This speaker system has a very "open" soundstage yet this speaker system remains invisible to the eye. I have not measured the frequency response, but my ears suggests to me that there is some emphasis in the treble. Luckily, the subwoofer produces bass that can keep up with the satellites. I think this speaker system would be an excellent choice for the bedroom, but as your primary speakers for your living room, there are other speakers in this price range with a more accurate frequency response that can produce the mids and high frequencies better.

Awesome sound. Both home theater and music sound great at an unbelievably low price. Perfect for those on budget or living in apartment building.

Does not get super loud and bass is not powered. That is not a strong weakness for me.

This is the perfect system for someone on a budget or who lives in an apartment building. I bought it about a month ago on ebay (refurbished from HiFi.com) for just $170 bucks. It took me about 2 hours to set up. The system works perfectly and has turned my living room into a surround home theater. My DVDs sound great and music is also top notch. This system does not have a powered sub so neighbors won't be too bothered. I would recommend buying something like this if you are a casual audio and home theater enthusiast, are on a limited budget, and live in an apartment with neighbors who do not appreciate their ceiling falling apart. An amazing value!!!

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Tested BOSE system at outlet but was way out of my price range. This system comes close at a fraction of the cost.

Big sound small package, Price, Value, CSW 10 Year warranty, Great placement flexibility

No real Low bass extension

At first I purchased the Ensemble II only to get them home and hooked up to find out that the satelites aren't magneticly shielded, and i was forced to mount them exceedingly far away from the tv in order to not distort the picture, I was pleased with the sound quality, imaging and bass, but due to the distance from the tv the speakers had to be, the WAF or (Wife Acceptance Factor) was very low. So I traded them in for the Ensemble 3, I thought i would be in for instant dissapointment, however these little babies can really rock, the bass extension is not the same as that of the ensemble 2 but c'mon who reall expects REAL bass from a passive s-woofer, these little guys sound pretty good considering their price point, I have listened to a few different systems for more and less money, and for music and HT with little cash outlay, the smart money is on this small but potent system, A note to any potential Ensemble buyers, the instructions clearly state that placement is paramount I played with the placement for about 4 hours before i got them to sound as they should, You will get little to no bass if you dont put the sub in a corner, and the satelites sound best against a surface, (Wall, bookcase Ect.) and set your reciever setting to small and let the sub make what it makes and that is mid-bass not true low bass, let your powered sub do the hard work. In my opinion CSW has the market cornered on value per dollar spent in this segment...Cheers!

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KLH, CSW

Value, Flexibility, Quality

Does not quite fill up a large room.

This review is for the New Ensemble III Home Theater package.

So far I am quite impressed. I only have the main and sub speakers in-use right now. My placement of the main speakers is not optimum, but nevertheless they sound wonderful and fill the room quite nicely for speakers of this caliber.

I auditioned several packages, and decided to give CSW a try. For $300 and a 45-day return guarantee, I figured I did not have much to loose. I chose this particular package because of the future flexibility it affords with the surround and center channel speakers. If you only need main and sub speakers, the New Ensemble II system will probably better suit your needs.

My system consists of a Pioneer Elite C91 Preamp with a Dynaco ST-70 Amplifier.

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Auditioned Sony, KLH, JBL, Bose

I bought these for my parents' library/den, a small (14'x8'), somewhat live listening room. My parents are not audiophiles but they listen to a lot of classical and vocal music, and are regular patrons of live performances, so they can appreciate good reproduction quality in an audio system.

For the money, this was a GREAT buy. ($300, including free surround cubes and center channel, which I plan to give away as gifts) The liveness in the treble has definitely mellowed after about a 3 month burn in, and the imaging has improved phenomenally, despite an awkward listening room geometry in which a TV set protrudes between the speakers in a position that should really impede good imaging. The overall tonal balance is quite pleasing. The bass unit doesn't knock your socks off, but it's not supposed to (this is not a home theater setup, it's for music listening, and classical music is not as artificially bass-heavy as some rock and pop). There are a few rough spots where the lack of complete coherence between the satellites and the bass unit is apparent, but this whole setup cost less than I spent on my interconnects.

We spent about an hour experimenting with satellite positioning to improve imaging, and with bass unit placement to reduce artificial boominess (anyone who's tried to place a sub knows that this comes with the territory). We used the "Ultimate Test CD" which I'd recommend to anyone. The CSW manual really stresses that good placement of the elements can make a huge difference - this is true for all speakers, but particularly for the sub/sat systems, where poor sub placement can result in terrible tonal balance.

The overall effect is a very satisfying full range speaker system with excellent resolution in the midrange and high end, for a lot less than the price of just a pair of satellites from most other manufacturers.

An important point often overlooked is the pairing of speakers with receiver/amp and speaker cables. These are paired with a good quality but *consumer grade* integrated receiver/amp from Pioneer, and Monster Cable stranded wire. It would be pointless to spend thousands of $$$ on speakers unless you also plan to spring for the $1500 amp and $10/foot speaker cable you'll need to get all the performance you paid for. No, the NE3's aren't audiophile speakers, but if you want a very satisfying *full range* speaker system for a modest price and a fairly small room, I can't imagine a better value. CSW has earned my respect as an engineer and audiophile.

Other reviewers found the less expensive Ensemble IV cube/bass system better because of its reduced brightness. I have listened to both (we have E-IV's in a secondary home theater setup, paired with a BassCube 8; have also listened to them with the "shoebox" bass unit), and the III's have MUCH better power handling and resolution when it comes to things like orchestral swells and wallops - the single-driver IV's just can't deliver clarity across that whole dynamic range. We also listen to a lot of Latin music, and the IV's sound a bit too warm to really enjoy the definition of multilayered Latin percussion. The E-IV's are also a terrific value at their price point, but the E-III's just sound better - they cost more and are worth it, IMO.

These won't do well if (a) you have a large listening room - they sound strident at high volume; (b) you demand a lot of upper bass range and *any* bass extension below about 40 hz - it's just not there, and at high volume it will sound choppy and unbalanced; (c) your listening room is VERY live - they will sound tinny. But carefully placed, in a smaller room, these are a great buy.

(For comparison: my own system includes Hales Rev 2 speakers, Marantz SR685 integrated rcvr/amp soon to be upgraded with a pair of Marantz monoblocks, Audioquest CV4 interconnects, and a Sunfire sub)

Don't really know what to say here, there are no good, strong points in this system.

Plenty. Thin bass, poor low-range coupling, irritating treble.

Y'know, Cambridge could have spent another twenty bucks in the production of this system and they might have emerged as real bargains. Every speaker design is a series of compromises. The trick is to know when to draw the line. In this case, too many lines were drawn. I read reviews elsewhere that stated one couldn't buy better than this for the price. I disagree. At this price and size range there are several good alternatives -- even the cheaper Surround Sound IV and Ensemble IV from this same company sound better. The "hot" treble steals the show here and dominates everything, and for some reason the so-so bass and midrange seem to disappear in a sea of high-frequency sizzle that proved extremely irritating. This system was a gift that I immediately exchanged for a better Cambridge system. The entire Ensemble line has been ruined by the awful tweeter used in both the II and the III. The "IV" series from this manufacturer are better buys.

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CSW Surround IV, Bass Cube 8, BAss Cube 10, Ensemble IV

Price, reputation, style, size

Just purchased my first complete set of HT speakers from Cambridge Soundworks. The package included 2 from Ensemble III fronts, Ensamble Center Speaker, 2 rear Ensemble IV and a 10inch Sub.
Hooked up the speakers to my system: 36 inch Toshiba Cinema Series, Yamaha RXV795A, Sony S530DVD, and Toshiba HI FI VCR with ease. Sounds great for my living room and handles DTS other extreemly well.
Although I think I am going to upgrade the rear speakers to match the Ensemble III. The Ensemble IV quality does not impress. It works but not as I hoped.
te happy with this purchase that fit my budget. I feel I can achieve better sound if I can position the speakers correctly using speaker stands (of which I do not own yet)

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