Originally Posted by
Darek
I'm in the process of auditioning speakers. Ideally I'd like to be in the $600 & under range and am now listening to the following:
KEF Q150
Klipsch RP-600M
Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary
I know that the Denton 85 is $900, but wanted to see if that price bump brings a noticable benefit. It does. Its one level above the Klipsch & KEF, but not triple and double the improvement. I'd say the lower priced speakers are within 80-85% of the Denton. They both do things well; the KEF Q150 has great imaging that reminds me of headphones, but it seems to have bloated lower mids/upper bass which is a little annoying. The RP-600M has better bass, not boomy, it sounds pretty tight, but doesn't have the KEF's imaging and I'll say has less detail too. I'm using a mid 90's, made in Japan 90watt Denon stereo receiver and a Topping TP-22 class D t-amp. The t-amp is the clear winner here. I found the Denon at a thrift store for $60 and its not bad overall and it has FM. My brother-in-law concurs that the Topping is the better amp too. After Christmas he's going to bring over his Sonic Frontiers Anthem 1 tube amp and I ordered a vintage Pioneer sx-434 stereo receiver, so the fun will continue. We were also listening to his Vandersteen 1Ci's that are currently in my basement till he sets up his listening area for them. The Vandersteen's are a well balanced speaker that sounds right and seems to do everything well. Its better than the Klipsch and KEF, with the Denton 85 being a tie to our ears; the Dentons sound much bigger than they are.
Trying to keep to a budget I remembered the CBM-170se being a well regarded speaker that is well balanced and got pretty rave reviews back in the 2000's. I just ordered a pair to audition. What is your opinion on how the CBM compares to today's offerings? Am I wasting my time or is it still a contender?