Very smooth yet detailed. Deep, natural voice tone. Sound great at low volume levels. Great bargain if you can match it up correctly.

Cambridge does not have sats or floor standing speakers that are a perfect timbre match for these things! You have to mix and match different speakers with different woofers and tweeters and hope for the best. Also, I got a different answer from everyone I spoke to there.

This is an amazing center channel that is warm and smooth yet detailed - a rare find. If you are like me and hate scratchy, hissey tweeters and an overall thin and raspy sound, this center is for you. The trick is properly mating this center with front and rear speakers as Cambridge does not have a system that matches this center! They have fronts that "sound like" the Centerstage but has different woofers and tweeters... I'm going to try to mate this thing with the Model Six up front and "The Surrounds 5.1" in the rear.

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Kef, JBL THX HT series, Definitive tech.

Great natural sound, especially for the money.

A tad warm in female voices, but is that necessarily a bad thing?

I really like this speaker. It has real warmth in this range, maybe a little more than necessary in female voices, but overall wholesomeness. The dual ports add to this. This is a big speaker(wife doesn't like that),25x6x8, but the 5 1/4's make the size worth it! I have the Ensembles(which may be a little weak in the midrange)as mains, but the CenterStage completely makes up for this in surround, and 5(?) channel stereo.

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CSW Center Channel Plus(boo-hiss, a real weakling)

Lots of sound.

none.

What can I say? LOVE IT! Great bargain for the money! Nice clean crisp sound! Lots of power too!

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KENWOOD VR-6050 RECEIVER, BOSE 161 SPEAKERS FOR REAR, SONY SSM-F600H FLOORSTANDING FOR FRONT L AND R. JBL PB10 POWERED SUB. PANASONIC DVD.

Rock Solid HiFi Sound in all modes... Rock Bottom pricing

Made in China??? What's up with that???

I have just upgraded to the CenterStage from the Center Channel Plus.....What a difference 115 dollars can make!! This speaker sounds like a million bucks! I can't believe I was missing so much. I configured it as a "large" speaker with my Denon AVR 2700, and I hear no evidence of straining or harshness. This is the final touch for my home theater speaker suite. All CSW of course (and all Henry Kloss designs).Thinking of buying some fancy name speaker???? People, repeat after me: A FOOL AND HIS MONEY SOON GO SEPERATE WAYS. These speakers ROCK!! And with the pricing these days they are literally a steal!!! Sweet Sweet Sound for pennies......... Give it a try. You WILL NOT be dissapointed

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Center Channel Plus configured as "small" speaker

Accurate sound reproduction, good bass response, great value, especially the refurbished units on Ebay.

It requires alot of space, but the trade off for sound makes it worth it !

I purchased this to go with my ensemble II speaker system and Harman Kardon AR25 amp. I could not be more pleased. Sound is crisp, Bass response is excellent, and voices sound clear and natural. I would recommend this speaker to anyone wishing clear sound.

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CSW ensemble II center

Versatile sound reproduction, dual ports give you a deeper low end. Five-way (gold plated) binding posts, removeable grill cover, 10 year warranty. Solid build quality.

The high-end could be a little brighter for Home Theater. Has to be placed on 32" or larger TV (this is minor in my set up, but if size is a requirement this speaker may be too large.

Great styling, great overall sound reproduction (especially on the low end), blends in nicely with my Mirage OM-10 Main Speakers. This speaker reproduces male or deep voices very well in home theater modes, however female voices or higher pitched voices are not quite as bright. Does an excellent job with music (Jazz, R&B, Light Rock, etc.) in 5 channel or multi-speaker modes. I previously owned the CSW Center Channel Plus. I was not happy with it''s sound reproduction in Home Theater or Music modes and returned the Plus and upgraded to the CSW Centerstage. CSW has a great return/upgrade policy. In my opinion, there is NO comparison between these two speakers. The Centerstage is far superior to the Plus in all aspects for only about $50 more.

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Cambridge Sound Works Center Channel Plus

Performance and price.

None

For the price I paid it is outstanding. It is a little large when you first look at it but when I put it on top of my Pioneer SD533HD RPTV it got rather small in appearance. The sound is everything thta I wanted from it and it blends in very well with my Paradigm 7SE MKII''s. Couldn''t be more pleased. This was a "refurbished" item more than likely just a returned item. Not a mark on it. Pristine condition. A lot of bang for the buck!

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Paradigm CS 150

Strong, clear sound

Just installed - I don't know, yet

I just installed this one - I just wanted to let readers know that hifi.com had (and still has, as of 8/18/00) a great price - $199.00. The sound is great and it performs for music and home audio (DVD) equally as well.

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Altec Lansing

Adequate bass, clarity. Very affordable.

At high volumes becomes very "hissy." Not as crisp as the new MC300 center.

I just want to tell you folks who are interested in buying a center channel speaker that Cambridge Soundworks is now having a huge local store sale (not on the internet) as of September 1, 2001. The centerstage lists for $199, but now it is $129! What a deal. This center channel was CSW flagship center for a long time (over 5 years~!).

I just bought the speaker a couple of days ago and it is really nice. It is deep in bass and crisp in the midrange. It has nice dispersion, and the music with it is decent. It is best used in dialog or where is a lot of vocals.

I would use this centerstage for movies and watching TV, but probably not for music (especially classical or jazz). I find that the timbre in this speaker is a little flat. I think the higher frequency of this speaker is attenuated compared to my mains (Model Seventeen and Warfedale SP-83). That isn't a fault of the speaker; I think that a center stage shouldn't be used for music anyway.

The new Newton MC300 center was also on sale when I went to buy the Centerstage, so I compared them. The Centerstage has more bass up front, but the MC300 has more tonal clarity. At high volumes, I start to hear hissing at the Centerstage, but the MC300 was still static-free. With voices (especially males), the centerstage was deeper and I like that more; so I end up buying the centerstage. Moreover, since I don't have any Newton speakers (like the compact MC200 or MC50), I think matching will be better with the centerstage any my larger/older speakers.

Without further manure, I would like to advocate that CambridgeSoundworks (CSW) does good business. I was treated very well by their rep., unlike at Bestbuy where I was always ignored. I think that consumer values and support should be considered when purchasing expensive electronics. Furthermore, CSW has a full range of speakers that can satisfy the majority of Americans out there. Give it a try.

Folks, I also highly suggest a very clean amp/receiver for this speaker. My Sony STR-DE445 A/V receiver is just not doing it justice. When you have 5+ speakers hook up, you'll need the juice.

My system:
Toshiba 27in TV
Sony STR-DE445 receiver
Motorola digital TV box (AT&T broadband cable)
Front speakers: Wharfedale SP-83
Rear: Cambridge Soundworks Surround IV
Sub: Cambridge Soundworks Basscube 8
Center: Cambridge Soundworks Centerstage

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First center channel speaker purchase, but audited the Newton MC300. Have tried using the Surround IV as center but it's too small.

Great alround imaging..good base.

none

I recently upgrade my center channel plus to the center stage and what an amazing difference. Playing the Eagles DTS is simply amazing. The bongo drums simply come alive compared to the center plus dull thumps.

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cambridge sounworks center channel plus