Bowers & Wilkins CM1 S2 and Rotel RA-1570 now a new DAC and cables. Any help or suggestions appreciated!

[rando]

After seeing your video it would appear to me compromised surroundings are your existence. Expecting a college kid to turn off their brain and walk away until they can view the situation afresh is not likely. I'll ask you to do just that though. Get creative in finding solutions that ask more from your equipment than your acoustically impertinent surroundings easily allow. Better equipment would in fact highlight the shortcomings more than correct them.

 

Which is to reiterate the sentiment refinement will yield better results than replacement. Remove your point of interest from the computer screen and investigate the dynamics of the room as a whole. Small, cheap but insightful, improvements to your temporary space are what the situation requires. Replace the books holding up your speakers with purpose made vibration dampening and really focus on toe in. Buy a rug and experiment with placing it on numerous surfaces. Really shape the sound and pay especial attention when it gets drastically worse. I suspect that once you realize you have done everything you could it will be possible to be content. Contentedly happy knowing you can do better tomorrow and long after.

[wgscott]

No, I haven't heard the CM1. The dip around 2 kHz does look worrying.

 

They all do that. I think it is deliberate (along the lines of the BBC dip). I flattened mine out with dsp/room correction, and it sounds much better.

[artsnparts]

What is the size of your room?

Do you have a rug? Is the room resonant or damped?

Is there a bed in the room?

When you compare to the sound at the dealers that you like, why do you think it is different? The dealer has good electronics, clean power, treated room, large room etc., and Speakers on stands placed properly.

What is your distance to the speakers, and Are they pointing towards you?

 

E

- Do you have a rug? No

- Is the room resonant or damped? Don't believe so

- Is there a bed in the room? Yes

- When you compare to the sound at the dealers that you like, why do you think it is different? Better placing and imaging of instruments, better bass, vocals more airy

- The dealer has good electronics: agree, but I got the exact same thing that was on demo

- Clean power: True, upgrade for later

- treated room, large room etc.,: it wasn't a fixed setup, he had to quickly set something up and improvise for me

- Speakers on stands placed properly: True

- What is your distance to the speakers: 0.5 to 1 meter

- Are they pointing towards you? No

[wgscott]

Point them toward the primary listening position. I think I have the same, or very closely related tweeters. It matters.

 

Also, you might want to play around with room correction software. Dirac, for example, has a free trial. You may find that your current equipment can deliver.

[eganz]

- Do you have a rug? No

- Is the room resonant or damped? Don't believe so

- Is there a bed in the room? Yes

- When you compare to the sound at the dealers that you like, why do you think it is different? Better placing and imaging of instruments, better bass, vocals more airy

- The dealer has good electronics: agree, but I got the exact same thing that was on demo

- Clean power: True, upgrade for later

- treated room, large room etc.,: it wasn't a fixed setup, he had to quickly set something up and improvise for me

- Speakers on stands placed properly: True

- What is your distance to the speakers: 0.5 to 1 meter

- Are they pointing towards you? No

 

OK, having a bed in the room will help absorb sound and keep the room from being too bright. You did not tell us the size, but we will assume that your room is not very large.

maybe you could at least test your system further from the speakers, and with the speakers pointed towards you.

The vocals will be more airy if you are listening with the tweeters pointed towards you.

By the way, those Tweeters are easily dented.

You should check that they have not been dented yet, and should purchase the tweeter covers for them.

Imaging will improve if you have a symmetric arrangement, and are in the correct listening position.

If you really want to know what's going on, you could buy or borrow a simple measurement microphone to measure your room response.

E

[Deaf Cat]

I don't know how your CM1's compare to the CDM 1NT's, but I used run my 1NT's with a Rega Exon for each speaker, this improved a bit when I added a Maia for the Tweeters. I have since swapped to Totem.

However, I had a Australian Monitor 4ch power amp in my hands for about an hour the other week, so hooked it up to the CDM 1NTs bridged, so 400W/ch and boy oh boy what a difference in the 1NT's they came alive! Bass depth dropped and kicked, it has always been at the back of my mind that a repair guy told me the 1NT's sing with loads of power, and yes he is right.

Just wondering if your CM1's also have a rep for needing plentiful power... it made a huge difference, almost like a different speaker here.

Just a thought.

And yes one day will have another play with a silly amount of power and the B&W's :-D

[eganz]

OK, I see that you have series 2 speakers which already have the tweeters protected

[semente]

They all do that. I think it is deliberate (along the lines of the BBC dip). I flattened mine out with dsp/room correction, and it sounds much better.

 

The BBC dip is a subdued depression with a well define psychoacoustic objective:

 

 

 

But my guess is that BnW wishes to use first order crossovers and these don't go well with the very strong resonance of the kevlar midrange cone; because they have to low-pass quite low, that creates the rather significant dip in the presence region, while still leaving the cone resonance exposed...

A very poor design choice in my opinion.

 

 

B&W CM1

Listening Window, 20Hz - 20kHz (measured @ 2m, plotted @ 1m)

Response curve is an average of five measurements:

on-axis, 15 degrees left and right off-axis,

15 degrees up and down off-axis

 

R

[semente]

I have been thinking that the plateau creeping up at around 700Hz could be the baffle step of the narrow cabinet (which could have been corrected in the filter)...

[maserluv]

Hi,

 

I have similar setup as yours-

 

Digital Source: Mac Mini Powered By HDPlex LPS running Spotify / Jriver

DAC: Chord Mojo via Optical from Mac Mini

Integrated: Densen Beat B100

Speaker: Bowers & Wilkins CM1

 

Digital Interconnect: Lifatec Optical Cable

Interconnect: Transparent Musiclink

Speaker Cable: Transparent Musicwave Bi-Wire

 

From my observation, the Transparent Musicwave/Musiclink Cables has hugh positive impact on my system and truly make my speakers disappear. Music just flow. The Chord Mojo is very Musical indeed especially the optical connection from My Mac mini and I just love Spotify music daily 8 hours non-stop of music.

 

Hope this piece of information helps...

 

Regards Wayne

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

 

I would like to get your opinion on my system and how to upgrade.

 

I currently have the following setup:

 

Source: Macbook Pro Retina, 2012

Software: Audirvana Plus and Spotify

USB-output: 1x Audioquest Jitterbug

USB cable: *standard*

Bluetooth: Arcam Miniblink receiver

Integrated Amplifier: Rotel-RA 1570 > site: RA-1570 | Rotel

Speaker cable: *standard*

Speakers: Bowers & Wilkins CM1 S2 > site: Experience the B&W CM1 S2 - Bowers & Wilkins | B&W Speakers

 

I have 2 questions:

 

• 1: I would like to upgrade to an external DAC, and I am currently looking at Chord and Schiit. However, listening to videos online, I prefer the sound of Chord more. I am specifically looking at Chord Mojo or Hugo for main setup, and to have mobility on-the-go.

Does a Chord Mojo will sound better than the DAC within my current integrated amplifier? It's a: Wolfson WM8740

 

• 2: Any suggestions for an upgrade in speaker cables? I have been looking at Chord and Van Den Hul so far, because I heard and read they might go well with b&w and rotel. Specifically: Chord Odyssey 2, Chord Epic Twin, Van den Hul CS122.

 

Thanks!

 

p.s. I might add a Curious USB Cable Mojo interlink as well.

[Ralf11]

This forum needs an automated software engine that spits out "speakers & room treatment" on every post...