Full range 3 way center/main speaker with 2 @ 6 1/2 drivers, a 4" midrange and a 1" tweeter in a solid enclosure. It can be biwired and plays flat to 65hz. Very visceral and you can hear the large bass strings and kick drums with a crisp fast delivery. Lifelike. The voices can be heard so clearly which makes it great for home theater and music. The tweeter was perfect during Pat Matheny's guitar picked all the way to the cut-a-way with the high notes so beautiful and lifelike I thought I was there. The midrange was flawless with Matheney's trumpet player using an open mouth technique and his hand as a mute with an effect which sounded like the breeze coming in from the ocean. Outstanding. Beautiful. I have my Denon 2801 set to large + sub. They sound better when played at their full range. I have owned many well know and moderately expensive speakers and the MC500 is a great speaker. I have invited my snooty friends to listen to them before they discover the manufacturer and they love them. Do not let a name sway you. Good is Good.

Some may say too large but you need the cabinet volume to match the driver size. The speaker looks fine atop my 42"Sony but it did need a bracket for the back end.

You may have to purchase different subs to keep up with the MC500.

GREATEST WEAKNESS. NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.

Beautiful sounding center channel with crystal clear voices and crisp tight highs.
It will play flat to 65Hz with a nice visceral impact during movies and beautiful midrange. I use 3 of the MC500 with the L/R mains placed horizontally at the ear level when seated and the center above the TV. Like all speakers they need to be correctly placed and they do require a break in period. Never judge a speaker directly out of the box. I let them play constantly at low volume for about a week and then kicked them up to reference level which they land I oved. With music they are awesome and with a combined speaker volume of 54" my movies are at-the-movies. My two 12" powered subs could not keep pace so I gave them to a friend and I purchased a Velodyne SPL 1200R. The combination is perfect and now I only need another SPL 1200R to complete the set. I originally purchased 5 because the price was just crazy but it was too much even for the 4200 cub ft
room so I sent 2 back. I have kicked myself enough so please don't add insult to injury because I want them back. The MC 500 sounds great. Thanks Henry.

Customer Service

Cambridge Soundworks stands behind there product. Years ago they made a claim that there speakers were as good as Bose at half the price and Bose was unable to make them retract the claim. Do some research on Henry Kloss and you will understand why there equipment sounds so good. I think the first generation Newton series was his last collaboration before his death.

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JBL L46
Kilpsch Heresy
Kloss Model 16
Kloss Model 17

Extremely musical and accurate. Can play at very loud levels if you like. Handsome cabinetry, they look very expensive and chic. Very high performance for the money...on par with extremely expensive systems.

Not exactly cheap. Good sized cabinetry needs a fair amount of room.

I decided to build the ultimate entertainment system using a Dell XPS 600 gaming computer. I already had numerous Cambridge Sound Works speakers and was already impressed with the smaller models. I purchased 5 of these monsters and the P1000 subwoofer. They flank the Dell 30 inch high definition monitor and provide the 5.1 soundstage. I'm using 3 stereo QSC amplifiers to power them. After living with this system for almost a year now, I am still extremely impressed with their musicality and clarity. They have no problem whatsoever filling the large area with gorgeous sound. Coupled to Cambridge Sound Work's P1000 subwoofer this system has few peers. I use this system to play iTunes, CD's, DVD's and games...and it handles all these tasks in stunning fashion. The Dell 30 inch sets atop a horizontally placed MC500 with a vertical MC500 flanking either side. The remaining two MC500's are place behind the listening area for the surrounds.

Customer Service

Have not had to use customer service.

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JBL 4430's, JBL 4425's, Cambridge SoundWorks MC300's and M60's, AR 303's.

For the price, I have not heard better. Very smooth and even effortless dialogue and movie soundtrack replication. An all around great center channel.

Nothing at all

I started out with Cambridge Soundworks lowest end system and kept upgrading over time (CSW has a 1 year anniversary upgrade program) until I was at the highest end home theater speakers that CSW had to offer. I literally had tried every center channel CSW made and I can say unequivocally this is the best I’ve heard from them. For the first time I’ve heard real bass from my center channel!

Sound replication is accurate. Dialogue is clear and crisp with no muddied sound like I’ve heard from other older CSW center speakers. I suggest using high quality speaker cables (as always) but the MC500 I found is rather demanding in that area. Moving from good quality 12 gauge speaker cable to Canare 4s11 bi-wire was a huge improvement. It is like a whole new speaker. I figure, since the speaker is bi-wire capable, why not use it?

In that room I’m using T300 CSW tower speakers, MC500 center speaker, P500 subwoofer, S300 surround speakers, Onkyo 777 receiver, Canare 4s11 speaker cables all around, Monster cable m1000i interconnects, etc. Not super high end, but definitely nice enough for a casual system.

If matched with other Newton series speakers, sonically the soundstage is seamless. I would definitely recommend this center channel to anyone who can afford the price, and who has other CSW speakers. I’m not a fan of mixing and matching speaker manufacturers in a home theater system. It doesn’t sound right to discerning ears.

I also have the Atlantic Technology 250.1 and 270 THX systems. I have to say, I like the MC500 as a center channel over the AT center channels in those packages. It just sounds…larger.

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Atlantic Technology System 6200 and other Atlantic products. Other Cambridge Soundworks Newton spekers.

good detail, sound natural

center channel almost the size (Volume) and weight of a 17" TV set. You need a ridiculously large TV to give appropriate sense of scale.

I have a pair of Advent Legacy II's. I was looking for something comparable for center channel. I am a big fan of Kloss so I thought I'd check CSW. Tried the CenterStage and was really disappointed. Sounded like sound coming from a box. Dialogue was muddled and flat or nasal (especially male). I can see that MC500 aren't the best speakers ever, but they really work well with the Advents (coherent with the side speakers) and (for movies) make up for their deficiencies (detail in background voices). I can turn volume way down and hear extreme amounts of detail represented well. I'm now as others who've bought the MC500 rewatching movie soundtracks seeing details I couldn't hear before. For music though, it's good to hear extra detail but center channel really screws up the stereo imaging. I feel I got my money's worth (I paid 325 dollars for the Advents in 1989- that's my benchmark).

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Center stage

Dynamic range, clarity of vocal reproduction. Great value. I defy anyone to find a better center under $500.

Size, if you dont have a 32" or better TV this is going to look too big.

I've been busy putting together a HT system, and have added the MC500 speaker as my center. The quality of sound is superb. The additional bass and dynamic punch that the two 6.5" midbass drivers add is very stiking. Even though this is an HT set up, it's also my main stereo too. I've since found that the 5 channel stereo effect is much more satisfing with this addition speaker. Remember to set the center speaker to large.

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Bose, Pinnacle

The best center channel I have ever heard, nuff said.

None, go buy this speaker.

Oh boy, what a speaker! Keep in mind my previous center channel (which is my rear center channel now) was a Bose VCS. That has four 2.5" speakers. Well, long story short the MC500 is the best center channel I have ever heard. It can take everything I throw at it from my Denon AVR2802 and more. Stop reading this and go buy this center channel right now! FYI: My dad even bought this center channel for his home theater.

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Bose VCS, JBL (the newest non-pro series)

sufficient lows to 60hz. Excellent midrange. Absolutely nothing to complain about.

none.

My experience with Cambridge's smaller sattelites has not been great. I was stuck in ignorance with my "center channel plus" not realizing what was missing. After years with my caveman tech pioneer reciever and the old center channel I finally upgraded. My upgrades (after much research) consisted of a Marantz SR-6200 reciever and the MC500 center. System consists of: Marantz Sr-6200 reciever onkyo dv353 dvd player Dish network PVR501 Sattelite recorder Cerwin Vega AT15's (huge!) Mc500 center Polk rti28 surrounds The mc500 blends surprisingly well with my 104 db sensitivity Cerwin Vega's. Its accuracy surpasses my Polks and has shown me the gap most 2 way speakers have. I am still rediscovering my music thanks to the mc500. It is clean and transparent. The lows are tight and can shake the house if need be. My main compliment is the increase in low end response compared to my old center. But after comparing these to my Polks and my cerwin vegas the mids are substantially better also. All in all I would not hesitate to replace my mains with mc500's except that I would have to invest in 2 powered subs to compensate.

Similar Products Used:

center channel plus, polk,

Stunning clarity,lifelike detail, projection

smudges easily when moved, a bit large and heavy

This speaker is amazing. Anyone who dismisses CSW should give a listen to their new, Newton series speakers. I have the MC500 as a center, a pair of Newton M80 bookshelfs as mains up front and a pair of Newton MC300's in the rear and they image seamlessly. The clarity of dialogue from the center channel has given new life to my DVD collection. I am hearing things I never heard before. The dynamics are enough to make your heart skip a beat. I got this on sale during hifi.com's greatest speaker sale but even at the regular price of 349.99, it's worth every penny! At $500 it would be worth it. I had previously owned the CSW Centerstage. While it was good with bass, I was straining to hear certain dialogue. I decided to check out the competition, because after reading the boards here it seemed a bunch of diehards dismiss the CSW line. I tried almost every brand I could find out there up to the $600 price range. While Polk, Paradigm, PSB and a few others all were great, honestly, none of them had that clear, dynamic presence and life-like clarity without being harsh after a few minutes. Theres a fine line between life like clarity and brittle harsh highs. This one has all the clarity without the harshness. Try it, you'll be amazed. You could certainly spend more money, and there surely is better out there, but not even close to this price range. For my ears, not even at twice the price. I have spent a bunch of time on this very website reading reviews, and even bought a few like the Image 9C after buying this just to further compare and there was no comparison. (The PSB Image 9C is one of the highest rated center channels on this board, I A-B'd it with the Newton and it was not in the same league. The PSB was full, but it's two way design lacked the dialogue clarity that the Newton MC500 will give you. And I was sure based on the reviews here I'd be digging the PSB. Well, it's back in it's box already on it's way back for a refund and the Newton MC500 has ended my quest for pristine center channel performance.
I am running this with the Onkyo 575x 5.1 receiver, the Onkyo 535 DVD and a Boston Acoustics subwoofer.
One note, I am not biased, I did try the Newton Series S300 surrounds and did not care for the dipole effect with 5.1 so I returned them. The Newton M80 bookshelfs that I use for the front L&R are phenomenal! After searching for what I will upgrade my rear speakers to, I opted for a pair of MC300's for the rears. I'll post a review on them too.

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Centerstage,PSB Image 9C, Centerchannel Plus, boston acoustics, polk cs series

Great Look, Clean sound at all levels. flawless with both thx sound and normal CD recordings

Heavy and bulky

Not many know about or give much credit towards Cambridge Soundworks. Most all of their speakers deserve praise. My experiance has been fantastic. The entire "Newton" collection is top of the line. Not only do their speakers perform above and beyond much more expensive brands their cost takes the cake.
I was comparing the Paradigm c350 but was over $100 more and in truth did not have the definiation that the CS does. Yes there are better speakers but the difference in cost is several hundred dollars. The "Newton" collection is the way to go for the most bang for the buck.
If you have any questions about these speakers drop me a line jasoncarrigan@hotmail.com

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Onkyo txds787, Onkyo DVs555, CS Newton S300,
FOR SALE Paradigm CC70 & Bose Reflex Book Shelf speakers Onkyo txds474