I've owned the Ensemble satelite/subwoofer system for about 8 years now. It has followed me through tiny New York apartments, a loft, and now resides happily in my home. What has impressed me most is the system's versatility. Over the years I've learned the importance of speaker placement, and I've been able to obtain beautiful, natural sound from this system in each environment. Since I'm primarily a classical/acoustic music enthusiast, I especially enjoy the naturalness and openness of the sound. Much of today's popular music is exaggerated in both the high and low frequencies, and if you're a listener who likes to maximize the exaggerated highs and lows, this system will probably disappoint you. What I love about the system is that a voice sounds like a voice, and a cello sounds like a cello. The quality of the construction is excellent. I can't help but think that Henry Kloss had a listener like me in mind when he designed this system--excellent, natural sound at an affordable price.

Nice Satellite, price was right, many wiring options

Too many pieces to place, midbass is thin

I build my system through college and picked up pieces as I went along. I mean for the price, it was a good deal. I guess sometimes, ignorance is bliss. I went over to a friends and he had a M&K THX speaker system, and WOW! But, I don't have that kind of money to blow. So, in the context of what I spent, these were really good for my use. I have them hooked up to Yamaha 2092, and NHT SW2Pi. Pretty satisfied, until I upgrade to Paradigm Monitor 9's.

This pair is an okay product, the satelites are not producing detailed sound and the pair of 8 inch sub are too weak to produce bass. I recommend boston acoustic speakers over this

Free trial and return policy

Sound

These got good reviews (in the places I looked), they were reasonably priced, so I bought them. I figured I'm not an audiophile, Im sure they will be nice. Actually, I am not going to knock this system because for someone, they fit the bill nicely. But what happened to me was that I had a feeling while listening to them that music could be played better. At least better than disjointed waves eminating from two (oh sorry, forgot the subs) four tin cans. I never really got into audiophile stuff because I thought it was expensive and wasteful for my ears. But I guess having these speakers helped to move me in that direction. You see I thought that when music gets pretty good, like what I thought the CS Ensemble would be, its good enough. But I was left dissapointed. I felt like I had a cheap tinny glofified radio for a system (had them hooked up to a Onkyo 100w receiver). After spending some time with better systems, I started to see what all the stereophile fuss was about. Yup, music can sound really good! For not that much more! You just gotta know what to get. The CS remind me of the Bose AM5's I see everywhere. They are out there posing as "high end" for the uneducated masses. I'll bet they sell lots of these units. But they dont really play music. There are lots of systems that make these things look like junk, ya just gotta get out there and listen (I settled on a nice set up from NHT). But if ya wanna just buy cause you believe a review, and you are lazy, then order up. But if you are like me, you will find yourself making a trip to the UPS counter and paying for a return. Thankfully, CS is very nice about returns.

Great value for money, excellent for music

For the money - none

Looking at some of the reviews below I can't believe some of the comments. One guy compares the ensemble to $1400 speakers and seems to expect the same performance. I've owned these $400 speakers for over five years now and fcertainly for music, I have yet to hear another speaker come close to the performance of the ensemble in this price range. I also own Near 10M's and have owned Bose AM5's and neither of these compare. I have recently purchased M&K's S150-THX speakers for my home theater after using these ensembles for HT for five years. After comparing the ensemble to the M&K's in stereo I will continue to use this inexpensive ensemble system for listening to music.
Of the ensemble subject, CSW surround speakers are also excellent value for money. I was not impressed with their center channel speakers (lacking detail).

Similar Products Used:

Near 10M

Excellent Imaging, Clear Highs, Solid Lows, Full Midrange, Compact, Inexpensive

None

I recently bought the Ensemble system refurbished for $200 and I have to say that I am extremely happy with these speakers. I have them in my dorm room at school and they provide an incredible overall sound. The sound is clear, the imaging is fantastic, and there are no gaps present. The compact size makes them great for tight spaces, and they were surprisingly loud for such a small system. I stand by my word 100% in saying that you will not be disappointed with the Ensemble.

Definitely Classical (especially strings), Imaging, Jazz.

Not much of bass

My Experience:

My first set of speakers were Infinity 2-way bookshelf speakers (don't remember the model, but it was a 2 way system with 3/4 in tweeter and 6 in. mid) I purchased at around 1991 when I was still in colllege. Nothing but acoustic suspension design for me.

And then, my parents purchased Infinity Renaissance 90 in 1994 for about $3800. Truly awesome speakers! See the reviews about them. Very very very accurate. Wish I could have one of these. Anyway, I still listen to these about once a month when I visit my parents.

My New Ensemble vs. NHT Super Zero:

Then this year, I purchased CSW for $400. For the price, these are good speakers. Imaging is quite good. Better than the NHTs I purchased two months ago. I purchased the NHTs after reading about them here to use them as either the main satelite or rear, depending on the sound quality. So, I've been comparing the NHT Super Zero with the CSW continuously for past two months or so with my wife, who used to play cello.

We listen mostly to classical and jazz. Also, using the system for HT.

However, after coming back from an orchestral performance last night, the final verdict is this. The CSW out performs NHT Super Zero. CSW has better imaging and is more accurate for classical (especially strings). In that regard, I must disagree with John below.

We listened to Mozart's Le Nozze Di Figaro's first few movements last night (The English Baroque Soloists directed by Gardiner, from Archiv). Again, CSW is better than the NHT.

I'm not knocking on the NHT though. The Super Zero are good speakers, but my wife and I think CSW is better. The Zeros are good for $275 I paid for (Zero has more base), but if the CSW can be matched with a separate powered sub (for which I am currently shopping around), the CSW will be better than the Zeros.

The CSW are not without weakness. I was told that the frequency range for the CSW is 40 ~ 18k Hz, +,- 3 db. However, it sure doesn't sound like it goes down to 40 hz. So, I am definitely investing in a good powered sub (currently looking at NHT Sub Two and Velodyne).

For $400 I paid for, I am a bit disappointed with the CSW because of the lack of the bass. But for vocals, strings and horn, it's a pretty good set of speakers. But if you are going to purchase these, you should get a powered sub also (that's the case with NHT Zeros also; Zero is designed for use with a separate sub.) I just feel that Cambridge SOundWorks should've been more honest about the New Ensemble. The 8 in "subs" are not really subs.

My setup:

Onkyo TX-DS 777 (good stuff even if you have to pay $1000 for it)
Sony DVP-S530D DVD player.

Similar Products Used:

NHT Super Zero, Infinity Renaissance 90, Infinity Reference (2 way Bookshelf speaker)

I won't knock these down to Bose level. My friend has this setup for movie speakers. (he has a seperate audio system)
I was not greatly impressed with these on movies. The subwoofers kill Bose. The sattelits are considerably more detailed and full sounding, though there was an apparent frequency gap between the sub and satellite and rather hard but under extended highs. With movies the bad characteristics were not nearly as obvious, like with classical music. The soundstaging was poor when we played music through them. The tonl balance seemed to be off,as well. Overall I think this is a good setup for movie soundtracks. If you are considering Bose, listen to these first. They are better than anything that company has.

Surrounds provide good and accurate sound reproduction and volume. Very good mid-range.

Weak paired subwoofer bass output

Like many of the reviewers comments, I was excited to learn of the paired acoustical subwoofers. I assumed that paired subwoofers would create a sense of directional bass for my dts/dolby digital home entertainment system. This assumption was correct.

I also assumed that paired subwoofers would provide a higher level of bass. This assumption was incorrect.

Like many of you I kept moving the subwoofers around and hoping and praying that after the burn-in period, they would perform better. This did not happen.

Fortunately, I travel a lot and happened to end up at their main store in Newton, MA. It was there that I learned the paired subwoofers are no stronger that the acoustical bass that comes with their low end speaker packages. I also learned that by them being split, I actually lost bass production, since the paired subs had a single pan, where as the low end item was double panned allowing for slightly more bass production.

I was advised that the paired subwoofers would not be adviseable in a home entertainment environment, but would best be used in a stereo environment, where the demands are less and the direction is limited.

It was at this moment that I realized I wanted the paired subwoofers to do something they were not designed to do.

Initially, I felt misled, but realized that they never made the claim that they would produce more bass, I just assumed it and made myself disappointed.

I am sharing this review not as a knock on CSW, because I have enjoyed their products problem free for years at a price point that is relatively unmatched for the performance, but none this less, I did not want people to make the same assumption mistakes I did.

Look into on of their powered subs, they provide much better performance.

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble IV

Excellent sound, excellent value

At $400? None.

Disregard any negative review you've seen here. The construction is solid, and the company is excellent to deal with. If someone isn't satified with these speakers, either their expectations are unrealistic (for a system at this price) or they didn't take enough time to set them up.

Placement is key. I spent 2 weeks experimenting with this.

I will admit they could benefit from a bit more bass in the under 50hz area. However, these speakers have plenty of bass -- clean, distinct, and loud IF you place them correctly. The manual discusses this adequately. For maximum bass, put each woofer on the floor in a corner. Other scenarios may provide less bass, and depending on your room, that might not be a bad thing.

I'm a professional musician and recording engineer. I've been a critical listener of music for more than 30 years. These are not the best speakers I've ever heard, but you would need to spend considerably more money to experience even slight improvements. In my humble opinion, it wouldn't be worth it.

Ignore the audiophile snobs. This is a great sounding system at a great price.