Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have been waiting to hear these speakers for over a year now. I had tried to listen to them at a couple of B&W dealers, but they never had the CM9's, only the now discontinued CM7's (replaced by the vastly superior CM8's). The B&W speakers I really loved were the 805 Diamond, but at $5000 per pair not including the $600 per pair stands and the need for a dedicated amp and preamp, I was left looking for something more realistic for my budget. My local Magnolia store in Best Buy finally got the CM9's up and running and all I can say is WOW. For $3000 a pair and no stands and separate amp/preamp combo needed, I heard all the detail the 805 Diamonds offered but the CM9's had more power for rock, pop, and hip hop music. Imaging was fantastic, you could clearly tell where each musician would be located if they were playing live. They don't image quite as well as the 805 Diamonds, but at a possible $5000 in total system set-up savings, the CM9's trump them. I orignally thought about the Def Tech STS Supertowers but these are more detailed, image better, and go just as low at the volume I was listining at. You can't go wrong with these speakers.

The Bowers and Wilkin's CM9's are, without a doubt, the best speakers that you can purchase at Best Buy. Over the last few months, I have done research on just about every speaker you can purchase in this price range. However, research and reviews will only get you so far as you must actually listen to a speaker to hear how good and or bad it is. Out of everything that I had the oppurtunity to listen to, the CM9's are by far the most detailed speakers that I have ever heard. The fst midrange driver and the nautilus tweeter are incredible. No matter what I listened to or at what volume, the speakers performed flawlessly. If detailed, rich, room filling sound is your thing, these speakers are for you. One minor drawback is that on a stand alone basis (no sub), these towers can lack a little in the low end (what do you expect from 6 inch drivers). However, this is easily rectified with with a good subwoofer. The AWS10CM voice matches perfectly with them. You definitely need some power to drive these as well. Only high end receivers or possibly an amp preamp set up is the way to go. I myself have the Denon AVR4311.

I moved from 25 year old B&W DM640 towers (which still sounded very good in their own right) to these Black Beauties and all I can say is WOW! These CM9's are just stellar, they took an already rockin' 7.2 system and just opened up the soundstage that much more. The micro-dynamics detailing these towers provide is simply awesome, from that airy treble to the trademark Kevlar midrange that is oh so smooth and clean, tuneful tight bass from the dual woofers - these things deliver a rock solid audio presentation. While not a super large model, these towers do need some room to breathe so don't short-change the floorspace and cram them in and they will reward you with a fantastic front stage with very good height, depth & true Hi End detail. I have no trouble driving these 89dB rated speakers with the Elite's 135 WPC ClassD amps. Clean, detailed & LOUD. I did find them a tad too rich in the upper bass/lower midrange region but after running the auto room calibration on my Pioneer Elite AVR and using the full port plugs that B&W provides it tamed a good amount of the thickness as well as allowing the top end to have more snap & focus. Fit and finish is top notch as expected of a speaker in this price range and I love that the front baffle does not have any unslightly holes where the grill mounts as I listen to them 'undressed', it's all magnetic! I also upgraded my center channel with the CMC-2 and it is a perfect match to the CM9 towers. Bottom line, these aren't cheap but if you have the space & the coin they are simply STELLAR!

The B&W front stage with CM9s and the CMC2 is the foundation of a great HT experience. They sounded good with a 100w x 7 receiver but once they were connected to a separate 200 watt per channel amp, they really came alive! Though the woofers sound super, a sub is still recommended if you want to feel the bass in your chest. Unless you have young kids, leave the grills in the boxes. If you're nervous about tweeter dimples, get the HFCovers from Best Buy or B&W Support for ~$5 each. I didn't find that bi-wiring made a big difference. There's a good youtube video on carefully unpacking and setting them up.

I started to think about replacing my Bose 501's with ANYTHING, so I went to Best Buy to check out their Def Techs and Martin Logans. I really wasn't planning to pay as much as the B&W's cost, but I liked their looks AND they had a great sound stage. I can't really comment on how others sounded, because I really didn't even listen to them once I listed to these. I did, however, audition some Paradigm 11's (for about 1/2 the cost of these), and decided to buy these. I felt like the CM9's sound was a bit warmer, and that's what I like. The 11's seemed like they were just pure power. After I bought the CM9's, I also bought the matching CMC2 and CM5's. Overall, I'm happy with my decision and hope these will last a very long time. One thing to consider if you have young children is that the grill is very easy to take off. The day after buying my new CM9's, my 2 y/o son woke up before me and decided to do a little "exploring". He managed to destroy the tweeter domes in both speakers. I was able to order new domes from B&W and install them myself. It was a pretty easy process even though I would not consider myself to be a handyman. The domes are metal, so some old tricks of using a vacuum didn't work at all. B&W sells some dome protectors (which were on my speakers at the time they were damaged), but those are magnetic too and my son just took those right off. I've since been told from B&W that they can be glued on without damaging the speaker.

I am an avid listener to most forms of music, but my main preference is Classical / Opera. I have had many stereo systems over the years, but until I bought these speakers, I never heard music at home, at its best. Listening to a symphony, piano concerto, opera, etc. with these speakers sounds almost as good as a live performance. The frequency range is excellent and balanced, but the think that I like best about them is the precision of the sound. Every note coming from these speakers sounds perfect. Voices sound just like they should. I cannot imagine a better set of speakers.

This is the last pair of my B&W speakers, after I got each pair of 684B and 683B. This is the true king of sound in term of clarity, detail, solid bass, and crystal clear treble. These speakers when I hook up with my Marantz receiver, using multi- channel stereo mode, it deliver a true live sound. It sounds better than the 683B, 684B in term of clarity and detail . If you can afford it, go with it. It won't make you disappointed in any category. But the 683B is still the best alternative choice if you can't afford this one.

I purchased these speakers from Best Buy 10 months ago. I am very happy with them. The clarity of the mids and highs is unparalleled compared to other speakers that I've heard in retail stores. If you are looking for speakers that give you a lot of punch with very clear mids and highs, I recommend these highly. Unfortunately, I was not able to compare these to the PSB Synchrony One speakers (which are more expensive, but of similar size), but I am very happy with these speakers. Give them a try, they are at your local Best Buy, which cannot be said of most other top end brands.

Great tweeter and midrange, the bass sounds at home way better then at the store where the speakers were too far away from the wall. I use them in a 1000sqft room by passing all the other speakers when listening to music. If they are correctly placed in your room the subwoofer is not necessary. The price is high; but there is not much out there.

Bowers and Wilkins have always made fantastic speakers and these just follow suit. These speakers are my favorite speakers I've ever owned, and trust me, I've had plenty speakers under my roof. In my opinion these are the best speakers that are available through Best Buy. This is a fantastic product and I couldn't be any happier, I highly recommend the CM9 but make sure you don't go cheap and buy the CMC for a center, go with the CMC2 if you're doing anything but 2 channel!!

Great look, excellent sound, at a big price. You pay for quality. I love them. The sound & power are phenomenal as I'm using them w/ the new Onkyo TX-NR809 receiver. Highly recommended.

Love them, went to look at cheaper speakers bought the CM9's excellent choice, my wife even wanted me to buy them

They are sleek and powerful. I picked them over the def tech 8080 and paradigms.