defstathiou

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $390.00 from second hand

Summary:
Sam Tellig from Stereophile back in 1998 said the following about the CDM1se and I couldn't agree more:

These speakers are not just warmly recommended—they're wildly recommended. Bass-extension aside, along with the ability, perhaps, to fill a very large room with loud music, the B&M CDM 1 SE comes damned close to Class A at a price more in keeping with Class C. If you're in the market for speakers you must audition these. You'll then be able then to upgrade your electronics way beyond the price of the speakers!—Sam Tellig

I bought mine second hand and run them with expensive electronics. My YBA Passion Integre 100w and YBA CD 1000 (top of the line) retail in the US$5,000- 8,000 category. I bought the CDM1se for just $390.

The better the electronics you put in front of them the better the sound. Transparency, refinement, soundstage and above all MUSICALITY are first class. Not as good as of course the JM Lab Micro Utopia Be (US$8,000) but amongst the most musically satisfying speakers I have listened over the past few years....and I have heard the lot...maybe thirty different pairs.

The B&W CDM1se are FANTASTIC and are probably the best second hand bargain in the speaker market. I am planning to buy a second pair for a second system.

And if you don't think am a difficult audiophile to please then take a look at the Similar Products Used section.

Strengths:
Musical, detailed, refined, transparent, very balanced presentation, great imaging, fast and lively.

Weaknesses:
Lack of deep bass. Will not fill a big room. Metal tweeter is sharper than soft domes but not bright.

Similar Products Used:
Vienna Acoustics Bach (lovely but not as transparent), Harbeth Monitor 30 (lovely but soft bass), Devore Fidelity Super 8 (absolutely special but expensive), JM Lab Micro Utopia Be (very special but expensive), Proac Response 2.5 (lovely but way too slow), Wilson Benesch Arc (lovely but bright), B&W Nautilus 804 (deatiled but not so lovely), B&W 805N, B&W 805 Matrix, B&W P6, Reference 3a Dulet (great but too small for my room) Reference 3a Da Capo (lovely but very coloured), Martin Logans, various Sonus Fabers, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven (too civilised), Proac Tablette Ref 8 (fantastic but room is too big) and many more...now you understand how difficult I can be to please (unfortunately).

Price Paid:  $700.00 from bought used

Summary:
Well, simple..
Bought these used and everything said here and elsewhere about them is true..:)
They sound lovely, vocals are the best, soundstage follows ,looks are damn good,
to be short no flaw at all...GREAT!

1 thing 2 remember B&W gave (unofficial) warranty that this model SE will not change its sound characteristics over 10 years.-good , a?

Strengths:
Everything and more

Weaknesses:
I listen to them and dont want to change
is that bad?

Similar Products Used:
Avalon, Totem, custom made ScanSpeak stuff,

JesusChrist

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.86 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1100.00 from Sevenoaks Hifi

Summary:
I've listened and owned many speakers for the past 15 years and these mini-monitors still remained and are now in my 3rd system. Of all the B&W line of speakers, the CDM 1SE is the biggest bang for the buck in getting you to the realm of high-end without spending mega bucks. I have paired countless of amps with the 1SE and with every different pedigree of amps the speakers take a different character. With modest amps they sound mediocre but feed them with quality amps and they sound really good. I've tried Bryston 4B-ST, Classe CA-200 and 300, ARC 100.2 and McCormack DNA-1 on them with varying degree of success. These amps may be a slight overkill for these modestly-priced speakers but the CDM1se's sure deserve the quality amplification. Currently I'm driving these with a Classe CAP-151 in the living and guests have always been impressed by the sound(and looks) of these babies. You would get an improvement up the ladder going up to the CDM 1NT, N805 and the ultimate Signature 805 but judging from the price-point of the CDM 1SE's these speakers are certainly a no-brainer. Highly recommended.

Strengths:
Everything a good mini-monitor should be.

Weaknesses:
The strengths outweigh the weaknesses.

Similar Products Used:
Too many to list.

slawman

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Phoenix Pawn Shop

Summary:
Found these languishing in a Phoenix pawn shop, so I adopted them, had them spayed :^) and took them home. They replaced a pair of Energy Audissey 3+2 speakers, which defected over to the home theatre system. Ladies (hah - like there are any ladies here in audioworld) and gentlemen, I am mightily impressed. The imaging, the transparency, the refinement. Even my wife, who could care less about these things (but knows good sound), stopped and asked what I had done to the system. In a good way. On Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Someone Else's Prayer" from time*sex*love (Columbia SACD - a great recording, by the way) Carpenter's vocal has incredible presence - her line "just as close as this" sung in a near whisper had me leaning forward and feeling near claustrophobic, it is so beautifully rendered. On Earthwork's "It Needn't End in Tears" from their live "Stamping Ground", Bill Bruford's brush work and sparse ride cymbal hits were perfectly portrayed, with nice depth and gobs of air. Although these speakers don't go much below 50 hZ, the bass that is there is tight and taut, with no bloated overhang. This took a while to get used to, as many speakers don't do this well at all, especially not at this price. These babies can rock a little too, although they can be a tad "polite". On the YES epic "Close to the Edge" (recent remastering on Rhino), the frenetic pace of the opening salvo was perfectly rendered, with Bruford's incredible drumming driving with and against Chris Squire's edgy bass runs. This isn't a great recording, but the CDM1se renedered what space and depth there was better than I'd heard for under 3k. So far I have not found anything these guys don't reproduce well. Some comments about "ruthlessly revealing" may come into play here and there, as they do not mask recording anomalies or digital harshness. Used with tubes, (pre - or power) this tendency towards a slight brightness is easily forgotten and overlooked in favor of the overall cohesive, clear picture that is presented. They are not the most sensitive speakers around (88) but maintain a pretty stable load at 8 ohms, 4.5 min. The other night I hooked up a Decware Zen Select tube amp - a 5 watt/ch single-ended behemoth, and they made great - if not ear bleeding, lease breaking music together. They also love my Bedini Classic 100/100 - plenty o'power and nice tight bass. Mine are in black ash, with truly beautiful cabinets, and nice fit-n-finish, and I guess they look even better in cherry. I can't recommend these enough - if you can find a pair around, snap 'em up - definitely recommended!

Strengths:
Overall cohesiveness, clarity, soundstaging and refinement. Grain free high end, spectacular mids, tight lows.

Weaknesses:
Just a tad inefficient, need good solid stands, low bass MIA.

Price Paid:  $1000.00

Summary:
I have this pair for 3 years, i dont wanna post a review, but my conscience is killing me. i've been reading this site longer than 3 years and benefited(is that the correct spelling? hmm...) so much. I've been enjoying these spkrs everytime I listen that it makes me ask myself what kind of person i am not to post a review to tell you how good it is. well, im not really gonna tell you how good it is, cause i'll just be repeating what they said and I wanna keep this review simple. What i can say about the cdm1se is that in order for it to sound good (not to mention the 30 day break in period), you need to use it with good sounding electronics, not necessarily expensive but goog i mean good sounding nonetheless. And if you have no problems with your electronics cause they are all audiophile grade or audiophile approved. The next requirement is that you warm it up for few minutes and here is the most important of all if you really want to hear how good it really sound, pressuming you positioned it properly is that YOU MUST REMOVE ALL ITS GRILLS INCLUDING THE TWEETER'S every time you really wanna listen, and I cant emphasize it more. but for casual or background listening, you need not do so. So there you have it, i hope this would be helpful to you all, specially about the "grill" thing i mentioned above. At last i can sleep better knowing my conscience has been cleared a little.

Strengths:
imaging, soundstaging ,the "air", power handling, looks , build quality you name it, these speakers have all the qualities of a true audiophile loudspeaker.

Weaknesses:
hmmmm.... i thing there is none.

Similar Products Used:
many, i forgot their names.