You have a very nice little speaker there, with enormous potential.
In my experience the CDM-1's can sound just a little congested in the mids and a little aggressive in the highs when paired with low to medium priced solid state gear. The answer is to go with tubes (as the local B&W dealer does), and then the CDM-1's will blossom.
We've all seen ads where a solid state amp is claimed to have "tube-like warmth and musicality". But when was the last time you heard a tube amp billed as having "solid state-like warmth and musicality"??
In the upper price ranges, solid state can rival tubes. But in my experience that never happens in the lower price ranges, where tubes are much more musical than solid state gear.
It's really not fair of me to make a blanket recommendation without knowing for sure what your priorities are, but I'm extrapolating from your choice of speaker that you value quality over quantity, and in my experience your speakers do the quality thing best with tubes.
In my experience the CDM-1's can sound just a little congested in the mids and a little aggressive in the highs when paired with low to medium priced solid state gear. The answer is to go with tubes (as the local B&W dealer does), and then the CDM-1's will blossom.
We've all seen ads where a solid state amp is claimed to have "tube-like warmth and musicality". But when was the last time you heard a tube amp billed as having "solid state-like warmth and musicality"??
In the upper price ranges, solid state can rival tubes. But in my experience that never happens in the lower price ranges, where tubes are much more musical than solid state gear.
It's really not fair of me to make a blanket recommendation without knowing for sure what your priorities are, but I'm extrapolating from your choice of speaker that you value quality over quantity, and in my experience your speakers do the quality thing best with tubes.