CM8 vs CM9

[power]

I was burgled last week and they too my entire home theatre and Im still waiting for a response from my insurer. I had B&W CM8s and CM center played through a Harman Kardon AVR660 and I loved the sound.

I would like to know if its worth it upgrading to the CM9s and CM centre 2? I also would like to find out if anyone knows when the replacement for the Harman Kardon avr660 is coming as its rivals are alredy on HDMI 1.4.

 

[DandyCobalt]

For CM8 vs CM9, probably depends on the size of your room, and how much bass you want/need?

 

[power]

My room is about 6x5 that goes into open plan. My cm8s were not going low enough on some music and I had to use the su as well. It would be nice to play stereo without a sub and use the sub only in 5.1 mode

 

[power]

Just as a follow up I would like to know how well will the Yamaha rxa3010 push the B&W CM9s. I had a Harman Kardon that could push a glacier. Will the yamaha come anywhere close to that?

I would buy another HK avr660 but I see the Yamaha is much better in technology

 

[duaplex]

I had a same dilemma and I was advised that the CM9 would be overkill in my size rooom as mentioned above. If your room is like mine (14x9) then the CM9 would not perform well enough over the CM8 to warrant such an increase in price.

There comes a point where you can only spend so much before the room limits you.

 

[duaplex]

Also depending on your taste and requirements, consider having a demo with the AVR 600(Arcam) and Pioneer LX85

 

[power]

You are probably right hey. Maybe i should just stick to the CM8s. I remember doing a demo on CM9s 4 months back and they sounded so dul but as I moved away from them they turned into nirvana so this may mean that they may be dull in a small room like mine.

I demoed the yamaha rxa 3010 today and It was actually what I had in mind as a replacement for my stolen Harman Kardon avr660. It was running on Monitor Audio rx8 and I wasnt impressed at all hey. It sounded very shallow. It doesnt dig deep like the HK does.

We then moved to the next demo room where they had CM9s connected to a Harman Kardon avr460. Boy oh boy. That was like heaven. The only advantage of the Yamaha is the features but not the sound at all.

 

[Boca]

Im not saying you didn't get a proper demo of the Yamaha but to have a fair comparison of the yamaha you need to demo the yamaha with the same b&W speakers that you demoed the HK's with and in the same room. It might not change your impressions after doing this or it might.

 

[power]

I hear you on that. I have owned a Yamaha before but I just dont think it really digs deep. The DSP range does but the Rx range is just features rich but limited in terms of what it can deliver.

I know sound is very subjective but im not biased against Yamaha because I had one before and I was looking at replacing my stolen Harman Kardon 660 with the Yamaha rxa3010