What AMP would go well with a pair of CM7

[admin_exported]

Hi guys,

I recently bought a pair of CM7s and am wondering what amp I could pair them with? I was thinking the Yamaha A-S500, as it has 5 stars and is quite cheap. Also, this is the first Hi-fi system that I'll have put together so I'm wondering if I can bi-wire the CM7s to the Yamaha? As there is two sets of speaker outputs on the amp. Is this possible?

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[Anonymous]

You may consider using more expensive and high power stereo amp to drive B&W speakers, which are all widely considered very difficult to drive. Also try amplifiers that sound brighter as most B&W speakers are quite slow and laid back.

 

[jaxwired]

You may consider using more expensive and high power stereo amp to drive B&W speakers, which are all widely considered very difficult to drive. Also try amplifiers that sound brighter as most B&W speakers are quite slow and laid back.

Going to have to disagree with this response on both counts. The CM7's are an 8 ohm load with medium sensitivity. Not really hard to drive IMO. I owned them for more than a year and spent hundreds of hours listening to them. I did not find them to be slow or laid back. I doubt many people would agree with that assessment of the CM line. I found them to be lively and forward sounding. A very detailed sound. I would stay away from amps that have a reputation for brightness or leanness. I do think the Yamaha would be a good match. I used a NAD C355bee and got extremely good with results.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi guys,

I recently bought a pair of CM7s and am wondering what amp I could pair them with? I was thinking the Yamaha A-S500, as it has 5 stars and is quite cheap. Also, this is the first Hi-fi system that I'll have put together so I'm wondering if I can bi-wire the CM7s to the Yamaha? As there is two sets of speaker outputs on the amp. Is this possible?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Hi anil18

Yes, Yamaha's A-S500 will partner the CM7's well however these speakers can benefit from an even better amplifier. An amplifier such as the NAD C356BEE will do the trick nicely. Anyway some questions -

What do you generally listen to?

Is anyone else also going to use this system? If so, their listening preferences?

What source component/s do you use?

Did you listen to the cm7's before you bought them? If so, what electronics were used?

Your generally listening level?

Listening distance?

Your interconnects and speakers cabes?

What attracted you to these speakers?

Your budget?

Btw, you can bi wire the speakers with the A-S500 or any amplifier for that matter?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

You may consider using more expensive and high power stereo amp to drive B&W speakers, which are all widely considered very difficult to drive. Also try amplifiers that sound brighter as most B&W speakers are quite slow and laid back.

Going to have to disagree with this response on both counts. The CM7's are an 8 ohm load with medium sensitivity. Not really hard to drive IMO. I owned them for more than a year and spent hundreds of hours listening to them. I did not find them to be slow or laid back. I doubt many people would agree with that assessment of the CM line. I found them to be lively and forward sounding. A very detailed sound. I would stay away from amps that have a reputation for brightness or leanness. I do think the Yamaha would be a good match. I used a NAD C355bee and got extremely good with results.

gonna have to disagree with you there, on matched volume levels i prefered my old valdus 500' to my parent's c1's, treble sounded quite dull to me on the b and w's, to me laid back woul be an understatement. no doubht they are "better" speakers tecnically, but i couln't tell why.

 

[richardw42]

That's a bit of an assumption !
The CM7s are cracking speakers for not a mad amount of money and until I can get a pair of Proacs the B&W will definitely stay.
Mine are currently paired with a Musical Fidelity XA2 amp, and it sounds great to me. Any combo that can cope with the likes of the RESIDENT EVIL AFTERLIFE soundtrack and a bit of NIN is anything but dull. I'm considering either bi-amping my current amp with some powers or going up a bit in the MF food chain as I'm sure the CM7s will shine even brighter.

Also I apologize for hijacking but as vie got a Roksan Kandy K2 CDP, I was thinking about pairing with the matching integrated amp , does anybody have any opinions on how they would go with the speakers, although I am hoping to get a home demo shortly.

 

[Anonymous]

That's a bit of an assumption !anything but dull.

just my opinion, im sure im alone in it.

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi guys,

I recently bought a pair of CM7s and am wondering what amp I could pair them with? I was thinking the Yamaha A-S500, as it has 5 stars and is quite cheap. Also, this is the first Hi-fi system that I'll have put together so I'm wondering if I can bi-wire the CM7s to the Yamaha? As there is two sets of speaker outputs on the amp. Is this possible?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Rotel RA-06 should be ideal. Why do you feel the need to bi-wire?

 

[Anonymous]

"Why do you feel the need to bi-wire?"

I have seen a few comments like that on here. Last time i really took any notice bi-wiring was considered to be automatically better. Whats changed?

 

[plastic penguin]

"Why do you feel the need to bi-wire?" I have seen a few comments like that on here. Last time i really took any notice bi-wiring was considered to be automatically better. Whats changed?

Bi-wiring is a little different, although couldn't quite put my finger on why, but certainly no better. If you must try and use two sets of single wire and decide for yourself. In my book the extra cost of proper 'bi-wire' cable isn't justified.

 

[jaxwired]

"Why do you feel the need to bi-wire?" I have seen a few comments like that on here. Last time i really took any notice bi-wiring was considered to be automatically better. Whats changed?

Not sure if bi-wiring was ever a no-brainer. Some pretty major speaker companies think little enough of the concept that they don't even provide dual posts. Dynaudio, wilson audio, spendor, among others.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your responces! Much appreciated

 

[Anonymous]

I listen to everything from hip hop, rnb to drum and bass, dubstep, jazz, rock, pretty much everything, but more often than not, something with a lot of bass!

I'll use a phono cable plugged into my laptop playing 320kb mp3s.

I've not listened to them, bought them for £300 quid brand new.

My listening level is quite load.

The room is 3*4 meters long and the distance between speakers would probably be 2.5 meters.

I've not got any speaker cable yet, that's something else I'll need to consider.

Budget is around 500 maximum.

I only bought them because they were B&W and cheap at the time

Will I need a separate sub woofer? As I do like my bass, or do the CM7s have good, deep bass?

From what I can gather from this thread, there seems to be a split decision in regards to whether bi-wiring is better or not. Why is this the case? Surely a bi-wired set up would sound better than the exact same setup minus the bi-wiring?

 

[richardw42]

Crikey, £300 for a pair of CM7s is fantastic. I got mine ex demo for 600 and was dead chuffed with that.

Rather tan just using a phono cable I'd investigate purchasing a dac with USB to sit between pc and amp it needn't be too expensive to offer some real improvement over a simple phono cable solution.

You'll need to set aside some money for cables but Chord cables offer good performance for your £.

It'll be a real shame to cut any corners when you've managed to bag such nice speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

The CM7's are superb speakers but I would say they need a good, gutsy amp to drive them to their best; more so with your taste in music.

I'd give the Yamaha a skip and look at the likes of the NAD C356BEE or C375BEE, Arcam FMJ A28, Rotel RA1520 and Creek Evo II amps for brand new amps. If you're happy with 2nd hand amps then the likes of the Arcam Alpha 10, NAD C355BEE or C352 amps would be a good move as would the Cyrus 8vs2

My parent-in-lawes have the CM7's hooked up with a Cyrus 8vs2 and Cyrus XPower amps as well as a Rega Apollo CDP and it makes for a superb combo. They listen to a lot of motown but they also quite like Hed Kandy and some electronica music as well so they like to have good bass etc...

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW I demo'd the Creek Evo II against the Audiolab 8200A on the weekend - and came away with the Audiolab. Actually for the types of music that you listen to the Creek might be better suited although the differences were subtle and they were both an improvement over my old NAD 302. I felt the Audiolab was that bit more revealing and honest sounding, but the Creek gave maybe a touch more oomph. For my own personal tastes I felt this was colouring vocals slightly, but for bass heavy music I can see it being very good indeed. I wouldn't rule out the Audiolab though. Bass is really punchy, amazing soundstage and if you're listening to well recorded music then I don't think you can ask for much more than honest, detailed interpretation.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

I listen to everything from hip hop, rnb to drum and bass, dubstep, jazz, rock, pretty much everything, but more often than not, something with a lot of bass!

I'll use a phono cable plugged into my laptop playing 320kb mp3s.

I've not listened to them, bought them for £300 quid brand new.

My listening level is quite load.

The room is 3*4 meters long and the distance between speakers would probably be 2.5 meters.

I've not got any speaker cable yet, that's something else I'll need to consider.

Budget is around 500 maximum.

I only bought them because they were B&W and cheap at the time

Will I need a separate sub woofer? As I do like my bass, or do the CM7s have good, deep bass?

From what I can gather from this thread, there seems to be a split decision in regards to whether bi-wiring is better or not. Why is this the case? Surely a bi-wired set up would sound better than the exact same setup minus the bi-wiring?

Hi anil18

Thanks for your reply.

At around £500 i'll highly recommend the NAD C356BEE. The C356BEE overall tonal balance not only compliments the CM7 speakers but in particular will also suit the types of soundtracks you listen to.

The C356BEE also has the quantity and quality of power to help keep the CM7's in check. NAD's PowerDrive circuit will help the amp offer greater energy, drive, control over the CM7s' to maintain stability with soundtracks which contain plenty of bass and at high listening levels.

The CM7's already have potent bass output. A sub can always be added later on.

Btw, single wire the CM7's with standard speaker cables of 79 - 300 - 500 strands of OFC as these will be more than good enough.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[granly]

Hi there

I just would like to share my experience of lately.

I got a pair of CM7's at a very good discount. The problem is that they revealed that bot my amp and CD players are hopeless.

So far I have auditioned the speakers with the following amps:

Denon 1510AE - brought the speakers to life and revealed my weak CD player

Cambridge Azur 840 v2 - OK, but not quite there

Audio Analogue Verdi Settanta REV 2.0 - not quite to my taste

Yamaha A-S1000 - No way!

Marantz KI Pearl Lite - Very Pleasant, just a tad better than the Denon

The plan is to try the speakers with an NAD amp and get a listen at home with the Marantz. I have had a Marantz PM-52 for nearly 17 years, but it gave up recently. Maybe I just like the Marantz sound?

My current amp is a Yamaha reciever I liked it before with my no-name speakers but with the CM7's its terrible, the same was with the A-S1000.

Generally I love the detailed sound of the CM7's I just have to be sure about the amp before investing.

cheers

 

[granly]

Hi there

I just would like to share my experience of lately.

I got a pair of CM7's at a very good discount. The problem is that they revealed that bot my amp and CD players are hopeless.

So far I have auditioned the speakers with the following amps:

• Denon 1510AE - brought the speakers to life and revealed my weak CD player
• Cambridge Azur 840 v2 - OK, but not quite there
• Audio Analogue Verdi Settanta REV 2.0 - not quite to my taste
• Yamaha A-S1000 - No way!
• Marantz KI Pearl Lite - Very Pleasant, just a tad better than the Denon

The plan is to try the speakers with an NAD amp and get a listen at home with the Marantz. I have had a Marantz PM-52 for nearly 17 years, but it gave up recently. Maybe I just like the Marantz sound?

My current amp is a Yamaha reciever I liked it before with my no-name speakers but with the CM7's its terrible, the same was with the A-S1000.

Generally I love the detailed sound of the CM7's I just have to be sure about the amp before investing.

cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Granly,

Can you let me know what amp you go for in the end please? And or what you think goes well with the speakers.

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

a wile ago I contacted B&W Netherlands and they suggested a Rotel Pre Power combo because the CM7 CM5 is very hard to drive.

 

[WishTree]

I had CM7s which was upgraded to CM9s and now happy with the Proacs!

CM7 and for that matter both CM7 and CM9 are not warm at any level. They are the most upfront speakers I tried.

Denon, Rotel & Marantz is what I tried but some how Denon AVR paired the best with them. CM7 have bass but muddy. Bass port is a must and speaker distance from the wall needs to be adjusted carefully. I have seen them perfom best when I used my pre-pro to cut off the below 80HZ frequency into them.

 

[granly]

I will let you know what the final choice will be anil18.

 

[granly]

A little update:

I borrowed a NAD c375bee from the local dealer the other day, to test it with my CM7's at home. It sounded dreadful! Both my wife and I where far from impressed by the closed bright sound that came from the combination.

So the search goes on...

 

[pba_target]

Granly

FWIW I've got CM7s that I run from a pair of Cyrus Mono X's. Admittedly well out of your price range, but you may well be able to pick up something like an 8power second hand or similar.