Upgradeitis hits again - Bowers & Wilkins CM9 S2 query...

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by McGuy, Feb 17, 2018.

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  1. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago
    So...I have a pair of CM6 S2s now, love them. Even got the Bowers stands for them at a pretty penny. Ran me well over $2500 for everything. But...I found a pair of CM9 S2 floorstanders for a fantastic price - used of course. I can always try to sell the CM6s but my real questions are (a) will my McIntosh 2105 and C28 be enough to really power these things well and (b) my room size is about 20 feet in length and about 9 feet wide. Speakers are at one end of the room on the "width" side, if that makes sense, facing down the length of the room. Guessing their about 6-7 feet apart max. And I sit about 8 to 10 to feet away from them. Will these be overkill in this room is what I'm really asking. Turntable, FWIW, is a new VPI Prime Scout with an Ortofon 2M cart (yes, I know, it needs an MC, working on that!). Any thoughts?
     
  2. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago
  3. JeffTamarack

    JeffTamarack Well-Known Member

    I'd think about upgrading your cartridge first. I'm guessing you'd get a lot more out of your records and system from a new cart and those speakers, nothing wrong with CM 6 S2's. I moved from a 2m red to a 2m black on my CM8's and it made a world of difference.
     
  4. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago
    I see your point. looking at the Hana SL LOMC at the moment... Thanks for the advice.
     
  5. Doc Diego

    Doc Diego Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    Beautiful speakers for a room that size and I believe 1 db more efficient than their little brothers. So if the Mac can drive the CM6’s well it should have no problem with the floorstanders. Definitely not overkill. I would go for the upgrade in a heartbeat.
     
  6. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
  7. JeffTamarack

    JeffTamarack Well-Known Member

    Your speakers are only as good as what they are fed and the 2M Blue is a great cartridge and all but .... you know. If you are a jazz fan then you must like listening to music and better cart would serve you well IMO.
     
    McGuy likes this.
  8. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago
    Exactly. The new 700 series replaced the CM. they look virtually identical but Bowers changed out the Kevlar cones for some reason.
     
  9. JeffTamarack

    JeffTamarack Well-Known Member

    I was listening to 704's and 706's today and they sound as good as they look. B&W is always coming up with little tweaks tho for the new year's product line so the rest of us with older models get all drooly. I'm sure the quality improvements are there too. One thing that is interesting I learned was they are coming out with a line of Subs that are set with your phone linked to the sub and set on top of the speaker itself. It runs tests and basically calibrates itself based on your room. That may be interesting for anyone who wants to augment their bottom end. When they come in to the shop in my town I'm going to take one home and see how it sounds. Mayne that is the way to go instead of a full on speaker upgrade.
     
    Coricama and McGuy like this.
  10. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    They changed more than that - the tweeter in the smallest 700's series bookshelf at least sounds radically different from the one in the smallest CM bookshelf. Much smoother and less "tinny".
     
  11. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago
    I haven’t heard the new ones. I have the tweeter on top model and it doesn’t sound tinny thankfully.
     
  12. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I would definitely listen to the 700 series equivalent if you could before laying down cash on a CM-series speaker.
     
  13. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago
    No way! More than double what the cm is.
     
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