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New member Username: Tycash187Post Number: 1 Registered: Jan-05 | i have a question regarding bookshelf speakers. i need to purchase two bookshelf speakers for my future home theater/stereo system. they will be my rear channel speakers. my preferences are probably something with a very deep bass since i listen to mostly rap music, but something that would also make movie-watching exciting. my budget is around less than $200. also they need to be somewhat small, but not required. your feedback would be much appreciated for i am a novice at this and intend to expand my knowledge. thank you. -tycash187 |
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Stealth C Unregistered guest | I would suggest a look at Cambridge Soundworks, whose Newton Series M50 and 60's are both currently on sale. I forsee that some people will also suggest Paradigm, Axiom, and Ascend products. All of the above are fine products. Note: The M50 is on sale for $130 a pair right now. |
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Bronze Member Username: Jim_mcbobPost Number: 28 Registered: Nov-04 | Stay away from Cambridge Soundworks. Awful, harsh, boxy-sounding. Mid-fi, at best. CSW are better at marketing speakers than they are at designing and making them. The poor man's Bose, without all the scientific mumba-jumba. The other suggestions, Ascend, Axiom, et al, are much better places to start. |
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Stealth C Unregistered guest | Youre out of your mind Jim Bob. First of all, what "marketing" are you referring to? I see few if any adds for CSW. Axiom on the other hand has a huge add blitz, and every review site one visits seems to have a few axiom adds and a good review of one of their products. And harsh? CSWs are typically described as one of the most laid back speakers around! As for boxy sounding, if you get a 25 dollar cube, yes it can be; if you get something halfway decent, its not so boxy sounding anymore. And as for a comparison with bose, CSW, even at 500 bucks for a complete system, reproduces the complete audible spectrum without gaping holes. Not only will CSW sound as good as the Ascend, Axiom etc, they will look a hell of a lot better to boot. |
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tp4ever84 Unregistered guest | Paradigm Focus's are very good 6.5" mids and 1" tweeter. In store they sale for around 160 each. If you want something cheaper you could check out the Titans or smaller Atoms. If those are still higher then your budget I would check out www.fluance.com they get tons of great reviews but I've never heard them myself or and the csw m60's specs look descent but they also cost around 180 each but the model 6 book shelfs look more in your price range (99 bucks at http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=spk_bookshelf%26i tem%3Dc1m6bkpr) and have 8" woofers for that bass you like. If you get them and they sound like shet don't look at me I've never heard them the only ones i've heard are the Paradigms and those do sound awesome. If you go with them please leave a review for us all. |
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Stealth C Unregistered guest | I wouldnt really suggest the Model Sixes as surrounds, they are more made as main speakers and the imaging on them isnt as good as the Newton bookshelf speakers. CSW does fortunately give 45 days to return their stuff if it does not meet your approval (beware though that return shipping isnt included). If you live in northern california (like me), or new england, this isnt an issue though. |
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Bronze Member Username: Jim_mcbobPost Number: 29 Registered: Nov-04 | Stealth: You're free to love what you have, and have what you love, but can the name-calling, please. I HAVE CSW speakers. Also, marketing is NOT just limited to print advertising, but includes the purchase of retail display space, owning a chain of retail stores, forming "partnerships" with big-market sporting franchises (in CSW's case, the Red Sox), sales promotions, catalogs, mailing list purchases and maintenence, e-commerce sites, affiliate programs, and, yes, banner and print ads. (For what it's worth, one practically cannot spit and miss hitting an ad for the CSW table radio.) So, yeah, I'd say CSW goes pretty far afield to flog their products. For the record, I have owned Ensemble II and M60 systems (the latter were left behind when my parents bought a vacation home; otherwise I would NOT have repeated the same mistake of buying CSW twice), and found both speakers terribly harsh, with the Ensemble sats astonishingly shrill. Others I've spoken to use the word 'fatiguing' to describe the listening experience. Side-by-side, the $299/pr M-60s sounded like crap compared to the $270 m2t Axioms that my wife purchased for her studio. I expect a similar result when I compare the M-60s with the CBM-170 by Ascend--I have a pair on order for use as mains in a sat/sub system. If you've come looking for someone to reaffirm your choice of speaker, that's one thing. But don't accuse me of being out of my mind because I've developed through experience a strong dislike for CSW speakers. I'll say it again: I (emphasis on 'I') have found them to be harsh and boxy. Never once, despite great efforts at finding optimal placement, did I forget that I was listening to music from speakers, rather than just music. Henry Kloss must be rolling in his grave over the way CSW--owned by the knobs who make SoundBlaster cards and other mid-fi mass market crud--p*mps out his name and image. But CSW speakers do have nice exterior finishes--especially considering that they're mass-produced in a Chinese factory. |
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Stealth C Unregistered guest | Its not so much that you think they sound bad that I have a problem with. The fact that you think your opinion is the only one that counts, and the fact that you specifically say not to even TRY them is the irksome part. This is why I gave a list of speakers to try out in my original post. If he compares the CSW with something else, then and doesn't like them, fine. If he finds them superior to them, it's to his benefit, not mine. "Also, marketing is NOT just limited to print advertising, but includes the purchase of retail display space, owning a chain of retail stores, forming "partnerships" with big-market sporting franchises (in CSW's case, the Red Sox), sales promotions, catalogs, mailing list purchases and maintenence, e-commerce sites, affiliate programs, and, yes, banner and print ads." How exactly is owning a chain of retail stores or an e-commerce site advertising? and the catalog and mail order business? They operate a business. Operation of a business isn't really considered advertising in and of itself Jim Bob. Out in here in California, Cambridge has no retail advertising space despite the fact that they have retail stores out here. No billboards, nothing. And show me these banner adds and I will show you five Axiom adds. "(For what it's worth, one practically cannot spit and miss hitting an ad for the CSW table radio.)" They only have one major competitor in this market, whose advertising budget is vast. They have to advertise or else drop the product. "Side-by-side, the $299/pr M-60s sounded like crap compared to the $270 m2t Axioms that my wife purchased for her studio. I expect a similar result when I compare the M-60s with the CBM-170 by Ascend--I have a pair on order for use as mains in a sat/sub system. " Do a double blind listening test and I'll care. Psycho-acoustics go a very very long way. "I'll say it again: I (emphasis on 'I') have found them to be harsh and boxy" In your original post, you did not say I. "Stay away from Cambridge Soundworks. Awful, harsh, boxy-sounding. Mid-fi, at best." You stated it as fact. You did not say, this is my opinion, here are other alternatives to try (which I had already provided in any event). And as far as pricing goes, the M2i is currently 280. The CSW M60 is 180. |
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Stealth C Unregistered guest | One last thing, if you hate your CSW system so much, why have you not sold it and obtained more Axioms instead? Furthermore, why did you not return it in the 45 day trial period? Why did you buy not just one CSW system but TWO!?!?!? Did you compare them previously to other speakers? Something sounds awfully fishy to me. If I hated a speaker I sure as hell would have returned it and purchased something I did like. |