Found a great local deal?

[Timforhifi]

I found some Bowers and Wilkins cm9 s2 locally and was wondering what people think. I know I heard these in demo rooms years ago but I couldn’t remember if I thought they were good. The seller is including a denon 3300 avr, Martin Logan motion 30 center and dynamo 500 subwoofer in this bundle.

Any personal reviews of this equipment? How you liked them?

I was just going to buy to test or really have fun. I already have great speakers but the deal is hard to pass up.

 

[MalVeauX]

If they're a good deal and you have interest, what's stopping you? If you just want to test them, then does it matter if they're ideal for your use? If you're confident you can offload them and sell them after you're done testing, then go for it, it's always fun to try different speakers and expand your experience.

Very best,

 

[Timforhifi]

Does anyone have experiences with bowers cm s2 line. Good or bad, it’s ok to be critical.

 

[Timforhifi]

So I bought the cm9 s2 and did a little shootout of every tower speaker I own at the moment.

 

[Timforhifi]

From left to right

Canton vento 896
Jbl L890
Infinity beta 50
Bowers cm9 s2
Canton chrono 518
Jbl arc 1000

anyone have any experiences with any of these?

Over the years I’ve heard Bowers and Wilkins but never really wanted to own. I think what pushed me away was their high prices and negative reception from many. I heard from some these cm9 will be bright and forward. Out of all the speakers I own these have the smoothest tweeter. Mid is full and large but not forward, reminds me of some revel speakers. Bass was defined but not a lot of it. Definitely the least amount of bass of all 6 but still was enjoyable.

The cm9 s2 weren’t the best in the bunch. The vento 896 is more detailed with a much fuller bottom end. Chrono had the sharpest sound in the bunch but show off on certain genres of music. Jbl l890 was so much fun, loud, clear, natural mids, and did I say bass! Infinity beta 50 had similar sound as Jbl l890, just brighter and not as refined. Kinda like a fun wall of sound. The 30+ year old arc 1000 are a great party speaker. Great for rock, but don’t do anything great.

My list
1. Canton vento 896
2. Bowers cm9 s2
3. Jbl L890
4. Canton chrono 518
5. Infinity beta 50
6. Jbl arc1000

obviously this is just my take away and the other people that were here listening had different opinions.

one had
1. Bowers cm9 s2
2. Canton vento 896
3. Canton chrono 518

another had
1. Jbl l890
2. Vento 896
3. Beta 50

last in group had
1. Vento 896
2. Chrono 518
3. Bowers cm9 s2

 

[Teetertotter?]

@Timforhifi That goes to show you, people have different ears for hearing music. What mixes of music did you hear. How did you select your choices in 1-6 order? What was outstanding or not, in each?

 

[Timforhifi]

We listened to all types of music from James Taylor to slipknot. Each speaker got the exact same songs played. Was fun seeing the differences but was time consuming.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Were these blind-tests or open to bias?

 

[Teetertotter?]

Next time, you might want to try George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," for your speaker testing. It should be quick and easy to determine which speaker is the best.............IMO...........Yes, the blind testing, as mentioned.

Another one would be, "The National Athem," by Radiohead.

These should give you the full speaker range capability of your speakers, again, IMO. I have only, "Rhapsody in Blue." The music I listen to is over the Internet via, Heos app., on my Denon AVR. My selection could be 60's, Todays Top Hits, Classical, Country, and folk.

The speakers I currently have are within my budget range and have had bookshelf, JBL's and Klipsch over the years. Mainly JBL's.

 

[Timforhifi]

Were these blind-tests or open to bias?

Definitely wasn’t a blind test, but was just a fun time. I still gained some insight, some speakers I thought weren’t as good were better. Some speakers that I wanted to be better just weren’t. So my bias could of had an opposite effect.

I went ahead and sold the cm9 s2 to one of the attendees. So I’ll be picking up some paradigm prestige 95f and 55c tomorrow. Just having fun trying different speakers.