Mesanovic CDM65 Studio Monitor Review

[richard12511]

I haven’t owned these but their bigger brother the RTM10 are super creamers extremely neutral with real extension.
We had the GGNTKT M1s in the same period and the two made an interesting comparison.
Keith

A good comparison of constant directivity (M1) vs constantly increasing directivity(RTM10), since both do their thing so well.

 

[Ilkless]

Thank you, you are right, I had overseen see that there were two options in the spinorama, now it is more comparable to the D&D from 250 Hz and above (although the D&D cardioid goes lower) :View attachment 414620

DD controls directivity lower because of larger baffle, larger drivers, presence of side vents and rear-mounting woofers.

But what the Mesanovic does very well is bringing the fundamental principle down to a much lower price range and smaller form factor with still significant directivity control.

And what I would also highlight is that it offers a very good monopole mode. It's basically designed from the ground up to be both a good monopole in its own right but also provide meaningful cardioid with just a change in DSP parameters.
That, other than the lower price, sets it apart from Kii, GGNTKT, Geithain and DD. The flexibility with a monopole DI match that is also very good:

To have baffle size, driver configuration and driver placement optimised to give both meaningful cardioid and good monopole performance is remarkable.

 

[Breeze98]

KH 150's sound power response is horrible compared to its competitors.

Another problem with KH 150s is that they do not have a great sound power response for farfield listening. (sound power is the highest determining factor for farfield listening sound quality) While the KH 150s can sound great in nearfield settings, their sound power is too non-linear for farfield use.

Yet no mention of this in Amir's glowing KH150 review. What gives?

Predicted-far field response is still quite good:
View attachment 248931

 

[Blockader]

Yet no mention of this in Amir's glowing KH150 review. What gives?

Normalized graphs make it easier to see what’s really going on in measurements. Notice how uneven the sound power response is compared to a smooth linear roll off.

Take another look at the sound power response: looking at it on its own shows how non-linear it is. Ideally, it should roll off smoothly at a steady rate from 200 Hz to 20 kHz. I like -1.2 dB per octave, though some people think -1.0 dB is better. Either way, it’s a long way from that ideal right now.

 

[dfuller]

View attachment 416750
Normalized graphs make it easier to see what’s really going on in measurements. Notice how uneven the sound power response is compared to a smooth linear roll off.



View attachment 416751
Take another look at the sound power response: looking at it on its own shows how non-linear it is. Ideally, it should roll off smoothly at a steady rate from 200 Hz to 20 kHz. I like -1.2 dB per octave, though some people think -1.0 dB is better. Either way, it’s a long way from that ideal right now.

Actually, I agree with this. It rolls off too steeply in the mids (300-~1.5k it appears to slope closer to 3dB/oct which is very steep!), it has a hole around the crossover point, and then the WG being a CD design means it basically flattens out (a hair under 1dB/oct for a rough estimate) above that. It averages out okay - but from people who don't like it, they either hear it as kinda scooped in the presence region, or as "dark and also harsh" (which is how I hear it).

The CDM65 on the other hand has a much smoother handoff to the tweeter, remarkably so in fact for a non-coax effectively two way design, and the SP slope is much more linear (not perfect, mind, but very good).

 

[PGAMiami]

I am just very picky with value ever since picking up day trading

If you get really great at day trading, or better still at investing, then your time will be too valuable to read this forum, and you’ll be best off seeking advice from a high markup vendor and buying what they tell you to buy …

 

[deni]

I wanted to share an update on our prices for the CDM65. We are now offering them direct to customers in the USA only via our Reverb Store.
Prices:
$3999 per pair with Stereo Hub included
$3799 per pair with no Stereo Hub
$3499 per pair for Demo Pairs (like new condition) Limited stock that will be available periodically

We are working on setting up reasonable shipping costs for Europe and we'll provide an update for when that happens.

Reverb Store: https://reverb.com/shop/mesanovic

 

[samysound]

any plans to offer the the RTM10 customer direct as well?

 

[Grotti]

I wanted to share an update on our prices for the CDM65. We are now offering them direct to customers in the USA only via our Reverb Store.
Prices:
$3999 per pair with Stereo Hub included
$3799 per pair with no Stereo Hub
$3499 per pair for Demo Pairs (like new condition) Limited stock that will be available periodically

We are working on setting up reasonable shipping costs for Europe and we'll provide an update for when that happens.

Reverb Store: https://reverb.com/shop/mesanovic

Any news on that matter regarding Europe?

 

[andrew]

I wanted to share an update on our prices for the CDM65. We are now offering them direct to customers in the USA only via our Reverb Store.
Prices:
$3999 per pair with Stereo Hub included
$3799 per pair with no Stereo Hub
$3499 per pair for Demo Pairs (like new condition) Limited stock that will be available periodically

We are working on setting up reasonable shipping costs for Europe and we'll provide an update for when that happens.

Reverb Store: https://reverb.com/shop/mesanovic

Wow - The price here in Australia is AUD4750 ea (with no Stereo Hun) which is about USD 6210 per pair! Any plans for direct to customer for Australia?

 

[Grotti]

Wow - The price here in Australia is AUD4750 ea (with no Stereo Hun) which is about USD 6210 per pair! Any plans for direct to customer for Australia?

The price in Germany is 3149 Euro per piece (including VAT) or 7356 USD for a pair. Hence my question as I saw the prices.

 

[rirelien]

The price in Germany is 3149 Euro per piece (including VAT) or 7356 USD for a pair. Hence my question as I saw the prices.

I looked and the reverb store had nothing. Were those b-stock? Sold out?

Perhaps Mesanovic are dealing with tariff complications. If so, I fear for those of us outside the US, these will not be good options. A pity because they’d be on my shortlist for an upgrade.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I wanted to share an update on our prices for the CDM65. We are now offering them direct to customers in the USA only via our Reverb Store.
Prices:
$3999 per pair with Stereo Hub included
$3799 per pair with no Stereo Hub
$3499 per pair for Demo Pairs (like new condition) Limited stock that will be available periodically

We are working on setting up reasonable shipping costs for Europe and we'll provide an update for when that happens.

Reverb Store: https://reverb.com/shop/mesanovic

Is the Wisa Hub needed to access the Cardoid/Monopole mode, or is there another way to do that? And is the DSP also usable in such a "wired mode"?

 

[rirelien]

Is the Wisa Hub needed to access the Cardoid/Monopole mode, or is there another way to do that? And is the DSP also usable in such a "wired mode"?

Best answer would be from Mesanovic directly, but we can guess a little. Because Mesanovic are using the same Platin plate amps, DSP + transmitter platform as Buchardt, and because Mesanovic's intent is to have these work for studio applications where they will be wired and where cardioid would be useful, I guess that:

- The crossovers, tuning and DSP for cardioid/monopole etc modes will be in the DSP on the plate amp
- The WISA hub would allow additional DSP based on measurements for room adaptation ("room correction").

But let's hear from them directly!

 

[JustJones]

Is the Wisa Hub needed to access the Cardoid/Monopole mode, or is there another way to do that? And is the DSP also usable in such a "wired mode"?

Here's the Manual. Looks like it ships in Cardioid mode and you can change modes by uploading with USB drive direct to the speaker. Room correction is only wireless through the WiSA hub. At least that's what I understand from the manual.

 

[rirelien]

Here's the Manual. Looks like it ships in Cardioid mode and you can change modes by uploading with USB drive direct to the speaker. Room correction is only wireless through the WiSA hub. At least that's what I understand from the manual.

Makes sense. Similar to Buchardt, and as I speculated above too. Thanks for confirming! I had a quick look on website but didn’t spot the link to manual.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Makes sense. Similar to Buchardt, and as I speculated above too. Thanks for confirming! I had a quick look on website but didn’t spot the link to manual.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I thought of looking at the manual and verified tunings can be changed by inserting the USB flash drive into the slot on the back of the plate amp. I'm familiar with that process from some of my other gear, and it's easy to do an makes sense.

Now, especially with the drastic price break you get with direct from mfg buying, I feel very safe to say that they're not getting NEARLY the love they should be. They are a fantastic speaker offering a unique feature (Cardoid) at a very, very reasonable price. They literally do nothing wrong.

 

[deni]

Thanks for the questions. The cardioid/standard mode can be changed using the usb drive on the rear amplifier plate. We have a video showing the process and it is explained in the manual. The room correction app is part of the stereo hub and can only be used when using the stereo hub.

We don't currently have any B stock available, but when we do they will be listed on the reverb store.

We've been working on setting a flat rate shipping cost to Europe, but it has been difficult to do so with quite a bit of cost variation between different countries. If you need a shipping quote you can email us directly and we will provide one for your specific location.

 

[rirelien]

Thanks for the questions. The cardioid/standard mode can be changed using the usb drive on the rear amplifier plate. We have a video showing the process and it is explained in the manual. The room correction app is part of the stereo hub and can only be used when using the stereo hub.

Thanks for the answers -- thank goodness my speculation was not completely unfounded.

We don't currently have any B stock available, but when we do they will be listed on the reverb store.

We've been working on setting a flat rate shipping cost to Europe, but it has been difficult to do so with quite a bit of cost variation between different countries. If you need a shipping quote you can email us directly and we will provide one for your specific location.

Good options!

You also have dealers in Europe still, I think -- is your model to do both direct and via dealers?