Bower & Wilkins Intros High-End Ceiling Speaker

The British maker, whose designs for home audio and home theater systems are an accepted reference standard worldwide, adds the new CCM818 to its impressive lineup of installed speaker options. With technologies derived from B&W’s world-famous Nautilus family, the new model offers an exceptionally high standard of performance from an in-ceiling location.

The round CCM818 combines an 8-inch version of B&W’s acclaimed woven-Kevlar® cone bass/midrange driver with an offset 25mm aluminum dome tweeter—another B&W icon—with cleverly integrated Nautilus™ tube-loading. To eliminate reflections from projectors or other bright light sources the bass/midrange cone in the CCM818 utilizes Blue Kevlar. The unique tweeter “enclosure” eliminates coloration and “smearing” artifacts from the driver’s back wave, with the audible result of startlingly clear, dynamic, and transparent reproduction—from a ceiling speaker.

Of course, a custom-install speaker is much more than simply the sum of its drivers. The CCM 818’s angled bass/midrange baffle permits designer/installers to orient it for optimum coverage and tonal accuracy at the listening position, even when less-than-ideal speaker locations must be used. The B&W design’s new flush-mount format, including recessed tweeter, provides an unobtrusive look.

And B&W’s simple but effective swing-out “fixing dogs” make installation fast, secure, and efficient. Frame diameter is 11 inches, with cutout requirements of 10 inches by 5.4 inches mounting-depth.

The new B&W’s 8Ω impedance delivers a stable, easily driven load making it “friendly” even to less powerful distributed-sound installations. Just the same, with careful installation and suitable system components, the CCM 818 is a true rarity: a ceiling-type custom-installation loudspeaker that can truly achieve sound quality rivaling that possible from high-end freestanding speakers.

The B&W CCM818 is finished in matte, paintable white, with perforated-aluminum grille. It will be available in September 2007, at a manufacturer’s suggested price of $800 each.
About Bowers & Wilkins
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) is Britain’s leading exporter of loudspeakers, and is also the number-one imported brand in North America. Since 1966, B&W’s "Quest for Perfection" has resulted in a succession of technical loudspeaker innovations that have satisfied the world’s most demanding listeners. B&W’s rave reviews and universal acceptance as the monitor for classical music recordings have helped B&W become the dominant premium loudspeaker company throughout the world.

For additional information visit www.bowers-wilkins.com