This is a follow-up from my 2009 review. I like these speakers so much I recently
bought a second pair on the used market. They replaced a pair of a/d/s/ 1090 towers, which are a pretty decent speaker.

The first pair I owned have constantly delighted me since I bought them. Almost every time I listen, I say "wow!". They provide great detail and a fantastic three dimensional soundstage. Spatial details are abundant. For instance, on the Bill Evans "Waltz with Debby" CD, I can tell that the drummer was on a platform, raised above the level of the piano and bass. On classical CD's and LP's, the soundstage and instrumental detail are amazing. I am running the new pair with an a/d/s/ powered sub, and the combo is outstanding. The lacquered walnut finish is beautiful.

Used, these speakers are a fantastic value for the money. You can pick them up for a few hundred dollars if you are lucky enough to find them. Give them a try - you can't lose. CSW is not a "big name" audiophile vendor, but this speaker provides big time performance.

These are very nice speakers, and a superb deal on the used market. I picked up my pair for $400 - lightly used in the box. The bi-polar speakers that are rear firing give this speaker very good imaging - I hear spatial details I have never heard before on familiar recordings. The dual 8" woofers give the speaker excellent, weighty bass into the low 30 Hz. range. Wide, wide soundstage with orchestral works. Tonal balance is excellent - voices and stringed instruments sound natural and real. Like any well designed speaker, they sound good with any type of music - rock, jazz, folk, classical. They are heavy and very well built. I am very happy with these speakers, which I use with Yamaha separates. I've had a lot of good speakers over the years, and these are among the best I've owned.

These are among the most non-fatuguing speakers I have listened to regardless of price. Acoustic instruments (eg., guitars and mandolins) sound remarkably realistic through these speakers.

Bass could be a little tighter and deep bass sounds best with the help of a subwoofer. On rock music, I sometimes miss the immediacy of a direct radiating speaker.

These have been my references for several years now. They are remarkably relaxed sounding, with fairly deep bass, a nice, accurate midrange, and smooth, non-fatiguing trebles. The bipolar radiation pattern gives up a little bit in terms of pin-point accuracy for a large and slightly diffuse but pleasing soundstage. Instrumental timbres are quite accurate through these speakers.

Customer Service

Never had to deal with customer service.

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Good all around sound quality, wide soundstage.

None.

If one doesn't take price into consideration, these are excellent speakers. Bass is strong while midrange and treble are resonably well defined. In my opinion a subwoofer is still needed for HT and bass heavy music (rap,techno..), but one could say the same thing about most any tower speaker without a built in powered subwoofer. Now if you do take price into consideration, at 899 they are a great buy. You could do a lot worse with much more expensive speakers for sure. As for the one star reviews, those are courtesy of GDS and from the similar language used on a few other negative reviews on other speakers in the Cambridge line, I'm sure he's been "reviewing" other products as well. He seems quite fanatical in any event, going in the face of professional reviewers of sites like SMR home theater.

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Ive heard Martin Logans, Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber, etc.

All-around great sounding speakers. Very good quality wood cabinets. Good leveling spike system. Price is unbeatable.

None to date.

I have always had B&W speakers since 1985 starting with the DM3000 series. I've been auditioning new B&W 804($3500.00) and 803 (5,000.00). I also took home a pair of Linn, Espek that sell for $3700.00 home to compare to the B&W's. After listening to these for several days I decided that the 803 were the best. Linn was second and the 804 third. I was ready to buy the 803's. I then received a sale brochure from Cambridge Soundworks. I had recently bought a mini system for my daughter last Christmas.(which I thought was one good sounding little system.) I looked at the ad for the Tower speakers, on sale from $1499.99 to $899.99. My credit card company also gave me an extra 20% off. So for around $720.00 and free shipping I decided to give them a listen. I had auditioned a few lower priced speakers in the range of $2000.00-$3000.00 (Infinity and Kef etc.)but had dismissed them because of the poor quality sound compaired to the B&W's. Cambridge Soundworks also gave me a 45 day return if I didn't like them. How could I go wrong? When I received them I hooked them up bi-wire to my Luxman amp. and preamp. The Tower speakers didn't have the cheap sound of the Kef or Infinity's. In fact they sounded better than the B&W 804's. I know I'm getting older and my hearing is not as good as when I was 20, but the Towers sounded great. I would rate these as one of the better speakers under $3500.00 range. My choice would be to buy the B&W 803's for $5000.00 for the better sound. But for a saving of over $4200.00 plus tax, the 803's can stay at the dealers showroom. I'm keeping the Towers and I'm extremely happy with them.

Robust bass, satisfyingly spacious soundstage (vertically and horizontally), smooth sound, realistic portrayal of live music recordings, tonal accuracy, and warm presentation.

Some may miss razor-sharp imaging and/or disapprove of the touch of warmth added to some recordings.

I was a fledgling audiophile when I purchased the Towers in April of 1997. Their bipolarity--presentation--made sense to me (though at the time I didn't know how few successful bipolar loudspeakers there were) and their looks were impeccable. Of course, CSW offered a thirty day trial--what did I have to lose? When I hefted the Towers into place in listening room, my system, fifteen years- old at the time, consisted of a MCS receiver, tape deck, and a Phillips CD player. My cabling was stock interconnects and very old Monster speaker cables. Nevertheless putting the Towers into my system was revelation. The soundstage was exhilaratingly huge, lush, and three-dimensional. Their presentation only improved with break in. Indeed, an audiophile friend, whose judgement I deeply respect to this day, dropped by for an extended listening session. Afterward he remarked, "Write the check." I did and I've never looked back. Later in 1997 I purchased Parasound separates. I've since upgraded my amp and transport twice, and my interconnects and speaker cables three times. My present set up includes Parasound JC-1 monoblocks (love 'em), Parasound P/LD 2000 preamp, Parasound CD/P 2000 Ultra CD player, Perpetual Technologies P1-A and P3-A with Monolithic Sound P3 Perpetual Power Supply, PS Audio P300, PS Audio Ultimate Outlets, Tara Labs Air 1 interconnects and speaker cables, and Polycrystal cable towers. With each upgrade or introduction of a new component, the performance of the Towers improved. Their tonal balance and accuracy is uncanny. I've yet to hear a loudspeaker with a deeper, richer soundstage. Their bass is rich and robust. The music I play is mainly classic rock, pop, jazz, blues, and country. The Towers ability to play live CDs is non pareil in my experience--venues are reproduced with spine-tingling realism;cabarets, stadiums, coliseums, clubs, outdoor amphitheaters--you can easily hear the difference. Crowd noise is realistic, too--no applause that sounds like Rice Krispies (snaps, crackles, and pops). You hear real cheers and handclaps. And the music stretches across the whole of the room. The Towers work well in small rooms (my present room is 15 by 13) as well as large ones. I recommend placing the Towers about 34 to 40 inches from the back wall (measuring from the front of the loudspeakers), with a distance of 6 to 8 feet between them, and toe them directly at the listener. Some may quibble with their warmth (a bright CD is tamed somewhat through the Towers). Others may miss the pinpoint imaging that many direct-radiating loudspeakers produce. By contrast, the Towers imaging seems more natural and realistic to me. Cambridge SoundWorks is not a status-symbol name in high-end audio, either. But to summarily dismiss the Towers for any of these reasons is to miss out on a gem. I've auditioned loudspeakers from such esteemed manufacturers as PSB, Legacy, Vandersteen, Thiel, Joseph Audio, Acoustic Research, Martin-Logan, Paradigm, and Meadowlark. None surpass the overall performance of the Towers. Sure, certain individual aspects of one model or another may surpass those of the Towers. But I have yet to encounter a loudspeaker in the $2k to $10K range that, taken as a whole, outclasses the Towers. This may sound bold or silly, but it is nevertheless my experience. If you want loudspeakers whose sound and construction are impeccable, whose performance stands up to equipment upgrades upstream, whose footprint is acceptalbe in most rooms, and whose value is astonishing, I encourage you to audition the Towers. I am willing to bet they will satisfy you in a two-channel set up as well as a home theater application. At $1499 they are a bargain; at $899 (seasonal sales) they are a steal. Plus you can try them out now for 45 days. Disclaimer: I do not work for Cambridge SoundWorks or Hifi.com. In fact, I've waited five years to describe my experience and satisfaction.

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I've listened to many other floorstanding models (some of the brands I identified in my review).

Deep rich bass and treble Great Price/Value Ratio

Heavy

After reading thru the many reviews, I wanted to give my input. First off, the goofball who wrote all the 1 star reviews is probably some immature disgrunted employee who got fired from CSW. I purchased my Towers nearly a yr ago from the CSW store. The mgr was very knowledgeable and highly recommended the Towers. I was fortunate to get a Bstock for $600(w/ tax). I have been absolutely thrilled and impressed with the sound quality of this speaker. I was impressed hearing the speakers at the store; much better than the Tower II and significantly better value than most other higher priced speakers including the Newton Series. I believe CSW is pricing it about $900 currently which is still a good price. I purchased a new Marantz CD player at CSW as well to match the speakers. I love the bi-polar design of front and back firing speakers. The music radiates throughout the entire room, not just front but back and side. I went to a Magnolia High Fi, Circuit City and Good Guys and compared the sound quality to the Towers. Nothing came close to the Towers in sound quality for the price. I listen to Infinity, Polk, Definitives and none at the same price point sounded as good. Overall, I have been very very pleased and happy w/ my purchases at CSW. Also bought the PS500 subwoofer which sounds amazing.

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Good Bass and Midrange presence.

highs too harsh and shrill, hard to move around at 70 pounds.

I had these speakers for a little over a month. The bass was good but not any better than my Infinity RS 2000.6 floor standing speakers. There was fine presence in the midrange but again, similar to the Infinity. But the Highs!!! I tried everything to improve the sound: Bi-Wire vs. single Toe-in vs. straight ahead I just could not stand the harsh and shrill highs these speakers produced. I phoned HiFi.Com twice for advice before finally deciding that I had to return them. I was only out the initial shipping charge since HiFi.Com has a 45-day return policy. You would think that a 70 pound speaker with 2 8" woofers, a midrange and tweeter in the front and back, plus a rear firing port would produce a better sound than the 40 pound Infinity RS 2000.6 which has 2 6.5" drivers plus a tweeter and a down-firing port. Well it didn''''''''''''''''t. I actually like the Infinity sound better.

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Clear open sounding mid-range and highs with astonishing bass, tight accurate and incredible extension.

no weaknesses

This is an update to my previous review. I just added a Sunfire Stereo Amplifier to my sustem via pre-outs from my Harman Kardon AVR75. While the Towers sound excellent with high current amplification from as low as 30 watts, the Sunfire's 300 watts extend the Towers to a new dimension. Increasing the already good imaging and soundstage to dead on precise, and crisply defined, respectively, while noticeably widening the sweet spot in the bargain. Detail at low listening levels is also substantially increased.

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na

Natural sound, very good at low volume

Heavy

These Towers are a spectacular deal at sub 1,000. Range is very good and the balance of lows to mids to highs is seemless. The efficiency is better than I expected, I am driving these with 120 watts, can't turn it past 3 O'Clock on the dial, too loud!!! These sound better than any speakers I have been auditioning over the past year. My wife is getting used to the rather large size but they do have a nice walnut veneer. My sub needed turned back when I hooked up the towers, the dual 8's go deep! The bipolar issue in my listening area gives me a larger sound stage , spectacular on DVD's. Only problem I have now is a need to upgrade my surrounds. Great sound, great price and warranty.
5 stars due to pricing and sound quality, no fancy titanium or undersized drivers, greta build quality and design.

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