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What to do with Cambridge Soundworks "Ensemble" Woofers?

So I'm bumping this up to get some feedback. A set is up for sale locally and I actually just want the subs to compliment my Met 7 speakers. I'm assuming after reading the manual that these subs have an internal passive crossover, correct? The plan is, to hopefully get them under the TV cabinet or behind it. Goal is a hidden but full sounding experience. Potential problem is running them on the B channel and jjust not balancing out well with the Met 7's.
 
these are not actually 'subs'. there is so much confusion about what a subwoofer is thanks to madison avenue.

what these are is a separate 'woofer' so you could locate them in corners or near the floor to improve bass without affecting midrange/treble. a nice idea by Henry.

they can do 32hz but at a much lower level (they were meant to do a solid 40 hz). now 32 hz is not a sub bass woofer but it is definitely woofing. 20hz is subwoofing. the original argument of Bob Carver in designing his first sub woofer.

just don't expect the CSW ensemble to match an actual subwoofer (of which many of those are not really sub anything either).
 
Yeah, cats out of the bag on the sub term for sure. I think I can live with the 40hz. I figure it's going to be a crap shoot if they would even sound good with those speakers not to mention I'm going to attempt to do this on the b channel of an outlaw RR2150. Might be risky but worth a shot.


Strike that, thought about this more and realized, like many others that try passive subs, there are more hurdles that seem to make it worth it.
 
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These woofer modules do have crossovers, but the woofer when used with the original satellites, was wired in parallel with the satellites. The satellites also had crossovers that roll off below say 120Hz, so that the impedance stays the same throughout the freq range. Using non Soundworks satellites means lower impedance load at low freq, greater load for amp to handle.
 
I believe the originals have the dual woofers in their own cabinets, and the newer models (ii, iii, iv) moved them to a single cabinet.

I found this thread because I picked a set of these up on Craigslist recently for $25!!! The fella was just cleaning stuff out of his garage. Inspecting them at home, one of my woofers' rubber surround is cracked a large portion causing lots of undesirable sound.

To take the woofer out, the grill is like the grill on the Pro-Media Klipsch subwoofers: Metal grill pressed tightly through and 'stuck' with a gummy substance.

To take the grill off, I used a 2" sheet rock screw and a screwdriver handle. I screwed the screw into a tiny hole in the grill on the edge, then using the screwdriver shaft for leverage, and the screw like the moving part of a see-saw, ever so gently lifted the one part a bit. Then worked my way around 2x and pop- popped right off. Putting them back on is a ton easier - just don't bend em!
 
I picked up a pair of the Ensemble woofers a while ago, and use them with my ADS L300s and NAD 3020. The CSW woofers fit under furniture and provide some nice low end reinforcement.
 
I bought a set of the original Ensembles back in '89 and they are waiting for a restore in their original boxes. When these were running, I can say they were really, really nice sounding speakers and I enjoyed them immensely. I can't wait to hear them compared to other speakers I own today.
 
I have the original Ensemble from 1989ish and the woofer surrounds have held up well. I can't say the same for the mids. They were replaced by CSW in 2009. I refinished the sats recently, but felt the desire to try something new.

NHT's Superzero 2.1 is a a decent replacement. They are a good sensitivity match. A quick mono source test showed good balance between one of each satellite. There is a slight overlap in the crossover between sats and woofers, but it's not a deal killer. A small bass reduction via tone controls works for me. As typesix says, impedence may be a problem for some amps, but only in the overlap. It shouldn't be a significant problem for any "quality" amplifier. Luckily, my Luxman receiver can handle it easily

The difference in sound is remarkable. Even though, at first listen, the NHT seem flat, even subdued, the midrange is more revealing. The NHTs are much smoother. The original CSW sats are much more forward and seem harsh by comparison. It took me days to get accustomed to the SZs and appreciate them. The difference is "night and day". Since I'm in my late 50s, a 2-3dB treble boost has helped me transition to them. I left a thorough review on the NHT site if anyone is interested. Ignore the mention of "5-6" dB headroom on the Luxman. It's more like 2-3. :P

At any rate, the SZs are good candidates IMO. Just be ready for a slight shock if you are accustomed to the CSW satellites.
 
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