European Loudspeaker 2009-2010 -> B&W CM9
This handsome floorstanding loudspeaker offers tremendous value for money, and features B&W’s highly regarded FST midrange unit as part of a four-driver system. The woven Kevlar cone of the FST driver is swaged at its edge and rests on a ring of foamed plastic that acts in compression. This novel arrangement improves the driver’s dissipation of unwanted vibrations but limits its excursion, so the unit hands over to twin 165mm bass drivers, reflex loaded through a dimpled port, for deep and extended low frequencies. The speaker offers a healthy sensitivity but is reasonably tough to drive – weedy amplifiers need not apply! Suitably partnered, the CM9 offers a very lush sound, big and expressive with a very realistic sense of musical dynamics. It’s one of B&W’s most compelling floorstanders to date and at a price that seals its EISA commendation.
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