North Reading, Mass. — Bowers & Wilkins is replacing the flagship speaker in its CM series, bringing technologies used in its reference 800 series to the CM series for the first time.
The CM10 replaces the CM9 and will be available August at a suggested $4,000/pair in a painted black-gloss finish or in two real wood veneers, rosenut or wenge.
With the new technologies and other improvements, the CM10 plays louder than its predecessor, delivers more extended bass and delivers better imaging with lower distortion, the company said.
Technologies trickling down from the 800 series include a tweeter on the top of the speaker cabinet, providing better imaging and dispersion and “creating a more natural, spacious sound,” the company said.
The tweeter’s aluminum dome is strengthened using a second aluminum layer to stiffen the whole structure and prevent the voice coil from going “out of round” at higher frequencies, the company said. As a result, the double-dome pushes the first break-up frequency up from the standard dome’s 30kHz to 38kHz, making the tweeter “more piston-like” in the audible frequencies below 20kHz and thus delivering greater clarity and control even at high volume levels, the company explained.
Putting the tweeter on top of the cabinet also helped open up space for three bass drivers instead of two without increasing cabinet height. The result is increased sensitivity, deeper bass, lower distortion, and higher maximum output, the company said.
For the first time in a CM speaker, the midrange driver, a Kevlar FST driver, is decoupled from the rest of the cabinet to reduce cabinet coloration. Moving the midrange closer to the top of the cabinet also improves dispersion and increases the sense of airiness, the company added.
