Detailed highs, warm midrange tones and tight punchy bass response. Bi-wirable, efficient design.

Not weaknesses...but quirks: Can be tricky to match with an amplifier. Best performance is dependent on finicky placement.

I am a recording engineer in Los Angeles and have listened to at least 100 different pairs of speakers/monitors. I have to say, this is one of the best small speaker designs I have ever heard. I am unable to use it in monitoring situations because it takes a good 15 feet or so to develop any bass and that is too far for my nearfield monitors. I do however use them at my house. I have 2 pairs one in my family room and one in my bedroom. It took me quite a while to find a decent amplifier to match these speakers. In the bedroom I use a McIntosh MC502 and in my family room I use a pair of Parasound HCA-1500A amps and have the speakers bi-wired. I have also tried NAD, Bryston, Boulder and Hafler amps with varying degrees of success. They are also very dependent on placement . I find that they sound best around 30" to 35" from side and rear walls and 7'' to 9'' from each other The strengths of the speaker are not really obvious until they are broken in. This can be a lenthy process as well but is worth the wait. I find that they have a good amount of bass for a small speaker. But the real strength is the midrange and highs. I love the neutral high end of these speakers. I use them to reference pre-mastered and mastered mixes and am always impressed with their accuracy. They compare to the Dynaudio and Westlake monitors I use as my midfield and nearfield monitors. They are truly enjoyable to listen to. I highly recommend them.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

All

say again?

Great, im using this pair with my Denon 1200 Amp, bi-wired.
Advice: put them abt 50 Cm from the wall, and you'll see you don't need any suuround system...
For this value ?! I can guarantee you won't find any better.

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need more?

Crisp clear sound; great connections (use bi-wire); beautiful to look at.

None (can't expect much bass from bookshelves without a subwoofer).

I think the reason why some of you are giving poor ratings to these speakers, is you are comparing them to the high end of the Nautilus 800 series. Let's face it, for $ 1100 retail for both, you can't beat the quality of this sound. Don't expect it to literally fill up a concert hall, but for the average size living/family room (including cathedral ceilings), with a good center and rear speakers and subwoofer, you've got a great surround sound system, as well as for music. I wish the bass were a bit more, but when I put on Alex Fox (argentinian guitar), I feel like I'm at the concert. Obviously the sub is on at the time, but when these musicians play the music and even record it, they have the sub and amp on as well, so it is not fair to say that the speakers cannot accurately reproduce the sound. Some of you are too judgmental. I love them. They are not the speakers of choice for heavy metal and thrash music, but AWESOME for jazz, classical and clear singing. Not to mention, they are gorgeous to look at. Go for the black, though, as the mahogany finish looks a bit cheap. Also, remove the screen for a better sound field from the kevlar cones. And, most importantly, don't skimp on the center speaker, I got the B&W CC6 S2 with the kevlar cones to match my L & R. LM1 Leisure Monitor speakers for rear L and R are awesome as well.

My System:

Yamaha RX-V795a Receiver
B&W CDM1SE Speakers (L and R)
B&W CC6 S2 Center speaker
B&W LM1 Leisure Monitor rear speakers
Toshiba SD-4109X 6-disc DVD Carousel (awesome)
Klipsch 450W Subwoofer (B&W's was a bit too pricey)
Toshiba 36" black anvar tube TV
Monster Cables all around (MUST use Bi-Wire for best and most effective sound).

Similar Products Used:

Nautilus series

Aesthetics
Mids-and anything you can think of(I got black:>] )

below 90 hz
to be expected from a compact design.most freq's are in he mids anyway.

Hmmm
I just picked up my pair yesterday.I didnt read alot of reviews from this site,but I didn't need to.The things are simply fine.I cant believe some of the jokers here doling out 1 and 2 stars.You people are nuts.I am glad however, for the info from all of you.I dont understand fully the advantage of bi-wiring,but I'm definately going to look into it.I was considering th 602's but thought that for just stereo listening,the CDM's were a better fit.I will use the DM-601's for rear and the CDM CSE for the center.
Can anyone recommend a companion sub in the 400 - 700$ range?How about the AS1000?

Thanks-Bill

Similar Products Used:

NHT 1.5
DM-602 S-2

Build quality, Great looks, one of the best sounding bookshelfs around (for under $1500)

NONE

I have these speakers Bi-wired (Transparent Cable) And I must say they sound wonderfull. Crisp clear highs, unmatched Mid's and smooth bass (although I do get help from my Boston Acoutics PV 1000 Subwoofer($1200), Great unit, a must) I loved these speakers so much that I had to buy the matching Center. Recently sold my Missions, Good speaker but out-classed by the B&W's. If you have a Grand to spend and don't have to the room for a floorstander, look no further!! This one is hard to beat.

Related Equipment:
Nak 1a1z intergrated
Sony 7700 DVD
Kimber AGDL silver digital Coax
Sony XA7es CD Player
Transparent Musiclink interconnects and speaker cable.

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Dynaudio Audience 50, KEF, Mission 771

Clarity, size

Sometimes lack bass

Everytime I listen to these speakers I get amazed. Listing to old CDs, these speakers reveal new lines and instrumentation that I had never heard! Also, the size makes them ideal for an urban apartment setting.
If you are looking for a combination of size and sound, and don't mind dropping a few extra dollars, you cannot go wrong with these speakers.
The only problem (for some) is that they are not very "bassy." I like my music "clean" so that is not a problem for me. The mid-range and upper-range are terrific.

Clean, natural sound. Excellent mids and highs

None for me.

I upgraded my rear speakers from the CDM2SEs to the CDM1SE. My room is 19x16 w/9 foot ceilings. I have them facing one another and as a rear surround they sound awesome. On concerts in DVD the sound is exceptional and on the DTS concerts I have (Hell Freezes over and Two for the Road) they really come to life. I have read reviews about a lack of bass, but I am looking for a natural sound, and they deliver. With the subwoofer properly adjusted (Radio Shack SPL) I do not hear a lack of anything. If you are looking for a clean, unfiltered sound, then this speaker is for you. If you use them as mains in a home theater system, then I would only recommend them in a smaller room. My system is: CDM7, CDMCSE, CDM1SE and ASW 1000; Denon AVR 3200, Millenium 2.4.6 DTS decoder, Denon DVM 3700, Panasonic Hifi VCR 8664 and Sony 35" KVV36 TV.

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CDM2SE

Clean, natural sound. Excellent mids and highs

None for me.

I upgraded my rear speakers from the CDM2SEs to the CDM1SE. My room is 19x16 w/9 foot ceilings. I have them facing one another and as a rear surround they sound awesome. On concerts in DVD the sound is exceptional and on the DTS concerts I have (Hell Freezes over and Two for the Road) they really come to life. I have read reviews about a lack of bass, but I am looking for a natural sound, and they deliver. With the subwoofer properly adjusted (Radio Shack SPL) I do not hear a lack of anything. My system is: CDM7, CDMCSE, CDM1SE and ASW 1000; Denon AVR 3200, Millenium 2.4.6 DTS decoder, Denon DVM 3700, Panasonic Hifi VCR 8664 and Sony 35" KVV36 TV.

Similar Products Used:

CDM2SE

Excellent design, overall sound quality, size, very good mids, warm sound...

none i can think of..

I bought this new pair for less than 800 Us dollars! For the moment i have only one amp (Denon 1500R) connected and they sound just great. I'm not going through tech description 'cause B&W series doesn't need so. And now for those people who have just rated it with 1 or 2 stars, GET REAL ! ADMIT YOU HAVE BOUGHT SOME CRUNCHY LOUSY SPEAKERS, MAYBE FOR 2000 OR 3000 MORE TIMES, AND YOU'RE JUST MADE ABOUT IT!!

Seriously, if you don't want to spend a lot of money go for these speakers. I was just about this close for going to Bose, but thank god i heard these ones! B&W must mean Be Wonderfull.

Listen to good music,

Similar Products Used:

Amp Denon 1500R

As an aside to my previous posting on the CDM1SE's, I asked my 3 year old daughter whether she preferred the B&W's or my EPOS ES-14's and she was most definite on the EPOS!

I have to trust her ears - they're better than mine!

Happy listening