If you check my review of the CSW Ensemble speakers, you will read that I was quite disappointed in them until I added the new BassCube 10. And that was exactly what they needed. This little sucker really has power; I'm running it at 4 in a good-sized room. I've got all the power I could possibly desire for deep sound effects from movies. I'm surely less fussy and educated than many people posting reviews here, but I do care about great sound. This subwoofer is everything I hoped it would be.
It took me a long time to figure out that CSW routinely has cheaper prices than are in the catalog. On their web page there is a red banner that says something like "Great Speakers, Great Prices." Well, it doesn't look like it, but that thing is a clickable link. It takes you to the ordinary sale prices (not the so-called "Web Specials"). When I found that site I learned the current price of this subwoofer was $319. Helluva deal!

As stated by an earlier poster, this speaker is a great improvement over the powered subwoofer II. That was my first sub, coupled to an Ensemble II setup for home theatre. The PSW II was unacceptable, vibrating and distorting on every explosion, or deep bass incident in a film. Cambridge Soundworks did allow a refund after several months of use. At the beginning of November, I added the BassCube 10. Powered by the Harman Kardon AVR 75 (see those reviews, a steal-deal at $567 from OneCall), the sound is now very good. My music system, with an older Yamaha amp and Koss CM 1030 speakers (from the late '70's) was always superior to my home theatre sound. While still better sounding, the difference is now not so great. The sub smooths out the musical sound of the system as well as it kicks up the bass of movies.
Cambridge is selling these now for $300. At that price, it is a good value.

Cambridge Soundworks Powered Subwoofer
At home in England I use a downward-firing REL Stratus II ($1000)- very nice and very accurate down to about 35 Hz flat (and about 6db down at 25 Hz). My friend here has just bought a Harman Kardon AVR55, partnered with CSW Model 6's. We used two sources: regular AIWA CD player linked via optical TOSlink output to the HK (and thence to the HK's onboard DACs), and DVD player linked via Dolby AC3 connectors.

When I auditioned his new system with a couple of CDs and DVDs I know well, there was no real deep bass at all and the slam and impact of some passages was totally absent. Where were the 64 foot pedal notes of Norwich Cathedral's organ? Where was the deep deep sound of Engineering on the Enterprise? Where indeed were the gutsy bass notes felt (yes felt!) on the Blue Nile's Hats album?

I explained what he was missing and we went out and auditioned the CSW Powered Subwoofers - both the 12 Cube and PSW. Given that the apartment is rather large we concluded that the 12 cube was a touch lacking in muscle and opted for the PSW (without slave). I wish I could have taken a photo of my friend's face when he heard and felt the PSW in his new system. Blue Nile were back with a vengeance, as was the Enterprise and the 64 foot pedal stops.

Having listened to the subwoofer for two days now I must say I am impressed with this product. Sited in free space it is very neutral and accurate. In fact, the PSW performs better than my REL (probably because my listening room is smaller than my friend's and prone to standing waves from very low bass). Subject to a caution about different room acoustics, there is more of an airy, unrestricted and slightly more accurate delivery from this unit when compared with my REL. Be cautious with the level control though, and if your normal speakers go down to 50Hz or so, select the "55Hz" low pass setting. See also the important advice in the CSW manual regarding the LFE output from an AC3 amplifier - that advice is extremely important if you do not want to cut off the LF response of your stereo speakers prematurely!

Well done Cambridge Soundworks for an extremely well-made, designed and competitively-priced audio product. I unhesitatingly award five stars at this price point and up to $1000. Now to partner them with the slave...

Only 70w RMS. Very wimpy. By a 4 ohm reciever (like harmonKardon) and a subwith a couple hundred watts or more, high SPL rating, and 20Hz deep bass, not
35Hz, and large size(15+inches). Save a lot of money and get much louder bass.

I'm amazed at the positive reviews on this. I got one as part of their Movieworks II system. The rest of the system is quite nice, but the Bass Cube 10 had terrible hiss that I could hear from 20 feet away (even with the receiver turned off). I complained, they sent me a replacement, and the replacement did the same thing. Frankly, I have to give a very low rating to a speaker that makes obnoxious noise when there is no signal.

Hey, If you are interested in getting some serious bang for the buck, this is the way to go. I started with the PS2 and immediately called Cambridge and told them to take that piece of junk back. They relented and even refunded my shipping charges (both ways) when I went to the 10. This sub is a nice moderately priced unit that sounds excellent with my Ensemble II system and Harman Kardon receiver. I have heard it bottom out on rare occasion but I still believe it gives you, "More than what you pay for it" performance. I also know that I can't get this kind of performance from anything in this price range anywhere else. If you aren't trying to shake the foundation and annoy your neighbors but still want to hear movies the way they were intended to be heard, this is the one unit that will make you happy.

Good bang for the buck, not to mention excellent warranty for the speaker (10 years; amp is 2 years).

Base Cube 10
I purchased the CSW Base Cube back in December only to quickly return it. THe low price may attract many new to the hometheater market, but buyer beware. This sub only works well in small rooms that are not open, and with low to moderate listening levels (don't try to approach theater levels with this sub). I found that the power rating was way too weak (I can only feel sorry for the poor souls that have purchased the Base Cube 8). The sub seemed to bottom out on virtually music source, and movies were only worse. Then I returned it (Base Cube 10) for the Base Cube 12 (I know this is a review for the 10, but this is what happened). Still no good. I do realize that I have a much larger room than the testing area at the local Cambridge Sound Works store and it is not anyware nearly as closed, but I was expecting much better response from the 12. My final thoughts, Energy has a 10" sub (soon to have a 12") with 1000 watts total power for just slightly over $1,000. It would be worth the wait to save for a little while longer to purchase something with more power (when I heard the Energy sub, it was the poening for the Zorro movie, it nearly stopped my heart). Once again, these CSW powered subs are better for smaller rooms, closed rooms or low listening levels (at moderate to low volume levels, this sub is just right only while sitting right next to it). Even the monster Powered Sub (coupled with the Slave sub) does not do justice to scenes like Event Horizon's opening fly over (or Independence Day's for that matter). A large dissappointment from a company that has really outstanding speakers (the Tower line is priced perfectly [see Mirage Omnipolar speakers], a set of four makes the absolute finest small scale home theater).

Finally! Cambridge Soundworks discontinued their Powered Subwoofer II and III! They replaced those awful things with two new subs, the Bass Cube 10 & Bass Cube 12. I must say that this Bass cube 10 is a huge improvement. It doesn't play as deep as the PWD SUB II, but plays cleaner, more accurately, and costs $50 less! Finally, I can say that Cambridge Soundworks has made an inexpensive ($350) MUSICAL subwoofer. They have made other improvements to their product line, which I won't state here, but I'm glad to see they are caring more about high-quality sound.

Great natural sounding bass, good versatility, cheap, cheap,cheap

Dials hard to read, That dreaded hum, and pop

This sub rocks the house and leaves you with change to spare! My dad has a huge Energy Sub so I know what a good sub should sound like, and this one sounds good. Not too boomy, just real accurate bass. Output dial on 5 and cross set to 100 it wails. I have the CSW ensemble 2 and I liked the sound, but you have to crank the bass on the reciever end to get any appreciable bass (Iknow it's passive not powered) but it lacked real bass extension for HT/loud music. This rig really kicks it up several notches, with my front sats switched to small it allows the ensemble sub (passive) to concentrate on what it does best, mid-bass and the BC10 pupms away I just watched Gladiator and felt enspired to pass on the good word, even at full price this thing is a steal at 250.00 The only neg is the pop when you switch it off, and the low level hum when you switch off the reciever's power, could that be cause my cable run is like 45 feet? I have read several reviews that had similar gripes, it's annoying but I can live with it given the overall performance of the sub. If you like great bass for music and HT this sub will and will allow fit the bill and the bonus is that you don't have to lay down the long dough... Cheers!

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Paradigm,