Price Paid:  $92.00 from hifi.com

Summary:
I got the speakers to use as monitors for my dj setup, they have worked out pretty good. I paid 92 bucks for them, and got the shipping free because of a promotion that hifi.com was running at the time. They have tight bass, which was a suprise for the size of them, and crisp highs. If they are placed close to the listener i would recoment turning the treble down. They sound the best with the bass turned down and with a powered sub, because bass tends to distort at higher volumes. I thought that the grates weren''t removeable for the first few months i had them, but i eventually got them off. Undernieth is nothing special, paper woofer with rubber suround and a tweeter that looks exactly like the ones on my klh 12 inchers.

Strengths:
good value and sound, exceptional sound for the size

Weaknesses:
low power handeling, (could just be my crappy pioneer reciever distorting)

Price Paid:  $60.00 from Hifi.com

Summary:
Cheap set of speakers that sound pretty decent. Good frequency response and bass response for an acoustic suspension speaker with only a 5 1/4" woofer. Treble is limited, but that's no surprise in a sub $100 speaker. Don't pay retail of $150-200 (whatever it is)--at that price you can do better, but during sales at Hifi.com and on ebay, you can lock into a pair for under $75--they're a great deal for the basement, the garage, bedroom, etc... or if you don't require great sound.

These can run straight up against their competition (Bose, Polk, JBL, KLH, Sony), and outperform most of the sub-$100 speakers. These are far better than the sub-sat combo's these companies put out (including the entire Cambridge Ensemeble series, which all are very fatigueing and have gaps in freq. responsiveness). Perhaps not as strong an image as the acoustimass series, but don't pay Bose inflated price for a bunch of paper tweeters that cost $10 to build. These will give you a better overall performance, particularly on upper mids which the acoustimass series misses entirely (as does the Cambridge ensemble series).

If you're going to spend over a $100 look at the Paradigm Atoms or equivalent.

Strengths:
Price, appearance.

Weaknesses:
No removable grills, binding clips.

Similar Products Used:
Everything--realistic, optimus, JBL, Bose, AR, Polk, and the good stuff too (B&W, M&K, Paradigm, etc...).

Price Paid:  $59.00 from Hifi.com

Summary:
Well, I got these speakers as my brother for a christmas present. And I was sitting there staring at the box for about 5 min after I got them via UPS 2nd day air from Hifi.com's ebay division. I just couldn't resist it being the audio enthusiast that I am; I had to take a quick listen. Well this quick listen ended up being an a couple hours of breaking in the speakers and then just relaxing and critiquing them. I listened to some Rock, Pop, Alternative, Punk, Rap, R&B, Techno, (pretty much just name it). I thought that it did a decent job handling a broad variety of music, but hey let's be realistic here, they aren't quite like my $600 Klipsch Tower Speakers. I listened to them also with a subwoofer (Klipsch KSW-12, I know for anyone that knows this sub, it's probably a little out of these speakers class, but why not), and it really helped where these speakers left off in some of the rap and techno music that i listened too. I was impressed though by how much bass these speakers put out when correctly positioned and tweaked. When they were placed in corners firing in at about a 70 degree angle the bass got much deeper and noticeable! I had them hooked up to both a Onkyo TX-DS595 (75Wx5) and a Onkyo TX-DS787 (100Wx6), sounded about the same on both. For the price these speakers won't dissapoint you as long as you just want them for casual listening at volumes where you aren't trying to wake up the whole neighborhood (i.e. parties). If you think you may want a speaker that is still a good price but has a little more bass then take a peak at the Model Sixes. Happy Listening.

Strengths:
Very Inexpensive, good sound, decent bass, good mids

Weaknesses:
highs could be better, lack of deep bass, the probably fall out at about 80Hz (sub helps though)

Similar Products Used:
Cheap Radioshack Optimus bookshelf speakers, and some older Miller & Kreisel's bookshelfs, newer synergy klipsch bookshelves

Price Paid:  $60.00 from hifi.com

Summary:
For the size and price, these are pretty good speakers! I have them hooked to a NAD L-40 receiver and a CSW Powered Subwoofer III. I have them set up at ear level when I sit in front of a computer monitor and they are about 3 feet away from my ears. The sub sits down next to my desk. I listen to a mix of classic rock, jazz and symphonic music. The speakers themselves don't have alot of bass as you'd expect from the size and that is why I got the PSW 3 at the same time. The 17's tend to favor the mids without being nasal while the treble sounds even without being overly bright or harsh. I don't play them very loud which tends to keep the definition at a reasonable level. In fact, the 17's don't like to be driven loud as I've found out. I would not try to fill a large room with them. Above a certain level, the musical definition simply collapses into distortion. Bear that in mind should you think about buying a pair.

BTW, the PSW-3's are pretty good too, in a nearfield setting. They seem to be discontinued from the CSW catalog but you can find them on ebay for about $80. They're small, with a 6 1/2 inch woofer and a 40 watt amp built in. Again, don't expect alot of thunder from these; they seem to cut off at about 40hz but they will fill in where the 17's don't.

In summary, I would recommend this setup to someone in a small office (mine's 12x15) or dorm room where "party" sound levels aren't needed.

Strengths:
reasonable detail in sound, size

Weaknesses:
none, really, at this price

Similar Products Used:
Radio Shack STS-620 :(
Radio Shack STS-620 :(

Price Paid:  $40.00 from Ebay

Summary:
These are great compact bookshelf speakers that put out very pleasing sound. I was suprised at the high volumes they can produce. While there are better speakers on the market, most people will be very satisfied with the way these speakers sound. These speakers are hard to beat for the price.

I bought these as refurbished speakers for my workshop at an ebay auction via hifi.com. They look and sound brand new to me. Hifi.com has since established an Ebay $60.00 minimum bid price for these. You can also get them new for less than $100.00 from hif.com. Hifi.com provides excellent service and an easy method to try out these speakers out at home.

These are smaller versions of the Cambridge Soundworks Model 6 speakers and they generate a similar sound.

Strengths:
Good sounding compact acoustic suspension speaker. 10 year warrenty.

Weaknesses:
None - at this price range.

Similar Products Used:
Cambridge Soundworks Model Six, Mirage AVS 500 surround system.