B&W CM1 and Qute . . . or Guru?

Posted by: Solid Air on 18 October 2013

I'd appreciate any insight anyone has out there.

 

I have a Qute with a NAP100 and CM1 speakers. They're close to the wall, wall- mounted in a room 22 x 14 roughly. No carpets so quite resonant.

 

At low and medium volume it sounds a little 'boxed in' - not as open and clean as I would hope for. It just lacks energy. At higher volumes it gets boomy, probably a wall/port issue. There is a sweet spot in the middle, but it's still a bit less energetic than I would like.

 

Is it the speakers? Anyone have CM1s and want to share their experiences?

 

I could change the speakers. The Guru Juniors come to mind. Of course, I will audition them first, but was interested in whether they would help solve this.

 

Previously I had a Nait3 and CD3.5 with Dynaudio 50s . . . . I consciously opted for for streaming for convenience reasons, but I kind-of miss that sound.

 

Thanks for any insights.

 

Alex

 

Posted on: 18 October 2013 by hafler3o

If you're after a lively speaker try something from Elac, they "play like big ones"! Also you get a very good ribbon tweeter...

Posted on: 18 October 2013 by Solid Air

The Elacs look very nice, but a little more expensive I think.

 

I was hoping for £800 or less - hence the Gurus. I know the Iotas are good but they look a bit funny to me, and likewise the KEFs. And would any of them improve on the CM1s - wall mounted?

 

Alex

 

Posted on: 18 October 2013 by badlyread

Guru Juniors now arriving in the UK in white. Other colours next month but dealers have some that you can listen to.

 

I listened to them about 2 months ago (TomTom). They are superb. So impressed with how they handed all that I threw at them. Also listened to the Neat Iotas. Good but a long way off the Juniors.

 

Waiting for my black/walnut to arrive next month to partner my UQ2.

 

It has been a long wait but I know what I'm getting.

 

Listen to the Juniors and be impressed.

 

Regards

 

Neil

Posted on: 18 October 2013 by hafler3o
Originally Posted by Solid Air:

I was hoping for £800 or less

Sorry, for some reason I thought the Gurus started well above a grand!

Posted on: 18 October 2013 by DaveBk

The new Guru Junior's certainly punch above their weight. I used to have a pair of QM10s and loved the Guru sound, but ultimately wanted something that could drive a bit more volume and bass slam, without loosing any refinement. It was a close decision between the QM60 and the S600 for me, and ultimately I went for the S600 as there is something special about the BMR technology.

 

I have heard the Juniors on 2 occasions and there are an exceptionally musical speaker and well worth an audition. Give them a try and I doubt they will disappoint.

Posted on: 21 October 2013 by Naijeru

I have a pair of CM1s that I ran with my Nait 5i. I enjoyed them quite a bit for many years before moving to full range floorstanders. I found 'open' and 'clean' to be their primary strengths.  Mine were on stands rather than wall mounted and they were about 18" from the wall. My room is smaller than yours at 18' x 12'.

Posted on: 23 October 2013 by analogmusic

i would try to optimize the B&W first

 

what jumper cable do you have between tweeter and woofer?

 

are you connected to the tweeter or woofer first (NACA 5 from amp)

 

did you try to create a jumper cable from NACA 5?

 

I would try all these before selling your speakers at a loss...

Posted on: 23 October 2013 by Solid Air

Very interesting, thanks for the insights.

 

At present the speaker cable is connected to the upper plugs, which I assume are tweeters. There is then the standard metal bar supplied by B&W to connect the tweeter and woofer plugs. Is there a better option than that?

 

Also my speaker wire is Van Damme Blue - I need 10m of it either side, so NACA5 seemed a high price (>£500).

 

Alex