Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series P500 Subwoofers

Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series P500 Subwoofers 

DESCRIPTION

Dual 8" subwoofer

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-9 of 9  
[Dec 04, 2003]
B Scotland
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The finish & the ability to "infinitely adjust" the sound- I love the phase control

Weakness:

could probably use more snob appeal for those that confuse their ears & their wallet

For the price these are truly unique. While my Paradigm sub is good these are truly musical & with the ability to play with the sound the Newton has become my favorite piece of equipment. It is paired with Cambridge Towers which it compliments perfectly.

Similar Products Used:

paradigm, yamaha

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 26, 2003]
scoob-5
Casual Listener

Strength:

Solid output into the 25-30 Hz range. Excellent power from the BASH amp. Tidy little package with excellent finish. Separate module for tweaking.

Weakness:

None really.

On our recent HT upgrade I acquired this sub and a whole new set of speakers (B&W DM602 s3, B&W LCR600 s3, Cambridge s300 sides, BIC America DV52si rears). In my room the P1000 would have been better, but I wanted to experiment with 2 subs and bought a Velodyne CT100 off eBay for the side sub position. In short, the P500 rocks and rolls unbelievably for a box this size. The 500 watt BASH amp produces excellent power and the dual 8" drivers reproduce the low stuff very accurately. Before the Velodyne arrived I teamed the P500 with my old AR S12HO and measured useable bass down to about 28 Hz. Good, but not as low as I'd hoped. When the Velodyne arrived, I played around with the crossover for both of the subs and achieved useable bass down to about 21 Hz. That's more like it. The bass module that comes with the P500 is one of the reasons I considered it. I want the flexibility of tweaking the sound from my sweet spot instead of doing it a little at a time and experimenting incrementally. Asking the wife to help is out of the question. The module allows for all of that and now if I feel the need, I simply reach over to my little table and grab the controls. Since it's close to me and the other sub, I can make almost infinite adjustments very quickly. While the price is high enough to put this in with some well-respected competition (HSU, Velodyne SVS, etc), I think the output stands on its own. And the addition of the separate bass module makes it a deal worthy of the price.

Similar Products Used:

AR S12HO Velodyne CT100

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 07, 2003]
foodaone
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Built like a brick. Minimal vibration felt on the cabinet. Very clean and accurate bass. High output, small size and great home trial period. Beautiful to look at.

Weakness:

Metal grill over the drivers under the cloth removable grills.

This is the only powered subwoofer that I have ever owned so I am not able to compare it to much. I can only compare this to two powered subwoofers that I have had in my truck. Both of the subwoofers cannot muscially compare to this little tiny subwoofer. The output is just as high as the twin 10" Kenwood subwoofer in a 6th order bandpass enclosure with a 75W/ch Alphasonic amplifier. And that subwoofer can knock my clock off the shelf. But, the P500 doesn't do the same thing while giving me the same kind of bass hit. It does it with lots of finesse and the bass notes are accurate, distinct and athletic, never muddy. I've never heard bass notes like this. I swear the floor vibrates but I can not hear all the notes that causes all the vibrations. It must produce notes below my level of hearing. But like I've said, the walls doesn't have to vibrate so much and yet, the heavy bass can be had. In fact, I can make the music so bass heavy that even I don't like it anymore. It definitely beats the New Ensemble II's passive subwoofer that it replaced. The bass control module isn't as ugly as some will have me believe. In fact, I like it and it's very convenient to have all the controls right up front. The ingeneous design of using RJ11 phone cord as a signal conduit is perfect. Though, I have noticed the subwoofer talks to itself (hum and mumble). I think it's from the power cord to the bass control module being too close to the Monster audio cables feeding the module. I've since moved the module power cable away from the audio cables and it's almost gone away. It is very hard to pick up but my left ear is very sensitive. I confirmed that it must be a design issue since at I could detect the same thing at the store, but barely. I even had a friend tap on the on/off/standy switch on the control module. I can hear him electrically through the subwoofer. If the switch wasn't made of metal, I think that would have prevented that particular test. I use the P500 with two MC300s connected to an Adcom GFA5500 amp, GTP450 tuner/preamp and GCD750 CD player. I use the Monster HT3500 as my line conditioner. I have the tuner/preamp connected to the audio input of the control module and then the highpass of the control module to my amp. I could not detect any musical coloration so I have left it that way. It's better than connecting the amp the speaker input of the control module, I think. I've never heard bass down below about 35 Hz. That's got to be one of the explanations as to why the bass in my music sounds so much better with the P500. I just brought this subwoofer home to try out and I ended up keeping it after solving the minor hum problem that most people wouldn't pick up. It was a B stock item and was worth a try after I inspected it at the store. I don't like the fact that UL required a metal grill to be installed in front of the drivers. The grills are removable but the beautiful drivers are covered with a metal grill. I would have removed them but I can't see them at home anyway so I left them alone. The sales clerk was nice enough to verify that they can be removed in the store by physically removing them with a philips screw driver. That is my only gripe, that damn metal grill covering the nice drivers. The power cord was too short for me, about 6 feet. The male plug on the subwoofer is three prong, like one on a computer power supply. But on the other end, the plug to the wall was only the two blades with no ground. I replaced it with an 8 foot 14 ga. with ground power cord. My line conditioner is the top most unit and the subwoofer is on the floor. I also used a Monster Cable RJ11 phone cord to connect the subwoofer to the control module. The module is placed on top of the subwoofer.

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 01, 2003]
Mike
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Strong, tight bass you can dial in to perfection. External breakout control box. X11 wiring saves cash on sub cables and provides clean clean signal. 500W dual 8'' woofers are high quality. Lastly and least importantly- three real wood finish choices.

Weakness:

List price pushes this sub into some stiff competition. Wait for a sale or push the sales guy for a deal.

This subwoofer has really impressed me. Tight and clean bass are easy to dial in on the external control box. Control box remote made adjusting from music to theater volume levels easy as well. Although I spare my downstairs neighbors from it, the sub can also rattle windows and shake plaster from my walls. I found a sale and got a deal on it. When I listened to the entire line from basscube10s up to P1000 the newton series excelled... in the newton series moving to the P500 from the P200 also made a significant difference. In my 13X13 room the P1000 would've been overkill. Anyway... I went nuts shopping for a sub, so I thought I'd share. The newton series CSW subs are really well built and sound great. Clean amps too, I strayed away from Velodine because friends reported buzzing from the amp during silence.

Similar Products Used:

All the CSW subs were tested, the JBL PB10, a velodine, and a Boston Accustic.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 28, 2002]
hau22
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Everything

Weakness:

None

WOW

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 09, 2001]
Kevin
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Clean, deep bass
Good looks
Very "musical"

Weakness:

Ugly separate control module

I just traded up my BassCube 10 for the Newton P500 because I heard it was much better musically. It definitely is. Instead of hearing just a low boom when someone plucks an upright bass, you can actually hear a finger on a wound string. I've got it matched with the Newton MC200 fronts, and it's really a gorgeous musical system. I'd highly recommend the combination for anyone in a smallish apartment that wants amazing, accurate sound reproduction and a huge soundstage.

Similar Products Used:

CSW BassCube 10

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 06, 2001]
Jason
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very Musical, Beautiful Finish, External control module, Small Size,

Weakness:

None so far.

This is the most musical sub I've ever heard. The reproduction of stringed bass instruments is perfect. For home theater it might be a little too musical, If thats possible. What I mean is there is no harshness in an action scene at all. When something explodes in a movie it sounds like the sub is singing the sounds to you instead of reproducing destruction. After wathing several movies like The Matrix, and Saving Private Ryan that demand alot from a sub, I've decided that thats not a bad thing. I've pushed it until the anti clipping circuit kicked in and never did hear a single mistake in reproduction. I've heard alot of subs that sound as good, but they where either twice as big or twice the price. I've even heard some that sound better but where insanely expensive. In the bang for the buck catagory this sub cannot be beat.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Polk

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 01, 2001]
Richard Prestwich
Audiophile

Strength:

Mates very well with dipole planer speaker. Very musical.

Weakness:

Cheap control box. Ditto for power cord to sub.

I wasn't expecting anything close to the performance that this small sub delivers. Tuneful, powerful and mates well with speakers that are traditionally difficult to add a sub to, i.e. Maggies. The sub filled out the bottom end of my small MMG's to perfection and don't sound slow or disassociated from the main speakers at all. Overall, I can't think of a better sub for most applications at the price that are as capable as this sub is. A tremendous value. If you need a good sub, don't hesitate to try this one out, I can't see how anyone could be disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

Small Velodyne...blah.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 21, 2001]
franko
Audio Enthusiast

amazing output for such a small lil pup. 2 big hairy thumbs up.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-9 of 9  

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