Quote Originally Posted by Roger
So for me the greatest deterrent to ordering a pair of CSWs was the lack of objective, "informed" commentary; the few reviews I could find (here and on Amazon) seemed to be mostly from people who weren't hard-core audiophiles. Which isn't a criticism of CSW buyers so much as a curiosity about why more discriminating listeners tend to rule out CSW. What finally did it for me was, frankly, they just looked so good. Which I know is also not high up on the list of "serious" speaker buyers. But for me it was an issue. It turned out that their sound lives up to their looks IMO.

I for one would love it if CSW had a site like Axiom. I think it would be a good thing for their marketing, because the majority of board regulars would probably be there to reinforce their choices by chatting up the speakers (and other CSW gear) to people poking around for info. It would certainly inspire more confidence among people who are leery of ordering a speaker in order to hear it. The Axiom board basically convinced me to try a pair of M3ti's. My hunch is that CSW perceives their buyers to be less avid about the products, or they worry that it might backfire and reveal weaknesses. Or maybe they're doing well enough that it's not worth the effort and expense. Personally, I think their speaker design is the ultimate solution to the WAF problem: make the cabinets and grilles something you're pleased to look at and display (instead of small and "invisible" cubes). It's worked for me.

I hope that answers your question, JSE.
There are plenty of print reviews of CSW products out there, so maybe you should widen your search to go beyond just user reviews. The thing to keep in mind with CSW is that they have their own chain of audio stores in Cali and New England that also stock Onkyo, Marantz, Sony, and JVC home theater products. And their products are starting to make their way into other retail stores as well, so their business model is a little different than Axiom's. And in general, speakers that others can easily audition in person don't have the same fervent fanaticism that you see behind speakers that are less widely available for listening or only available via mail order.

CSW began as a catalog retailer that placed full page ads in audio magazines promoting Henry Kloss' latest inventions (most of which were lower cost alternatives to Bose's Wave Radio and Acoustimass products). I don't think they've strayed too far from those roots, even with the internet. You can still order stuff through their print catalog and their website is not all that different from the catalog.