xerefey said:
Vladimir
i do see that you have CM1's i do have too, i'm wonder how do you have them connected and how do they perform i have these currently connected to a RA-1570 personally i do think sound great but been honest not sure what great means compared with CM5 for example?
i'm wonder when you say CM5 would perform better than CM1? do you mean because of Bass, just FYI i do have a ASW610 SUB connected using the preout connection and bass is not an issue however i can not pass over 65 volume value because sspeakers seems to start clipping.
what's your opinion?
Brgds
First of all you rest assure that I am neither tone deaf or new at this hobby or just stuck in one decade and one genre of music.
I auditioned the CM1, CM5 and 684 in one room (hi-fi dealer’s showroom) on the same amp within an hour and I feel I made a decision I would repeat if having a second chance. The amplification was the Rotel RC-1580 / RB-1582 duo so power was never lacking.
With the 684's I got a bit bigger sound, more bass but they just didn’t feel good enough in resolution, imaging and felt a bit harsh and unrefined in the HF compared to the other speakers. Still pretty good, I enjoyed them.
The CM5 immediately made me jump a bit from my seat, and my companion (also audiophool) as well. Wow, good music, good sound, just brilliant. We were impressed but I felt the music did come out of some speaker boxes. There was no disappearing act. Clearly there were two speakers in front of me playing the music.
I rushed the guy to set me up with the CM1's because I suspected they would manage to be gone and leave us with the music only. And they did. I feared they would lack bass. I turned them on and whoa, big sound!
Both of us and the smug dealer were smiling, pardon the expression, like happy morons. Good sound, good music, no speakers, just the music. Wrap them up and how much are the original stands? How much???? Bloody Nora.... Anyway. I could have gotten a new pair but I wanted the demo ones. I just couldn't take the chance to get a different sound at home. I wanted THAT sound.
When I had them home I got something totally different. I played with cables, amps, speaker positioning and what not. What I was really missing were the original stands - B&W FS700/CM. I went back there the next month and bought those hellishly pricey stands. And the sound came back to me.
Speakers tightly fastened on the stands (filled with sand), those on their spikes and away from the walls as much as I could. Best cable that worked for me was the Audioquest Type 4.
If I felt I get too much boom I could easily solve it with tilting the speakers backwards. Just screw the back pair of spikes shorter and you will tilt the speakers and get more clarity, presence and less boom. No foams, no EQ, nothing else, that worked like magic. The stands by themselves improved the sound by a billion miles, just planted those naughty bug*ers and they sound like small floorstanders.
I understand that the CM5 are the better speaker but the CM1's are very special and they hardly compare to anything out there. They are fussy to get right but they reward you with good music at the end. I love them so much I bought them a 150W amplifier to sing at their full potential.
Long story short I moved 2 months ago in a different house. Different room, different obstacles to overcome. This time I just used the DSP so I can keep them closer to the walls. This is how I EQ them through my JRiver DSP to fix the room modes.
http://i61.tinypic.com/1zl9bnq.jpg
Audioholics reviewer just used a subwoofer to cut off the CM1 woofer driver at the low end and have it work less, thus more accurately and with less distortion. That is another way to go. I may try it in the future, as for now I just feel no need to change anything.
I do love these little milk cartons. I remember how I was astonished from the little Tannoy Profile 631's, me the guy who couldn't accept anything without a 12" woofer. I felt I made a mistake for going big again but the CM1's were my come back home speakers. There is something with small mini-monitors like the CM1's or the Harbeth's or Tannoy DC4's or KEF LS50's... something they give what the big boys can't. Maybe a bigger smile?
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