B&W CM1's vs. ERA 5's

I work for a B&W dealer but the ERA's are better sounding to me.

Only thing to think of is in 3 years the B&W's will hold on to most of their value where as the ERA's will be well below that.

The best is to listen to them. Find a good dealer to help you.

Another way took at what Duane said, is that you can get a great deal on used ERA. I am a big fan of the ERA 4.

The ERA's are voiced by Micheal at Aerial and I am a huge fan of Aerial.

Actually the drivers were designed by kelly, the speakers were voiced by the owners of ERA. THey use a ARCAM AVR350 as a reference to voice with. I have a set of D4's as rears and D5 in another room. I've never heard the CM1's so no opinion there.

I stand corrected. I thought Kelly voiced them as well. The Arcam is incredible sounding and one of the most under appreciated products out there. We have one at the store I work at and it gives nothing up to any other receiver.

I haven't heard the ERA 5 so can't comment. I have heard the CM1s which I think are very good. The speaker is very dynamic and detailed, though a tad bit on the bright side. Bass is adequate, though not as substantial (for a bookshelf) as say the 685. For HT, they would definitely need a sub, but I think one would help for music as well. Where the CM1 excels however is the top end and midrange. The kind of speaker that works well with almost all types of music (maybe not bass heavy hip-hop without a sub). Also incredible imaging and soundstage for a bookshelf.

Best thing to do however is to demo BOTH the CM1s and the ERAs to see which one suits YOUR taste best.