will change my denon AVR3310 for a dedicate two channel preamp because with some preamp that I tried in the past, my 804D really sing and normally with my 200 W amp I don't have the same result.

the best advise will be go by yourself to listen them, I have both version(804s and 804D) and the 804D blow away to the "S" . just my 5 cents.

It's a bit hard to get the 804S to compare, what do you mean by the 804D blows the S?
Refinement, detail or bass?

I see a lot of people use the Classe, but that's a bit rich for me.
I might be able to get my hands on a MC 8207 in my place cheaper, so I am looking at that, or continue with the MF series, which is more expensive but seemed to match well with my 805s.

Do you any more info where i can read more about this?

Large for the 805D's, wow, that surprises me and I would be questioning the Audyssey system there. Some people don't run their 803's and 802's as low as 60hz. I would definitely bring that up to either 80, 100 or 120 for the 805's.

I'd never consider the Polk even if they were $50/pair. I don't like them very much and my wife has a worse opinion of both their sound and aesthetics. Now if I had your ears, your bank account, and your taste, I'd probably go with the lsi15 and add a solid sub to handle the bass.

Very simple....I would buy the pair of speakers that sounds best to you that you could afford. In this case, sounds like you can afford the CM's because you already have them and you find them to sound better, even if it is ever so slightly. You never said the Polks sound great, you just mention their great price.

If you don't go for them now, and buy the Polks because you are being motivated by a savings, everytime you listen to them, you'll be asking "what if I kept the CM's?. Its called buyers remorse, usually motivated by a need to save money and not necessarily get what we really want. And worse, you may find yourself upgrading back to the CM's and costing you even more money rather than doing right the first time.

So to repeat...if you like the CM's better and can afford them, these are the ones you should keep.

Well the 805Ds go down to 49Hz according to the specs, so I'm not overly shocked about the large designation. Audyssey has been pretty accurate for my previous speakers, but I agree it's being a little generous here.

Maybe I'll try 80 Hz crossover and see how that goes.

Anything more that 80 may result is hearing subwoofer as separate entity. For 805D I would try all available setting in the range 50-80 to see which works best.

Try to Google "contact resistance", and you may find something you can understand. For me it was part of study for EE degree in university.