B&W CDM 9NT - any good?

It's a nice idea and they're at a great price but here's the problem:

"Quad recommends they are placed at least 20cm from the rear walls". In fact the reviewer found that they benefited from even more space behind.

Also, lovely finish though the bird's eye maple is, I really want cherry or yew.

Saw a brief PMC GB1 review in What HiFi - they rated them but said the treble was rather overenthusiastic. The new slim Spendor S5e's they really rate though - I just think they're a bit on the pricey side for what they are.

Leaning towards AVI Biggatron/Pro 9 at the moment but I'm still very tempted by that used pair of Harbeth Compact 7SE II I've seen - no doubting their class.

Matt.

 

Matt,

Go for the harbeths. Streets ahead of all the other speakers mentioned so far.

 

Brilliant speakers. If you find they're not for you, very easy to sell on without losing any money if you get them at the right price (I've seen them going for anywhere from £900 to £1K).

-- Ian

 

Buy my Epos ES14s for £200 (including stands); they work fine, just not in my system. They're better than almost all the other speakers mentioned (barring maybe the Harbeths) and they sounded AMAZING on the back of Henryt's Belcanto rig...

If you put the rear port bungs in, they might well work that close to a rear wall. If they don't, you can sell them on for what you paid for them. They're in real walnut veneer as well...

Can't blame a boy for trying (I'm after some smaller standmounts, as my NAIT3 isn't really good enough for the ES14s, and I'm tired of trying to get them to work properly in my room, and they take up too much space to store

 

Anyone heard the PMC OB1 ?


GTM

 

gtm,
yes, on the end of a cdx2 / fusion 64 naim 202 / 200. my opinion? :chunder:

 

Could you elaborate as to why?


GTM

 

G,

Pretty decent sound, nice and deep controlled and clean bass (TL for you), top end a touch Tizzy but not offensive, mids were forward but not in yer face, nice timbral presenation, not a bad overall balance, kit used a wadia 301, spectral 100 power amp, cables were A/Z.
I still prefer the Meadowlarks by a fair margin, though they are worth a long audition

 

Matt F

it would be nice if you actually acknowledged the fact that I had replied to your thread. Everyone else is away on a tangent, buy this, buy that and quoting tech specs, and you reply to them. I may not be a seasoned audiophile but I spent two months looking for a set of speakers for around two grand. I must have listened to 40 or 50 different speakers and the one's I liked were the CDM9NT's. I could name you all the one's I listened to, most of them good speakers, but you asked specifically about the B&W's. I think the least you could do is reply even if it's to say bullshit.

 

gtm,
the ob1's i heard were just plain uninteresting. detail was quite good, imaging / soundstage was poor and struggled to get off the floor.
treble was not bad (but i've heard better) midrange was unremarkable and bass was slow and woofly but did go low. in my opinion it would make a good a/v speaker for the boom and tizz brigade if you didn't want a sub.
cheers


julian

 

Bullshit :bs:

No, seriously, of course I appreciate your reply and you make a good point (as do many) that it will come down to what I, not anyone else, think sounds best at the end of the day.

Matt.

 

Hi Mach 1, welcome to the forum, in all fairness tho' there wasn't anything in your first post for Matt to reply to.
kind regards.

I would avoid AVI at all costs, Matt, I had the biggatrons, ok, nothing special, bro had the pro 9s, nice mid, no bass. From what I have heard pro 9+ is no better.
They have nice cabinets, but are mediocre sonically, much better out there.

 

I'm alive

just thought I was invisible, but as I'm not, do you reckon it would be worth swapping my A308 int. for a M3 nu-vista, or is there better amps second hand for 2 g's

 

Mach1,
After hanging out here for awhile, if you wish to mix with them here a bit longer you need to stay cool as a cucumber. It seems the dudes in this forum are actually not really interested in hifi. They usually pretend to ask an occasional related question and then see how they could put the topic out into the strastophere. Other then that we are an OK bunch really.

 

wolfgang,
i think your comment is only applicable to zg over the past couple of weeks. normally people here are quite obsessive about hi-fi. fo course if you want to debate this with me over 3000 posts whilst degenerating into a mud slinging contest i'd be more than willing
cheers


julian

 

Mach1,

Welcome to the forum. you are certainly not invisible, it is just that it now is a rather quiet time for the forum, ie the weather is nice and many of us (me included) are on holiday.

I would say that a MF nuvista is better than a A308. However, depending on the sound you are after, I would also audition some other makes to see if the MF sound is what you are after. If you want an upbeat, lively kind of sound then MF probably isnt the best way to go.

Cheers, Robbo

 

Ah,but do any of these other options come with blue l.e.d 's and a big massive knob (volume control) ?

As for CDM9NT's - vely vely nice (in a Rossi - Italianesque voice).
Vocals especially sound great - probably something to do with that kevlar driver.
I must say though,you wouldn't find me putting them up against a wall.
How do you say "bass boom" ?

 

cheers

thanks for the welcome, guys. I think I'll take your advice Robbo. And Matt F have you sorted any speakers yet. What've you got at the present.

 

Not yet - I'm still looking but I need to do some listening really. Various options have come up - a pair of brand new Castle Howard S3's at 60% of list price, a brand new pair of JM Lab Cobalt 826's at £799 (list is £1400) but the latter seem to definitely be on the bright side.

I've just sold my previous speaker - Monitor Audio G10's - very nice but I didn't want black anymore and the GR10's are rear ported so might run into difficulties operating a few inches from the rear wall.

I spoke with Radford HiFi - who I'll almost certainly buy the Quad 99 CD-P from and they said to bring in the Bel Canto and to try a variety of speakers - they rate the PMC GB1 (which I fancy trying) quite highly.

I'm also keen on the Meadowlark Swifts but finding a price list is hard enough, let alone a dealer within 50 miles!

Matt.

 

hmmm, I think it's fair to say Harbeth is probably not for you.