Okay. So my little shootout among $300/pr. bookshelf speakers is the equivalent of a midget wrestling match, minus the tabloid-novelty factor. I get that. Nevertheless, I think my observations have value, especially because I suspect a lot of guys share this frustration: When I got into this, I found a relative dearth of thoughtful reviews — consumer or expert — on the speakers I eventually chose, Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series M60s.
THE ROAD TO CAMBRIDGE
The idea was to find a great sounding 5.1 system for 60/40 music/movies use. Almost immediately I figured out that typical box-store sat & sub combos just don’t cut it. Their answer to the
Wife
Approval
Factor is to make the sats small, so they have no real range, certainly nothing below 120Hz. I decided on a different tack: find some bookshelf speakers that sound better than little plastic cubes and are attractive—or even decorative—enough that they don’t have to be hidden. I auditioned $200-$400 Polk, Jamo, Kef, and Paradigm units in stores, and did a two-week, in-home A/B comparo with the Axiom M3ti and the CSW M60s.
The first thing you notice about the CSW M60s is that they are gorgeous. In fact, I got interested in the Newton series because they could be had with not only real veneer, but blonde maple, a real rarity among speakers in this class. (They’re also available in mahogany.) Plus their cool, stylish grille design and blue-grey fabric perfectly complement our retro-mod tastes. The pictures on the web site don’t do them justice; in real life, the wood is so inviting, you can’t help but want to touch them. And, much as it pains me to say it, they make the M3s look downright homely.
Before you dismiss me as too easily wooed by pretty cabinets, let me tell you about the Olympian level of WAF you face when you live with an interior designer: I considered trying a pair of Aperions but, despite their genuine cherry veneers and liberal no-risk return policy, she nixed them over "those ugly black grilles."
One of the things I’ve figured out from this process is that, if you're happily married and want to stay that way, all A/V purchases are going to be compromises. Women love shoes and hate speakers. Like dogs hate vacuum cleaners. A guy could go crazy trying to puzzle out why. Or you can accept it as a fact of life, and move on. In my (admittedly limited) experience, anybody who’s in a position to judge speakers soley on their audible merits is probably a) divorced, b) getting divorced, or c) living in a van, down by the river.
YOU HAD ME AT “HELLO.”
In all fairness, it’s not just how speakers look to her and sound to me. I’m a sucker for interesting, sophisticated design. All other things being equal, I tend to go for the brand that puts some effort into the aesthetic, tactile experience of its products beyond the functional criteria. So these maple honeys pretty much won me over before I ever hooked them up. I was ready to rationalize even mediocre sound from the moment I opened the box.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to. They are rich, detailed, and musical. Acoustic piano, sax, trumpet, and clarinet reproduce brilliantly, as do male and female vocals. They’re no slouch in the rock dept., either. U2’s “Elevation” is a sonic thrill ride, especially with my new Hsu STF-2 bringing the thunder.
The CD I used for all my auditions consisted of Alison Krauss, Nora Jones, U2, Miles Davis, XTC, Annie Lennox, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, and some Latin-flavored pop from Kirsty MacColl and Raul Malo (of Mavericks fame).
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, “I’m not an audiophile, but I know what good sound is.” I love music and movies, and I consider myself a pretty discriminating consumer of content and technology. Certainly, I know what sounds good to
me. I’ll readily admit that, out of everything I auditioned, the Paradigm Mini Monitors sounded best. Great detail, tight bass and beautiful vocals. They also cost ~$120/pr. more. And they’re finished in a ho-hum cherry vinyl w/ the disqualifying black grilles. The M3s (in Mansfield Beech w/beige grilles) were marginally better on bass extension and overall soundstage. But none of them look half as good as the CSWs.
THE BOTTOM LINE
After all was said and done, the difference in sound performance was so negligible that, in everyday, real-world use—and even under fairly critical listening—I never feel like I’m missing anything with the CSWs. The instruments all sound real and present (“The schnozberries taste like schnozberries!”) I’ve since ordered up an MC400 center and a pair of M50s as surrounds.
The M3s are great little bookshelf speakers. The performed admirably , but ultimately came in second. When I closed my eyes, I could hardly tell them from the M60s. When I opened my eyes, though, I definitely could. They just don’t class up the joint the way the Newtons do.
AN AFTERTHOUGHT
Given the scarcity of thoughtful, detailed criticism on the whole Newton line, and the M60s in particular, I was expecting them to sound only acceptable at best.
Now I’m pleasantly surprised, but a little puzzled.
Why is it that —unlike Paradigm, Energy, Ascend, Onix Rockets, et al., which get talked up pretty consistently, or Axiom, which hosts its own forums—so little is written/said about CSW, when they are, to my ears anyway, legitimate contenders in this class? Is there some stigma toward CSW stuff that accounts for them being so widely overlooked?
You’ll be shocked (shocked!) to hear that I have a theory about why people hesitate is include CSW.
- General suspicion about anything that seems too good to be true.
- Lacks word-of-mouth approval among hi-fi cognoscenti. (IOW: No cult cachet or snob appeal)
- CSW doesn’t pay return shipping if you’re unhappy. (Actually, neither does Axiom, but I figure that’s still a more reasonable price to pay, especially compared to some of the stores I visited that wanted a 25% restock fee. Ho-kay, buh-BYE!)
Fortunately, the CSWs being damned with faint praise didn’t dissuade me. I gave them an objective hearing and I’m thrilled. If CSW was smart (or had enough confidence in their products) they’d put a forum like this on their web site. It goes a long way, IMO, toward inspiring confidence in a mail-order purchase of a high-dollar investment in such a subjective product.
For Axiom, my advice is this: Keep up the good work. And consider making one of your custom finishes, somwhere between the maple and the beech, available as a stock finish.
Finally, let me say that my overall experience with everyone at Axiom — Amy, Allen, Joe, and folks on this board — has been first-rate. It's a great company with tremendous products that I would heartily recommend to anyone looking for the best bang per buck on speakers. In fact, if no one objects, I plan to continue lurking and occasionally posting on these boards, because I like the vibe. Y’all have some great ideas and insights about HT and hi-fi in general. (Also, I secretly wish I were Canadian, but that’s an issue for another forum.)
