• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Cambridge Soundworks M80's

A

atrac

Active Member
I saw a pair of Cambridge Soundworks M80's at the local thrift. They were in more or less great shape and had rubber surrounds so no need to replace those. They are 3-way's with regular or bi-amp wiring choices.

Any opinions on these? From the view comments I've read on the net about them, reviews seem mixed. The thrift wanted a little less than half of the MSRP. Seems high.

Thanks!
 
Register to hide this ad
The M80's are a completely underrated speaker. They are solidly built and sound great ( to me). I used a pair up front in my home theater system, when I moved I used them in a 2 channel set up. I used them with quite a few different amps, both single amp and also bi amped. I really liked them. Cambridge Soundworks as a brand was pretty much underrated. They were positioned as a "value" brand , so reviewers and many in the audio community never took them too seriously.

The early products were great, Nearly all were made of MDF and built in Newton MA. - the later products were made of ABS and manufactured in china. I am a fan of the early original MADE IN THE USA speakers models from CSW, designed by Henry Kloss ( especially the original "tri-pole surround" - they sounds as good as my M&K SS-150 and at 1/3rd the price back then, 1/10th now). I think their later chinese made models were the worst products they made. I still pick up older Ensemble, Ensemble II, and Ambiance speakers as long as they are the "classic MDF" models. Kind of an "arts and crafts" hobby.

Engineer Bob Hazelwood designed the Newton series and that line ( although not made in the USA ) were solid performers with some unique features ( the P500 and P1000 Sub come to mind). - The M80's are a part of that line and they sounded great in my system. They were replaced with a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto, but I still have them ( 2 pair in fact ) packed away in storage. I'll eventually have to part with at least one pair but I quite liked them, during the 5 years I used them.

I'd suggest taking a listen and see what you think. They worked well for me in my set up.
 
I used a pair for about a year, now they're in my parents home theater system if you can call it that. I liked them a lot....they had their weaknesses (soft tweeter/small sweet spot) but they also did a lot of things well (good mids and tons of bass if placed right). I've only every tried them with a cheap Onkyo HT receiver, so I probably didn't get the most out of them, but I liked them for the most part. Some day I'll lug them in here to try on my Marantz stuff.

The build quality is also very good. They weigh about 30lbs each, about 20lbs of that being the bass driver. The enclosure is dual chambered (not just a brace) which isn't something I've seen in speakers that cheap, and the finish is very nice too.

Ultimately they lost out to Wharfedale Evo2-10s in my system which have a far better tweeter, but I'd say at the price they're asking they're worth a try.
 
I appreciate the comments. You guys definitely shared more than I've read on the net about them. ;)

I have to admit the little tweeter almost put me off -- I barely noticed it right below the mid-range.

I'll have to go back to the Thrift and see if they are still there. Based on the date, they had only been out 2 days. And they looked a hundred times better than everything else in the electronics section so they really stood out. I think they were only still there because they were marked $45 each though... ;)

Thanks!
 
Only $90 for the pair? Lol definitely go grab them....You said half of MSRP....I was thinking $250-$300. You aren't going to find a better set of speakers for $90.
 
boulderdash; said:
Only $90 for the pair? Lol definitely go grab them....You said half of MSRP....I was thinking $250-$300. You aren't going to find a better set of speakers for $90.
Click to expand...



I agree, they were originally $499 for the pair so my thinking is that anything under $225 is fair and the lower it goes the better the deal but I've seen the newton m50's sell for $90 on ebay just last week so $90 for the pair of m80's is definitely a score!

The speaker is well balanced, don't let the size of that tweeter fool you. And the m80s really sing with a solid amp driving them. For fun I bi amped them using a pair of adcom 545 II and then a pair of NAD 2200pe amps. Totally overkill but the m80s loved it, and really sounded great even at lowest of volume levels on all kinds of material including films.

Check them out, you might like them.
 
I really need to try them on my Marantz. Not exactly high wattage but I think it deals with low impedance impedance/current demands much better than what I was using...I think the M80s would do better with that.
 
Oh yeah almost forgot. The mid/ tweeter assembly is designed to rotate so you can re-orient those drivers when using the speakers horizontally. I think they use a couple of small hex bolts, loosen or remove them and "twist". Again there were some nice design touches added to the newton series that folks never factored in when discussing them. The name plate can also be re-oriented , there is a second spot on the grill where the pins plug in to allow this. The horizontal configuration is great when using the speakers on a bookcase or even on a pair of stands for a non traditional look.

I think I'm going to set mine up this way so I can show that feature off when i post them for sale.
 
Ugh. I didn't realize the MSRP was so high. I saw on the audioreview site that people were paying $250 about five years ago from CSW.

At any rate, I got way to busy today and didn't have time to go get them. Worse, won't have time until next weekend (thanks to employment).
 
They went on B stock like twice a year which is where the $250 comes from, but regular price was $500 or $600. The B-stock sales at Cambridge back when they had real stores were always fun, I miss it.
 
Bostown said:
Cambridge Soundworks as a brand was pretty much underrated.
Click to expand...
CSW is still around.....

http://store.cambridgesoundworks.com/

"soft tweeter"
Click to expand...
Back in the mid 90s I worked for a store that sold CSW speakers and most of them shared Kloss' signature sound from his days with KLH, AR and Advent i.e. a rather laid-back and warm quality but they were still capable of reproducing small details, though for HT use some may find this - the laid-back quality- not to their liking.

IIRC the M80s were sealed for most of their model run (just like AR/KLH/Advent), but then for some reason, the last few years they were ported.
 
RadShak1251 said:
IIRC the M80s were sealed for most of their model run (just like AR/KLH/Advent), but then for some reason, the last few years they were ported.
Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge, the M80's were always ported. two bell-shaped port holes on the backside of the cabinet. There was also a short lived M-85 model that was released later on. The marketing hype was focused on driver improvements but it may have been a driver supply issue that caused the re-design. Total speculation on my part.

I do remember the that most of the original Newton line became unavailable (out of stock) for quite some time, then after a long period the revised "5"* series showed up boasting improvements. Shortly after their release, most of the newton line was discontinued.

*(most of the line's model numbers went from ending in "0" to "5" - The MC 300 became MC305, M-80 to M-85 etc)
 
The M series was always ported if I remember correctly, as was the MC400. The original Newton towers, T300 and T500, were sealed with a separate sealed chamber for the woofers/passive radiators, while the later passive towers (T100 and T200) were ported. MC500 was sealed as it was made to match the T500. All the plastic speakers (MC50/100/200/300/S100/200/300) were sealed. The Model 6 is and has always been sealed as it is considered to be a modern Advent-like speaker.

The Newton subs were all sealed, with the P500/1000 having the dual woofers in a push-push/pull-pull configuration. Bob Hazelwood posted on another forum that the two drivers canceled each other out so there would be no enclosure noise/resonance. P200 (which I have and still use in my 2 channel system) was a standard single driver sealed sub, but it too has very low resonance. The Basscube 8 was ported but I'm not sure on the others. I think the 10 and 12 may have been sealed and the 15 had dual porting?

And I agree about the tweeter, and I do like it honestly, but compared to what I have now it just isn't as detailed. I really do like the M80s, I think they're a great speaker that can compete with others way up the ladder, but ultimately the detail I get from the Wharfedales is just something they can't do, at least in this room.
 
Indeed, the switch from Newton to Newton II was basically just driver improvements, and it didn't last as long as it should have. They went to a metal tweeter (titanium I think?) and Kevlar on some of the drivers. I didn't get to hear the Newton II bookshelves or tower, but I did hear the MC305 and I liked the tweeter a lot, and I typically don't like metal tweeters.

Ultimately I think the companies demise is Creative's fault. They bought them because Cambridge made the best PC speakers of anyone (and I still think they do). Now that Creative has moved on from "serious" PC speakers back to cheap junk they don't really need CSW anymore, thus all the scaling back of the lines and closing the stores (which were awesome, the people were way more knowledgeable than Bestbuy and whatnot and it was just an all around fun place to go. When I was a teenager me and my friends would always stop while at the mall and they'd let us listen to music if no one was in the demo room).
 
I'll defer to you guys as far as the sealed issue - I must have gotten them confused with all their other sealed models.

As a fan of acoustic-suspensions bass reproduction systems, I was always surprised CSW used that system for so long when most other manufacturers had abandoned it, but I didn't argue! :D For example their first(?) powered sub, with a sealed 12" woofer and 120W amp, sounded really good to me, with its clean, rich bass that also reached very low compared to others in its size class (IIRC Stereo Review said it nearly made it flat to 20Hz). And while it didn't get as loud as those other subs and was a bit pricey, I still liked it better.
 
If I ever see one for a reasonable price I'd love to pick up a P500 or P1000. Like you said, they won't win any awards for SPL, but they are very nice sounding subs. The control box on them is great too.

All this CSW talk made me pull the M80s in here and try them with my new amp. They definitely sound better than on the receiver, but still lack some detail to me. The bass is amazing though, it's seriously better than a lot of subs.
 
Y'all right on about these speakers. Small sweet spot but boy once you get there its heaven. And for $5 to boot it was a steal!!!
 
The earliest versions of the ensemble, ensemble 2 and ambiance are also favorites of mine, but you really need a proper amplifier for them to stand out and perform. Im refurbishing another ensemble system now. I pick them up whenever i see them for short money. Well worth the pick up if you have a good power amp. A pair of Nad 2200PE amps can be had at reasonable cost and will allow for bi-amping the ensembles. Ive gone as far as using a pair of mcintosh mc7270s. The audire forte works very well too, single amp or even better using 2.

One of few speakers that dont need external crossovers for bi-amplification and that actually benefits from doing so.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom