B&W Announces New Flagship In-Wall CI800 Speakers

[admin]

Bowers and Wilkins has always received a lot of positive attention about their 800 series speakers, and now they are bringing that performance and technology to 3 new in-wall speakers. The CI800 series includes one in-ceiling model, the CCM8.5, and two in-wall models, the CWM 8.5 and CWM 8.3. They brought down a lot of the technology found in their 800 Diamond Series speakers and brought down the price point as well in order to allow consumers to purchase a truly high-end in-wall solution without breaking the bank, well, not breaking the bank as much as the 800 Diamond speakers anyway.

Discuss "B&W Announces New Flagship In-Wall CI800 Speakers" here. Read the article.

 

[eugenee326]

Has anyone been able to listen to these yet? and what were they driven by? I seriously considering these as an in-wall option in a large room and would love o hear some critical feedback.
Thanks

 

[gene]

Has anyone been able to listen to these yet? and what were they driven by? I seriously considering these as an in-wall option in a large room and would love o hear some critical feedback.
Thanks

they aren't shipping for another month or so and we are gonna try to do a review of them.

 

[rpulluru]

B&W CI 800 speakers review

I was fortunate to try these in my theater as the dealer ordered a pair for me to try out. But I had to take 4 large boxes home my self and assemble to the back box. Build quality and packaging was A+. Makes you want to buy right there.

Compared them to B&W CT7.3s I had. Used pass 150.5 amp. Rest of system was low end including cables. Woofers very stiff in beginning so let them burn in a couple of days.

Carbon braced tweeter blew me away; not quite as magical as the diamond tweeter from 804's I had tried but awesome and can play loud. Very solid back box; so imaging and was much better than CT7.3. Midrange was a little more involving. But bass seemed more full with 7.3s. Not sure if the 800s were tighter or just had less bass. But the 7.3s seemed to have more bass than the 804s also. Biwiring may help. Also I had them against the wall not in the wall; moved closer to corner and that helped.

Overall very impressive in non optimal conditions. Tweeter was star; back boxes awesome. Seemed like 80% of 804s; high praise for inwalls and no diamond tweeter. Thinking about buying them for my theater and music.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your impressions of these speakers.

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

Hi all. I am always reading forums for general advice and usually gather enough info for my questions but this time im hoping someone can help me with a specific question. I'm in need of some help with these speakers B&W cwm8.5's. I got a really great deal on these and plan on installing them in a new wall/media center. I didn't get the back box since I am building these into a new wall and have built enclosures before. B&W says you must purchase the back box because it has an additional crossover inside but that makes no sense to me. Can anyone confirm if it's possible to install these without the box as noted in the above article and let me know how they achieved it. I think i can just use a bi wire and cut of the speed clip but want to make sure before I make changes to these speakers. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[shadyJ]

I would spring for the back box. If you install the speakers as is, they will not work anything close to what they are specified for. You can bi-amplify the drivers, but then you need a way of using an electronic crossover. Do you have and do you know how to use an active electronic crossover?

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

I do know how to use an active crossover but do not have one for my home just for my car. The speakers themselves do have a crossover attached on the back of each unit. Which again leads to my confusion. If it's just for the box I am confident I can build a rigid box with the same volume as the back box but if there are other electronic components in the back box that are required then I suppose I have to look into the boxes. The article above says they can be used with or without the back box... confused

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

FYI I got the speakers for $700/pr new old stock but the boxes are $1800/pr

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have never heard of a back-box (rear enclosure box) that has electronic components of its own.

Like the back-box/rear enclosure for my RBH ceiling speakers retail $60 each box.

It does seem ludicrous that a back-box/rear enclosure would cost $1800/pr.

 

[everettT]

Just email BW for the specs and build your own.

 

[shadyJ]

I do know how to use an active crossover but do not have one for my home just for my car. The speakers themselves do have a crossover attached on the back of each unit. Which again leads to my confusion. If it's just for the box I am confident I can build a rigid box with the same volume as the back box but if there are other electronic components in the back box that are required then I suppose I have to look into the boxes. The article above says they can be used with or without the back box... confused

I don't understand what is going on with your speakers, sorry. If I were you I would contact B&W.

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

I am not sure if the dealer is just giving me a line of BS they say that there is a LF crossover inside the back box and the crossover isn't sold separately apparently if that crossover goes you have to tear open your wall and replace the entire back box. Has anyone installed these and can confirm if the back box contains a crossover or any equipment other than just being an enclosure? {{{{help}}}}

 

[everettT]

Contact B&W

I am not sure if the dealer is just giving me a line of BS they say that there is a LF crossover inside the back box and the crossover isn't sold separately apparently if that crossover goes you have to tear open your wall and replace the entire back box. Has anyone installed these and can confirm if the back box contains a crossover or any equipment other than just being an enclosure? {{{{help}}}}

 

[Swerd]

I am not sure if the dealer is just giving me a line of BS they say that there is a LF crossover inside the back box and the crossover isn't sold separately apparently if that crossover goes you have to tear open your wall and replace the entire back box. Has anyone installed these and can confirm if the back box contains a crossover or any equipment other than just being an enclosure? {{{{help}}}}

The CWM8.5 is a 2-way speaker and requires a crossover between the 7" mid woofer and the 1" tweeter. I found this online brochure http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Downloads/Product/Brochure/ENG-CI800-Brochure.pdf

On page 4, it shows a photo of what the crossover may look like. This can help you figure out if your speakers have a crossover, but it won't provide you with enough details to make your own, or use an active electronic crossover. You can always ask B&W for those detailed specs, but I doubt if they will provide them.

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

There is a crossover on the back but B&W says that you need the box to get it to work something about the speed click connection inside the box connects to a LF crossover. I am going to connect with a bi wire and see what's going on.

 

[Patrick Butler]

Hi Dagodstino Zentopoulus,

The CWM8.5 is not designed to be installed into a wall without the companion backbox, which retails for $600 each. Below is a photograph of the speaker and backbox for reference.

Regards,

Patrick Butler
B&W Group North America

Hi all. I am always reading forums for general advice and usually gather enough info for my questions but this time im hoping someone can help me with a specific question. I'm in need of some help with these speakers B&W cwm8.5's. I got a really great deal on these and plan on installing them in a new wall/media center. I didn't get the back box since I am building these into a new wall and have built enclosures before. B&W says you must purchase the back box because it has an additional crossover inside but that makes no sense to me. Can anyone confirm if it's possible to install these without the box as noted in the above article and let me know how they achieved it. I think i can just use a bi wire and cut of the speed clip but want to make sure before I make changes to these speakers. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

Patrick Thanks so much for your reply. Can you please elaborate. I understand you product is engineered to be installed in a specific manner but what I am trying to understand is if the crossover that is mounted on the speakers is all the circuitry that is required or is there some missing circuitry if the back box is not used. I am building a custom piece of furniture that these will be installed in. I understand that I may compromise the sound as designed by your engineers by not using the back box. My questions is do I have all the electronics required to hook them up. Thanks.

Dago

 

[Patrick Butler]

Hi Dago,

If you are building your own cabinet and already have the speaker and crossover (which as you know, is attached to the speaker), then you need nothing else. Sounds like a fun project!

Regards,

Patrick
B&W Group North America

Patrick Thanks so much for your reply. Can you please elaborate. I understand you product is engineered to be installed in a specific manner but what I am trying to understand is if the crossover that is mounted on the speakers is all the circuitry that is required or is there some missing circuitry if the back box is not used. I am building a custom piece of furniture that these will be installed in. I understand that I may compromise the sound as designed by your engineers by not using the back box. My questions is do I have all the electronics required to hook them up. Thanks.

Dago

 

[dagodstino zentopoulus]

Many thanks for the help. I hope to do the speakers justice!