Clear distinct sound and excellent construction.

None

Excellent sound and appearance. Purchased at CSW for $165 (B stock) - looked brand new to me!

Similar Products Used:

CSW 5.1 Surrounds, BIC V736 Towers, Atlantic Technology 252pbm powered sub, Denon avr681, Yamaha dvd-6280, JVC S-VHS 3600u.

The CSW Centerstage is an excellent center channel speaker. I am using with the CSW Tower IIs, PSW, and a pair of Optimus bookshelf speakers for surrounds. Electronics consists of ATI 1505 power amp, Proceed AVP preamp/pro, Toshiba SD-9000 DVD, and Rotel CD transport. I listen to a lot of surround music; DTS CDs, DVD 5.1 concerts, and Dolby encoded CDs. The overall sound quality of the system is superb. Even when I play 96/24 audio DVDs through Pro-logic or stereo surround mode the sound quality is amazing. I've listened to a lot of so-called high end speaker systems and I have yet to feel that I'm hearing better sound.

Excellent effects, fills room easily.

Dialogue seems harsh and distorted at times.

Bought this speaker direct from CSW on Ebay as an open box after reading the reviews here. Great price and excellent effects, but am not satisfied with dialogue performance, which seems to be quite harsh and sometimes distorted in 5.1. DTS mode does not have this effect for some reason. Have tried adjustments galore and a number of DVDs, and the problem persists. I am not sure if most center channels are like this, since I auditioned many and found that dialogue was often lacking. Prior to buying a digital receiver and a center channel, I was listening to DVDs through a 20 year old Yamaha receiver and equally old Allison Fives (anybody remember them?) with some small surrounds in stereo mode. Didn't get the 5.1 or DTS surround effects, but dialogue was full and clear, and much more lifelike than the Centerstage (and many other centers I auditioned). This is also true with my new, admittedly lower end, JVC receiver, so I don't think that's the problem. Perhaps this is the reason I am dissatisfied - I got used to listening to voices through two 8" side firing woofers. This could be the right speaker for some people, but I'll probably return it and keep looking.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Polk, JBL, Mirage, NHT

Crisp clear high notes, accurate tonal balance, and impressive lows. Well built cabinet.

Large, need at least a 27" TV to set on.

Cambridge created a magnificent speaker with their CenterStage. I am extremely pleased with my purchase. The center channel delivers so much, that sometimes I forget movies are meant to be watched and not just listened to. The Patriot and Independence Day are so lifelike that it is scary.
I would definitally suggest the CenterStage to anyone looking for a high quality speaker with having to part with a vital organ. This speaker delivers for any type of recording.
If you are in the Store you might as well give it a try, 45 days to become a believer, and trust me you wont regret it!

Similar Products Used:

Polk

Price

Very uninspiring sound quality especially on vocals.

The price was hard to resist ($129 new). I currently own the center channel II. So I compared that with the Center Stage on the same tracks in the showroom. There is some improvement. But when compared to the Newton MC500 the Center Stage was not much better than the center II (to my ears at least). Still, I brought one home to try it in my system. I found that it is not worth the money for the very marginal improvements.

When you attend a movie in a theater with a good sound system the voice tracks have a really solid feel and impact. This is what I would expect from the top of a product line. The MC500 does approach this performance. I suspect that it is due to the extra punch you get from the larger woofers. Also the Center Stage, like many others, is a 2 way design. I have come to the conclusion that a good quality midrange will also help a lot with getting a realistic quality to voice tracks.

In the end I took the speaker back and am sticking with the center II for now. I may spend the extra for the MC500.

Similar Products Used:

CSW CS500

I'VE OWNED CENTER STAGE FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS NOW. I HAVE EVOLVED THROUGH VARIOUS CAMBRIDGE SOUNDWORKS SPEAKER SYSTEMS, BEGINING WITH SUB-SATTELITE ENSEMBLE IV AND PROGRESSING STEP BY STEP TO MY PRESENT SET-UP, TOWERS I, CENTER STAGE, TOWERS III FOR SURROUNDS, AND PSW1 AND SLAVE POWERED SUB. WHAT HAS IMPRESSED ME AND MY FRIENDS MOST ABOUT THE CENTER STAGE IS THAT IT IS SUCH A SUPERIOR MUSICAL SPEAKER,SO MUCH SO THAT I PLAY ALL MY DIGITAL CD'S IN PROLOGIC, AS IT DEFINES A FULL RICH AND MAGNIFICENTLY SEAMLESS SOUNDSTAGE. TWO OF MY FRIENDS HAVE REPLACED THEIR CENTER CHANNEL SPEAKERS WITH CENTER STAGE WITH SIMILAR RESULTS DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEIR MAIN SPEAKERS WERE NOT TIMBRE MATCHED CAMBRIDGE TOWERS, IN FACT NOT CAMBRIDGE AT ALL BUT OLDER KLH AND KLIPSCH RESPECTIVELY.

delivers clean crisp sound that fills the room, out-performs the more expensive tower models

relatively large

i use these as right and left front speakers and not as a center channel. they are great with an outstanding warranty. coupled with a worthy reciever these are one of the best speakers i have ever heard. they out-perform their tower models which are priced over twice as much. a great value and in combination with a bass cube 12 (also from cambridge soundworks) this makes a kick ass music/surround system.

The centerstage is an excellent speaker very good detail and imaging. I no longer owned it because at first I had the Centerstage and the Surround 5.1 but I didn't like the Tower from CSWorks so I upgraded to the Boston Acoustic line. The center speaker VR-12 of Boston Acoustic is bigger and more efficient than the Centerstage but in term of sound quality, they are equal. I really liked the centerstage and would recommend it to anyone. I still keep the surround 5.1 from Cambridge Soundworks. IN general, CSW make excellent speakers. They need to change the towers line though.

Unbelieveable price point right now. Extrememly solid construction, and sound to match.

Too large.

Sounds incredible. I'm very happy I waited, and didn't buy the slightly tinny sounding "Center Channel Plus" for $149 last month. This is noticably the best sounding speaker in my CSW system.

Get it now for $129. They've never had a lower price, even on seconds.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Very good sound for the money. I have compared other similarly priced speakers (as well as more expensive ones) and have not noticed a noticable difference.

I have compared other similarly priced speakers (as well as more expensive ones) and have not noticed a noticable difference. This speaker is a very good value for the performance that you get from them. You could probably get better, but you would have to pay much, much more.

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Infinity, DCM