Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
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.

Price Paid:  $950.00 from CSW

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
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.

Weaknesses:
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.

Similar Products Used:
Snell EIII
Vandersteen 2ci
DCM Time Window
Large Advent
Paradigm Monitor

Price Paid:  $899.00 from Cambridge Soundworks

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
Good all around sound quality, wide soundstage.

Weaknesses:
None.

Similar Products Used:
Ive heard Martin Logans, Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber, etc.

Price Paid:  $700.00 from www.hifi.com

Summary:
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.

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

Weaknesses:
None to date.

Price Paid:  $1499.00 from Cambridge SoundWorks

Summary:
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.

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

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

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