Tony M.
07-22-2010, 07:49 PM
Hi, I'm 3 days new to this site. I hope this is a good place to introduce myself. I'm having some trouble posting a review of my speakers (Cambridge Soundworks Newton T500) and keep receiving a message that my review cannot be processed at this time. I thought I'd post it here to give an idea as to my audio experienceso far. I've always been a frustrated audiophile limited by budget. But what I've lacked in budget I've made up for in obsessive compulsive speaker placement. I began in 1994 with used Carver electronics. Little by little I upgraded to "bang for your buck" components trying to replicate a system sold at my local high end dealer (Rega Planar 3, Arcam Alpha7 cd player, Conrad Johnson PV10 pre-amp, Parasound htc115 power amp, and Synergistic Research Sterling Active bi-wired cables and interconnects). The last piece of the puzzle would be speakers. I auditioned Paradigms. But in order to get floorstanding with a cherry finish the price was just too much (I wanted bling and fidelity). I'd purchased a small pair of CSW Newton bookshelves. It took 30 plus days for them to open up, but when they did it was like night and day. I was like "wow". I almost could have been happy with them, but it seemed like the speakers in my "final" system should have more presence (and a slightly more comparable price tag). When I told my high end dealer he just kind of shrugged. Well one day I happened into the CSW store and started listening to the T500s. I was bowled over by the furniture grade finish. The sound was impressive, but I felt it was limited by the rest of the store's demo system. Timing is everything. The T500s were on sale and they offered to let me trade in my bookshelf Newtons for full credit. Can you say $1300.00? My family refers to them as my other set of children. It's been more than five years now and I'm still saying "wow". I swear they are still opening up, revealing more and more sonic rightness. I compared the T500s and the Paradigms on identical systems (although listening rooms were different) and the Cambridge sounded as good or better (listening for separation, background silence, timbre, imaging, etc.). Whether listening to Keith Jarret, Duke Ellington's orchestra, or solo Spanish guitar, they provide plenty of that high end sound that draws one to this hobby. The tall mahogany bodies look stunning against my caramel hickory hardwood floors. I grin every time I pass by them when I come in from work. And yes they are very revealing of upstream components. I took advantage of an "open box" Cambridge Audio Azur 740c cd player from Audio Advisor ( reg. $1095., on sale $750. ). But even after 30 days and at least 300 hours of break in my system it didn't trounce my Arcam like I thought it would. It sounded too bright, sometimes thin, and not as musical. Mind you this is with my components which I had no intention of changing to make the 740c fit in. So as much as it hurt ( it's a fantastically designed and built player), I had to return it on the thirtieth day. The T500s get 5 plus stars, one of the best purchases I've made. Thanks, Tony M.