The CM8 is compact and slim – it occupies a similar footprint to the diminutive CM1 bookshelf loudspeaker. It is a true hi-fi loudspeaker, a three-way design, with twin dedicated bass drivers providing low-frequency extension and power. It also utilises Bowers & Wilkins’ FST Kevlar midrange drive unit, which adds precision and clarity to the vital midrange performance.

Because Bowers & Wilkins designs and builds its own drive units and cabinets, both can be designed to work together. This allows the engineers at the Research Establishment in Steyning, West Sussex to use first order crossovers, which have only onecomponent in the chain. This lets the engineers spend many, many hours of listening time rigorously auditioning a variety of components and selecting the ones that provide sound quality.

The CM Series also benefits from longer voice coils and larger magnets than the 600 Series that sits below it. This provides the speakers with more punch and attack, but also cuts down on distortion.

Standing only 960mm tall and with a width of a mere 165mm, the CM8 is a very modestly proportioned loudspeaker, ideal for when space is tight. It features a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, which utilises Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus tube-loaded technology. A single 130mm woven Kevlar cone FST midrange unit handles the crucial mid band, while a pair of 130mm paper/Kevlar cone bass units deliver controlled and extended low frequencies. Just as importantly,CM8’s elegant cabinetry hides a carefully tuned and braced enclosure,minimising resonance to ensure the drive units are able to convey unadulterated, accurate sound. B&W’s Flowportä bass-reflex design helps maintain control of bass frequencies particularly at high output levels.

The CM8, which replaces the long-serving and well-regarded CM7, is a very fine stereo loudspeaker designed for critical audiophile listening, but it’s also completely at home as the main speakers in a multi-channel theatre system when partnered with the CM Centre and CM1’s at the rear, and either the matching ASW10CM subwoofer or the PV1 subwoofer.