Bowers & Wilkins CM5 - not that great?

[n0rth]

I have been listening to the cm5's speakers heavily and comparing them head to head with my HTD lvl2's. I have come to the conclusion that the B&W's aren't that great. I got the HTD's as B stock for 179.99 (stained the wrong color)and paid 800 for the CM5's. The CM5's sound only slightly better playing jazz and older recordings but everything else is very similar with lvl2's having better mids. The question is - should I return the CM5's - HTM62B and get something else? Feel like Im paying for a name since apparently the CM line is now made in china as well.

I wouldn't be questioning it if the HTD's didn't compete so hard with a significantly more expensive speaker. Looking in the direction of Ascend Acoustics only because the lvl2's are a bit small in the media room and I'm not a fan of the ribbon tweeters in the Larger HTD's. Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[fuzz092888]

If you paid $800 for them, I'd return them and get these.

Philharmonic Audio

 

[n0rth]

yeah those look nice - but im thinking about spending less money on the speakers and investing in a nicer sub. Currently I have a martin logal dynamo 500 which is now doing the dreaded powering off and on when going into standby. Thinking about replacing my setup with this:

Fronts: CMB170

CBM-170 SE High Performance Bookshelf Loudspeaker

Center: ctm340c

CMT-340 SEC High Performance Center Channel Speaker

Sub: sb-1000

SB-1000 - SVS

 

[ousooner2]

^ Those look nice. I've always thought about just getting some monitors and a few beastly subs at one point


Or if you want towers...EMP's black friday sale is going on. The e55's are just stupid for the price they are and especially the price they are over black friday.

 

[fuzz092888]

^ Those look nice. I've always thought about just getting some monitors and a few beastly subs at one point


Or if you want towers...EMP's black friday sale is going on. The e55's are just stupid for the price they are and especially the price they are over black friday.

The Phils are great speakers and for the the money, they're tough to beat.

 

[n0rth]

Im looking to put less into the speakers and get a better sub. Ive been looking at the ascend acoustics CBM-170 and CMT-340 SE center then getting the svs pb-1000

 

[fuzz092888]

Im looking to put less into the speakers and get a better sub. Ive been looking at the ascend acoustics CBM-170 and CMT-340 SE center then getting the svs pb-1000

Perfectly competent setup, although depending on the type of music you listen to and at what levels, and the size of your room, I still might take the Phil's over that setup and add a sub later on if you really feel you need it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Well, as long as you have subs, a pair of NHT Absolute Zero (100Hz-10kHz +/-0.9dB, Home Theater Magazine measurement) w/ XO set to 100Hz will probably sound better than the CM5 and 805D2.

 

[n0rth]

If you paid $800 for them, I'd return them and get these.

Philharmonic Audio

yeah they are looking pretty strong. The ascend's look nice and the specs are good but they may not be the best for music. Any ideas on a center that would match these?

 

[ousooner2]

The Ascends should be just fine for music...except I would scratch the center for now (if that's all you have in your budget at the moment) and just do a pair of 340's and a sub. Or you could look at something like the ARX a1b or a2c (as mains)...or EMP e5's...or the NHT's Acu posted about. They're all going to be very solid performers for the money

 

[n0rth]

budget is 1300 for 2 fronts center and sub

 

[fuzz092888]

yeah they are looking pretty strong. The ascend's look nice and the specs are good but they may not be the best for music. Any ideas on a center that would match these?

They make a matching center for those, just e-mail Dennis at info@philharmonicaudio.com for more information.

 

[n0rth]

what about these? at 290 a pop and that svs sub??

E55Ti Tower Speakers :

http://emptek.com/e55ti.php

would be powering with a pioneer elite sc-65 reciever

 

[fuzz092888]

what about these? at 290 a pop and that svs sub??

E55Ti Tower Speakers :

EMP Tek E55Ti Tower Speakers

would be powering with a pioneer elite sc-65 reciever

Good speakers, definitely will need a sub though. Paired with an SVS, it should sound great.

 

[n0rth]

ok so im going with e55ti towers this center : EMP Tek E5Ci Center Channel Speaker and the ported svs 1000 . Hopefully this is superior to the bowers and wilkins.

wondering about the woofers on the towers looks like they are in parallel running at 6ohm? will this have less volume than the 8ohm bowers rated at 120 watts??

 

[fuzz092888]

ok so im going with e55ti towers this center : EMP Tek E5Ci Center Channel Speaker and the ported svs 1000 . Hopefully this is superior to the bowers and wilkins.

wondering about the woofers on the towers looks like they are in parallel running at 6ohm? will this have less volume than the 8ohm bowers rated at 120 watts??

The B&W's have a rating of 8 ohms, but a minimum of 3.7 ohms. The Emps have a rating of 6 ohms and a minimum of 4 ohms. To me, this tells me that the B&W's should probably have a 6 ohm rating as well. Either way, it's not terribly important.

More important is that they have the same sensitivity.

 

[n0rth]

ok well these are on sale for 190!! EMP Tek E5Bi Bookshelf Speaker

im not sure they will be powerful enough for the room and considering the amp runs 130 watts @ 8ohms - will they fry? the bowers are 120 @ 8 and get pretty loud

 

[fuzz092888]

ok well these are on sale for 190!! EMP Tek E5Bi Bookshelf Speaker

im not sure they will be powerful enough for the room and considering the amp runs 130 watts @ 8ohms - will they fry? the bowers are 120 @ 8 and get pretty loud

That's not how this works.

Speakers have a power rating, which may or may not be useful. More useful is the sensitivity rating which will either come in 1 watt/1meter or 2.83v/1meter ratings. Whatever number associated with the rating scale is the SPL (sound pressure level) you will get at 1 meter. The amplifier power rating is what the amplifier is capable of delivering as an average power level to a certain number of channels at once, usually 2 channels for a receiver. Now, the speakers don't necessarily require all that wattage except for peaks. The speakers will draw only what they require to produce a certain SPL.

For instance, if you have 2 speakers (your B&W's for instance) which have a sensitivity rating of 88db/2.83v/1m and you sit 3 meters away from them (~9.8ft) and you want to reproduce THX levels (85db average), you would only need 2.5 watts. That doesn't account for room gain either, which means in a small to medium sized room you'll need even less power.

 

[n0rth]

its a medium/small type room - think the bookshelves would be sufficient or should I go with the towers?

 

[fuzz092888]

its a medium/small type room - think the bookshelves would be sufficient or should I go with the towers?

The bookshelves would probably be fine, but for the sale price I'd go with the towers anyways. Plus it provides a bit of future proofing in case they're ever in a bigger room or you find yourself needing more dynamic range, since the towers will have more output capabilities.