Mids and highs are very clean and crisp. Look great.

bass. doesn't support bananna plugs.

Reading all of the reviews many people say "great bass" others say "no bass". I have to agree with the latter. For me, listening to music with my sub is a must. Am I doing something wrong? My brother the tube amp freak says it's my amp that won't push enough bass. Please weigh in if you have an opinion.

Wonderful imaging, great detail and spaciousness to all kinds of music.

When I find some I will let you know.

I loved these speakers from the first time I heard them. I was in the market for a large bookshelf speaker for my bedroom to match to my existing Cambridge Soundworks Basscube 8 Sub. The one suggestion I have is to amplify these with A quality amp. Not the run of the mill Sony/Kenwood/Pioneer garbage you can find for peanuts at the local Circuit City. I am running mine off of a Rotel RA 931 Integrated Amp. at 35 wattts a channel. Look into Rotel. You won't be sorry. The M80's sing with everything you throw at them. I can blast Rock, R&B, Rap, Jazz, or Classical and I have never been dissapointed. The are also awsome home theater main speakers. With either a stereo or HT set up I would recommend a Sub. These speakers put out great bass but a little low end reinforcement never hurt. Burn them in for at least a week and if you are a little afraid of extreme treble detail, leave the grills on. Take my word for it, these speakers are a steal. I have used or demoed almost everything in this category and the M80's are one of the best.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics C60, B&W DM602, Bose 301

Very deep bass for a bookshelf speaker, Good stereo imaging, impressive tweeter and midrange driver for a speaker of this price, real wood veneer enclosures look great, bi-wire option.

Doesn''t have a flat frequency response, they dont perfectly match any of CSWs Newton center channel speakers (but they still image well dispite that fact).

Woops, its seems that my trusty old Denon receiver was on its way to the grave when I tested these speakers in my previous review (I had to register a new name to post again). I went upstairs to listen to some cd''s, and the receiver is most definitely dead. I was extremely curious to test these speakers again, so I hooked them up to my ht receiver downstairs (an Onkyo TX-DS989). Wow, what a difference. The bass still wavered (still the bass reflex design), but now there was significant output at 35hz! Not to mention the sound is much more natural than before (this improvement may have to do with room accoustics as well). They have an efficiency of 86db so you need to hook these up to a fairly powerful amp/receiver to get the most out of these speakers. I really feel like an idiot, so I''m going to rate these 5 stars to make up for my error. I recommend these speakers to anyone who is looking for a good value (they are now $300), but if you are looking for bass make sure you have a good reciever.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics, JBL, Infinity, B&W, other CSW products.

Good stereo imaging, fairly impressive tweeter and midrange driver, real wood vener enclosures look great, bi-wire option.

Bass reflex design leads to inconstant bass response which cripples an otherwise good pair of speakers. Also they don''''t perfectly match any of CSW''''s center channel speakers.

I bought a pair of these for my bedroom (I bi-wired them of coarse). After getting over the beautiful enclosures, I am a little disappointed with the overall sound. After breaking in the speakers with regular use for a week, I preformed some simple tests that I use whenever I get a new pair of speakers. First the 200hz-20hz sweep; Very disappointing. The bass response was very inconsistent, with a big jump in volume at 100hz, and then it fluctuated from there until it barley reached its bottem end. The inconsistent response is defiantly from its bass reflex design (ported enclosure). I''''ll spare you from the rest of the "tests" that I did. Despite the disappointing tests, these speakers are great for home theater, or for music that doesn''''t demand much bass accuracy, such as rock music, etc. Woops, I got so caught up in putting down these speakers, I almost forgot to mention that the highs and midrange sound great, and they really shine in movies. Also when used as a stereo pair, they have good imaging. Despite some claims, a sub is a necessity with these speakers, as there is a significant drop in volume after 60hz. I would not recommend using these speakers as a solitary stereo pair. If you are thinking about buying these speakers, I would recommend checking out Boston Acoustics'''' cr85 bookshelf speaker, and speakers from other brands in this price range before making a decision.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics, JBL, Infinity B&W, other CSW products.

Very broad sound range, which seems impossible to be beaten. Realistic sound.

Just a little more bass??

These speakers are very good. Every type of music sounds clear, even hard music with lots of instruments, such as Staind and the Deftones. Classical, new age, and jazz sound great. I have yet to purchase a new receiver (I am using my lousy receiver from my mini system now). Even with a crappy receiver, these speakers still sound worth every penny I paid for them. I would recommend these to anyone with a room smaller than 20 by 20 feet

*good crisp sound *price

*could use a deeper bass *didn''t find them sooner

WOW! I love nothing more than sitting in my room and list3ening to music. These speakers are it for me! I had originally purchased the m60''s and I gotta tell you, for the extra $100 bucks these babies are worth it. Crisp and clear. I use for music and coupled with JBL10 subwoofer this is what it''s all about.(At least for the price. I had originally bought the sub for the m60''s. They need it. The m80''s? For my taste, I wish I would have held off ont he sub. It does enhance but really not needed.

1) Cost versus performance 2) Full/Rich natural sound 3) Balanced Sound 4) 45-day Listening/Trial Period 5) 10-year warranty

1) Large for a Bookshelf speaker 2) Logo/Label Pins break easy (all CSW products)

Very good all around speaker that does extremely well as stereo bookshelf speaker in a music system as well as a L/R main speaker in a HT system. Looking to replace my 20 year old Bose 301 II speakers that started to have cracking foam gaskets, I started looking at CSW systems and others primary for value and the fact that I have a fairly small room. I also considered the CSW New Ensemble III, CSW Newton MC300s, the newer Bose 301''s, the Polk 35Ti''s and a few others. The M80s did everything well. Are they the best speaker out there? Probably not, but they are no slouches either. And for $300, a real value. When compared to the Bose 301s, they had more high end punch and clarity without being harsh. The 301s were more muddied. The low end was also an improvement over the 301s with a tighter, more crisp response. I also demoed the New Ensemble III system against the M80s. The Ensemble IIIs were not even in the same league. The IIIs had a good sound, but they lacked base and fullness/richness. Also, the top end of the Ensembles is 18KHz. When coupled with a sub, the low end improved for the IIIs, but the richness/warmth and the top end just wasn''t there. The MC300s were also nice speakers as they had clean crisp high and low end punch, but lacked warmth/richness in the midrange. The 300s do well as a HT L/C/R speaker, but come up short for pure music because of the lack of warmth. I kept a MC300 for a center channel speaker for my HT system. The M80s yielded a very smooth, full sound that was not harsh nor booming. The top end is crisp and clean, and the low end annunciated with clarity. These speakers do everything well. I look forward to many years a pleasure from these.

Similar Products Used:

1) Bose 301 Series II 2) CSW Newton MC300 3) CSW New Ensemble III

Smooth voicing. Warm sound. Strong bass.

None - though I have not used them in a large space.

These speakers are neutral warm sounding speakers that should suit a wide variety of listening styles. I''m primarily classical, but play jazz & rock for visitors and mood swings. They don''t add artificial bass or brightness - you hear what was recorded. Ideal. They are quite impressive on some tracks I thought might be too demanding for a bookshelve to pull off. Compared to my CSW Ensemble they are in a different league. They sound warmer and have superior bass extension, though to be fair I have not made a side by side comparison in the same listening space.

Similar Products Used:

CSW Ensemble, Vintage KLH 6

fantastic sound, build quality, csw store policy

none

These speakers sound as good as anything in the under $500 dollar price point. Very well defined mids and highs, decent bass. One must keep in mind that these are bookshelf speakers, so don't expect room shaking bass. But the overall performance is excellent. These sound so much better than any other csw product except for the most expensive towers. I comparewd these to the NHT zero, there is no comparison, these are much better for about the same money. I have a pair of old "large" advent speakers that I hve been trying to replace with an equivalent quality speaker at a reasonable cost. I have finally found it.

I use the m80's as mains with a csw center stage and csw model seventeens for rears and a csw bass cube 8 sub. The sub is used only for HT since the M80's provide enough bass for most music.

Placement of the m80's is important.They should be at least 6 inches from a rear wall since the ports are in the back of the speaker. Any closer and much of the bass goes away.

Cambridge Soundworks is a great company to do business with. I upgraded my model six's for the entire purchase price even after owning them for18 months. What more could I ask for. Great speakers at a great price.

Similar Products Used:

csw model six, csw model seventeen, NHT, advent, infinity

Fit and finish, bi-wire/amp capable, adjustable tweeter/midrange panel,price/performance

None

I was looking into sub/sat systems for a new family room with the entertainment center built into a wall of shelves and cabinets, having been told that my old KLH towers would not be allowed. While looking at the CSW/HIFI.com site, I saw the M80s and thought they would be suitably unobtrusive and would require much less effort and fewer holes to drill in the new cabinetry, so I decided to give them a try.

When they arrived, the first thing I noted was the fit and finish. They are beautifully made, and the subtle curve of the grills and corners makes them, visually, much more interesting than mere boxes.

When I first hooked them up, I thought they sounded a bit harsh in comparison to my 20+ year old towers, but after a week of A/B'ing them, they seemed to get smoother. In fairness, I think a lot of it was that I was used to how the old speakers sounded.

Having passed that hurdle, it was time to place them on the shelves. The speakers are on their side; the tweeter/midrange unit is rotated with the tweeter below the midrange at roughly listening height when seated, as indicated in the manual. The clearance to the wall is about 5", not perfect, but adequate. Since my receiver (Technics SA-DA8N) supports bi-amping, I wired them that way, and am glad I did. It brought out much more detail in the bass and high end. I highly bi-amping or bi-wiring; the speakers are designed for it, so why not do it.

As for how they sound...very nice, very detailed. I have a rather eclectic taste in music, and find that these speakers reproduce it all faithfully. Imaging and soundstage are very good, even off axis, which is nice since only one person gets the "good" seat.I have not measured the frequency response, but the specs sound about right. I cannot understand complaints about the bass handling of these speakers. The low notes of a double bass are easily distinguished and musical; indeed, I have not heard any instument that did not sound natural on these speakers. Vocals, are especially good. I recently saw Annie Haslam (ex lead singer of Renaissance) do a Christmas show in a small church, and purchased a CD containing many of the songs performed. When I heard "Ave Maria" on the CD, it was like being back in the church; every note, every nuance was right. What has really surprised me is how many compliments we have received on the sound from guests.

They also handle movies nicely. Eventually, I may break down and buy a center-channel and some surrounds, but for now I am content with the M80s. They are unobtrusive, have a high wife acceptance factor, and sound great in the bargain.

For the price, $450, there are other very good speakers, though I think to match the M80 would cost closer to $600. If you can pick them up on sale for $300, they are a great deal.

Similar Products Used:

KLH 345 (circa 1979), B&W, Polk