804D2 vs. CM9s?

[redm]

Originally Posted by kamiraa

If they prove to be as good as the 804Ds this will give plenty of great data to people who are budget minded for surround speakers to match their 800/802diamonds.

Whether they sound as good as, better, or worse, is based on your personal preference. I can guarantee they will sound different.

[cyisone01]

I actually made the switch from the cm to 804. I too could not tell a huge difference but went with the 804 because I like the look better. When I go them home the difference was huge! It tool my listening to a new level. In fact the improvement was so great I went back and upgraded from the 804 to the 802d2. Each move made a huge impact. I have a larger room and felt the 802d2 would better suit me for the long run. Starting with the 804 is the way to go and you will love them. I started to listen to music I had not listened to in a long time as I loved the sound. They sounded perfect right out of the box as well. They did slightly improve as they loosened up but I would not say a huge amount. Well worth the price difference in my opinion.

[kamiraa]

Originally Posted by cyisone01

I actually made the switch from the cm to 804. I too could not tell a huge difference but went with the 804 because I like the look better. When I go them home the difference was huge! It tool my listening to a new level. In fact the improvement was so great I went back and upgraded from the 804 to the 802d2. Each move made a huge impact. I have a larger room and felt the 802d2 would better suit me for the long run. Starting with the 804 is the way to go and you will love them. I started to listen to music I had not listened to in a long time as I loved the sound. They sounded perfect right out of the box as well. They did slightly improve as they loosened up but I would not say a huge amount. Well worth the price difference in my opinion.

Now this has got me hoping for the best!! Thank you for this post!

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by kamiraa

You hit it on the head. Both reasons you posted (moving to rears, or no risk since I got them for a great price). Of course I will compare them, that's why I wanted those speakers in house to play with

That a good way to do it.

[kamiraa]

Well after living with both speakers in the room for a week I have results. I followed my same methodology as before, left speaker (Older CM9), right speaker (Newer 804D). The music source was a laptop controlling through HDMI, the music was converted to mono. I level matched both speakers, turned off the EQs, and controlled the Left and Right balance through the computer to allow for quick A/B testing.

I used my McIntosh 601s as amplifiers, bi-wired with pure silver cored and silver tinned wire, the interconnects were Audioquest Columbias 72v DBS, and the Preamp was a Denon flagship AVR-4520ci.

The CM9s and 804D are EXTREMELY close to eachother. For acoustic music, classical, and female vocals they sound near identical. The 804D has a small edge over the CM9 for clarity from the tweeter. Outside of that in blind testing it's impossible to tell the difference really. . . . at this point I was not very happy with my purchase.

I did some searches for the components that makeup both speakers, as a result I discovered that the crossovers although slightly different use the same components in a similar arrangement (functionally very close to each-other, as equivalent circuits including values of the RLC), the driver arrangement is the same (two 6.5 woofers, one FST driver, and a 1 inch tweeter).

Alright so here was something that surprised me that made the 804d worth it! With rock music sometimes the CM9s would sound "busy". It sounded like controlled chaos, just noise. For acoustic performances or female vocals like I mentioned above, there is so much control, but rock . . . well it sucked so much I haven't listened to rock on this setup really at all.


For the same rock and hard rock tracks the 804D didn't have this same result. The 804ds were able to resolve the many different instruments playing, and they were very distinct and separated. For example with rock bands with multiple instruments playing together (sometimes missing notes haha) and a singer at the same time, everything on the CM9s just sounded smashed together, which distorted the vocals slightly. The 804d pulled all the detail out, and the imaging allowed each instruments to be placed in the room better, this allowed for the vocals to be controlled.

Anyways, that is my final observation of the speakers. The 804Ds are staying just because of this control, I think it will help for the music I like listening to sometimes, and obviously during movies it should help (controlled chaos in action movies).

[redm]

I'm glad you found the value in the 804's, with such similar speakers, i'm not surprised the improvements were nuanced. Were you using the DAC in the AVR-4520ci for your testing?

[kamiraa]

Originally Posted by redm

I'm glad you found the value in the 804's, with such similar speakers, i'm not surprised the improvements were nuanced. Were you using the DAC in the AVR-4520ci for your testing?

Yes for this test, it's a 32 bit one (AL32)

For music I prefer to use to Oppo BDP-95's ESS Reference 32. When I tested both the DACs against each other they are extremely close also, but at high transients the ESS Reference 32 had a smoother rolloff during these transitions. It sounded much more natural, the Denon's had a harshness to them.

[bgiliberti]

Originally Posted by redm

I'm glad you found the value in the 804's, with such similar speakers, i'm not surprised the improvements were nuanced. Were you using the DAC in the AVR-4520ci for your testing?

i think a lot of high end is learning what to listen for, and suddenly what was once nuance becomes a night and day difference. It appears that is what happened here with the comparison between the 804d and the CM9. Personally, while the CM9 is an incredible speaker for the money, I could not live with it because it lacks sense of realism that only a true high end device like the D series tweeters can provide. But it took me a lot of years of listening to get to that understanding.

[susu]

what is the best ear level for bass with the 804D2 ?
ears between upper woofer and midtone is better for bass than ears between midtone and tweeter, which is better for highs ?

[bgiliberti]

Originally Posted by susu

what is the best ear level for bass with the 804D2 ?
ears between upper woofer and midtone is better for bass than ears between midtone and tweeter, which is better for highs ?

Most manufacturers recommend that speakers should be positioned with the tweeters at ear level.