Hey! So here I am again looking at upgrades even though I said I'd stick to my current system.
For those who dont know although I've mentioned it enough, speakers are wharfedale diamond 8.1 with ca 540a amp.
Reason for looking at the B&W cm1: I Like the warmth of kevlar but Im not sure soft dome textile tweeters used on my diamonds is quite doing it for me. I've moved my speakers so they're now about 2.5m apart. The soundstage is great but theres something a little irritating with regards to the treble on female voices. It sounds..irritating and I think the aluminium tweeter on the B&W CM1s will make the sound a little precise..besides being a better speaker in the 1st instance. I think the aluminium tweeter will add a little more life over my diamonds too which is what I want!
£450 is pricey though, I could do with some advise please? Anyone heard the speaker??
You shouldn't generalize what materials sound like. A silk ribbon tweeter can easily sound harsh if its not designed the right way, crossed over the right way, or implemented the right way. An aluminum tweeter can sound too soft if not done appropriately.
What you use isn't usually as important as how you use it.
That being said, B&W are very reputable and rarely mess anything up. While everything they make isn't perfect, at its respective price point its almost always very good.
As with everything, you need to hear them before you buy. A brochure/spec sheet won't tell you how it sounds in the real world.
I'm not particularly taken with the CM-1s. They're nicely made, well finished speakers, produce goodmidrange and treble but have a bit too big a bass bloom for my liking. Also consider:
Dynaudio Audience 42 Totem Dreamcatcher AVI Neutron IV
All these are standmounts in the under £500 bracket. The Dyn and AVI have silk dome tweeters and the Totem has a metal dome tweeter, but as Stu said, don't get too hung up on the materials, have a listen.
I wouldnt have a clue which of the listed speakers to go for without listening. Especially when theyr'e expensive..perhaps for me. I'm not sure anywhere near me would have these, perhaps possibly DynAudio but never heard of the other two makes. If I had to choose one now I'd try the totems for their strange shiny cone material and the aluminium tweeter (ye I know, no material biassing). On the other hand I've never heard a bad thing about big branded Dyaudio.
Cheers Frank. Are the dreamcatchers ported then? Because Im not sure but I think thats what my wharfedales are suffering. I've noticed one thing is that listening from next to a wall the bass can become substantially enhanced. I've had to decrease bass at 100hz by 6db.
Im not sure but somtimes I think I can hear resonance, im not sure how to describe this though.
Would the dreamcatchers offer more bass than my diamonds as I'm thinking of getting rid of my subwoofer.
Maybe I should just replace my amp too, I find the bass on my cambridge not fast enough.
Ah you know the bass isnt half bad. I didnt think room placement is one of the top factors in influencing sound. But it really is as I've recently discovered!
Both Dreamcatchers and Dyns are ported. Dreamcatchers work quite well close to a wall. not sure why but possibly because their port is quite small. most Totems seem to work well closer to walls than other speakers.
Not sure if Dreamcatchers have more bass than 8.1s, but the crucial thing is they have better more tuneful bass.
I'm not surprised at your 6db attenuation requirement, given the Diamonds' propensity for a bass-rich presentation. It may not be your amp causing the problem, y'know.
