Best PC add-on bargain of the year!
Written: Dec 19 '00 (Updated Dec 20 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent sound quality, even better value
Cons: there are none.
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| Mark_A.'s Full Review: Cambridge Soundworks C1MWBWEE 2 Speakers |
Thirty clams. What can you buy with thirty bucks you ask? You can land this three piece set of Cambridge Soundworks speakers for you PC, and you will absolutely be amazed at what you get for your money.
Let's put things in perspective, shall we? For around thirty bucks you can put your car through the deluxe car wash with hand toweling. You can buy cat food for two hungry felines that will last them a month. You can take a date to the movies and buy some snacks. You can feed the average college student for three months by making them ketchup soup and ramen noodle casserole. You can put half a tank of gas in your Ford Expedition. You see where I'm going, thirty dollars is not a lot of money, but it is a useful amount of money. So what's the big deal? Well, I'll tell you, this speaker set is oh so worth the money. You will not believe they are selling them at this price. Let's get into the nitty gritty of this system.
Configuration: What we have here is a three piece subwoofer/satellite speaker system with integral amplification. The subwoofer is about 12"x5"x5". It is itty bitty. This is the heart of the system, holding the amplifier, signal input, power input and speaker outs. The subwoofer cabinet has a power button and bass attenuation. The line in jack has a gain or volume control that you can mount in a convenient location (I mounted mine on the face of my monitor). The system only accept inputs in the form of headphone style jacks, pretty much the industry standard. If your soundcard has digital outputs, optical outputs or other such esoteric signal delivery, you'll have to use the line out, headset out or RCA out configuration, with an adapter for the RCA (Y-cord). If you really have super snappy audio outs, I'm sure you've already passed up this unit. The satellites are little cubes in PC white, about 2"x2"x2". They will fit anywhere. This system is designed for normal people with normal PCs, and if you normal folks would just give these guys a listen, you'll have your old original equipment amplified speakers as bookends in about three and half seconds!
Set-up: Set-up is straight forward, with some optional mounting locations. You can affix your satellites to any hard surface with provided Velcro hook and loop fasteners. You can also screw them into a wall (rear mount only) or use the canted speaker stands that are provided. I chose the latter, only because it was simple and it works great. The subwoofer needs a spot on the floor, or at least in the lower area of a desk or armoire. The plugging in is straight forward, the satellites feature phased cabling, so you can't mess it up.
Specifications: Even being the specs hound that I am, I do not know the signal/noise ratio of the amplifier, its power output, the system response, or anything else. It is actually packaged as such, that you need not worry about these frivolities. The system is tuned and engineered to function with the line out or headset out of a regular PC, and it does it with verve!
Performance: After I extricated the old system and hooked up these new guys in town, I played some cuts that I had downloaded from an unnamed MP3 source on the internet. My initial reaction was shock and disbelief. I auditioned Constant Craving by K.D. Lang, because it was the highest resolution MP3 that I had in my directory. The mid-range and highs were especially noteworthy, as was the stereo separation. The bass was tight and not pounding, although some attenuation was required to bring it into my preferential listening range. Yes, there was some loss of signal response between the high-mid/tweeter satellites and the midrange/high bass sub. Did I mention I paid thirty dollars for this system? For the money, the system absolutely performed wonderfully. You will probably not experience room filling, concert level sound with this system, but if you are sitting in front of it, or simply near it, the sound level is very good and the timbre is quite astounding. I played track after track, enjoying my new found high fidelity components. All in all, the vocals and mid musical instruments are recreated very beautifully. Of course the size and scale of the sub will not have you rattling the windows, but you will be surprised at just how punchy it is, and all this for thirty bucks.
Build: This system was designed by Henry Kloss of Cambridge Soundworks, a very famous speaker designer and audiophile. He is also a man who has delivered Hi-fi for a good price to millions for years on end. The units are manufactured in China, but the build quality appears to be very high. The packaging is also well done, with the inclusion of Velcro mounts and even wall anchors if you decide to mount this thing permanently. The inspection of the fit and finish of my system revealed very tightly built components with no sloppy or cheap feel. These speakers are very nicely finished!
Versatility: Let me begin this paragraph by saying I will be purchasing at least two more of these systems, one for me to use with portable CD players, and one for Dad as a Christmas gift. You can marry this system with anything that uses a headphone jack, like a television, CD, Minidisc, MP3 player, what have you. All you need is a common household outlet to plug into. I am considering using one in my bedroom with a portable CD player, I hardly ever use my portable CD player anyway, now's the time to get some use out of it.
Conclusion: I actually got excited at the performance of this speaker system. That felt great. I was rooting through all my MP3s and playing them with abandon, experiencing something totally unexpected from such a low priced component. This system has the potential to have you sitting at your computer doing your listening as well as whatever else you do with you computer. I like to write and listen to music at the same time, this brings that activity to a new level of enjoyment. I can heartily recommend this system to anyone looking to upgrade their sound for their PC.
Did I mention it only cost thirty dollars?
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Mark_A.
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Member: Mark A
Location: Schauerberg, Germany
Reviews written: 117
Trusted by: 74 members
About Me:
The time will come when we are no more, so let's just eat some BBQ...
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