Differences in the lower midrange are best illustrated by looking at the CDM1 in comparison to the 705.


B&W 705


B&W CDM1

There is a key difference in the lower midrange behaviour of both speakers, I assume that the new PSB silver looks more like the 705, whilst the older model follows the CDM1 response characteristics. From the discussions I have seen here, some favour a slightly elevated midrange as evinced by the CDM1 and CDM1NT, whilst some other folks favour the more neutral midrange of the likes of 705 etc. Other factors have bearing, such as distortion, box noise, driver resonance, alignment etc. I know that RGA disagrees but box noise, more correctly cabinet resonance is most definitely evident in the AN sound and forms a key part of the basic sound signature, imitation is the best form of flattery and anyone who has followed the UK Audio press in recent months will have noticed that there is another player Bosendorfer on the market that regards the suppression of the cabinet vibrations as detrimental to the sound of a loudspeaker. On a humorous note, the Bosendorfer is a narrow baffled design , that follows the now classic Audio Physic approach of placing the woofers to the sides, but here only the side panels are allowed to go into controlled resonance, the very narrow front baffle (and some decoupling) ensures that the panels holding the tweeters remain fairly inert relative to the side panels. Looking at some subjective commentary on AA, it seems that both speakers share broadly similar strengths and weaknesses, their signature colourations decidedly favour solo and simple acoustic pieces.