Cambridge SoundWorks CSW PCWorks FourPointSurround
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I found 'em at WalMart
Pros
Outstanding stereo imaging and general sound reproduction; good bass reinforcement for gaming
Cons
Not quite 5.1 when you are watching movies--ultimate sound quality depends on soundcard
Recommended it?
Yes
I dunno if it was mis-marked, but these were sitting on the shelf at WalMart for $44... How could I not buy these?? I've upgraded my soundcard from an ancient *original* SoundBlasterAWE32--you know the one with the 30pin SIMM slots? It did well for over 6 years now in all my gaming machines--it was loud, clear, had well written and stable drivers, but it was an ISA card. ISA is bad for system performance, so out it wen. To be replaced by a Montego Quadzilla2 soundcard. I was planning on buying another set of AltecLansing ACS48's, because frankly, they rock. Nothing like having a 6", 200w subwoofer in a real wood cabinet ya know? And if I got another set for the rear, I'd have TWO 6" woofers, 4 4.5" mids and 4 1.5" Ti dome tweeters--ROCK ON!!
Well, for $40 I couldn't walk past these babies. I've used a few of Cambridge's products before--particularly the System12 portable unit which sounds amazingly fantastic for it's size and price. Cambridge spends alot of time on the electrical designs of their systems using comparitively complex crossovers to correctly time align and equalize their component systems. The result is an extremely transparant transition from the sound output of the subwoofer and sattellites. While I like Bose stuff, Bose is almost the diametrical opposite to Cambridge in that there is a *very* noticeable and perceptable difference in sound from the sub to the sattellites and this is a major limitation that's inherent to separates. There are several mechanical (enclosure design) and electrical (crossovers mainly) ways to overcome or at least greatly offset this shortcoming, but these measures require extra expense, research and design to the manufacturer. Cambridge has been at this for sometime, although their entry into the PC market is fairly recent. While I wouldn't consider even the greatest Cambridge has to offer audiophile grade, I do believe that everything they make is well above consumer level quality in both sound quality and construction.
And it shows with the PCWorks 4 channel system. Prior to owning these, I felt that the PCWorks line as a whole is inferior to the SoundWorks line but the price reflects this and shouldn't come as a surprise. Being somewhat of an audio freak, I generally frown upon plastic subwoofer enclosures, as I have yet to hear one that sounds even halfway acceptable, and the PCWorks sub is no different. With it's 4.5" driver and very small port, the enclosure "wheezes" at even modest sound levels--this is inherent to all ported enclosures, not just Cambridge. While the diameter and length of the port are critical to the tuning of the enclosure, small diameters wheeze at much lower volumes than larger diameter ports would due to the decrease in air velocity in the larger port. There's alot that can be done to reduce this wheezing such as chamfering the mouth of the port to slow the velocity of the air from the port as it interfaces with non-moving air, and this has been done to some extent with the PCWorks. Unfortunately, it's not as effective as it could've been probably due to space and design constraints. Still, they took a stab at it and that's to be commended. The shortcomings in the subwoofer design were painfully aparent while the setup was sitting on my desk next to the monitor. The instructions recommend setting the sub on the floor, preferably in a corner to maximise the output. I had put it on the desk as I didn't want to un-twistie what looked like 30feet of speaker wire from the satellites (I love audio and computer hardware, but I HATE wires) Placing the unit against the wall on a carpeted floor quieted the wheezing substantially while attenuating the bass output slightly due to acoustical coupling to the wall--output went from "slightly nasty" to "somewhat pleasant" just by moving the thing to the floor (and following the directions I might add =)
The satellites are another issue altogether; Well designed and thought out, sturdy and well constructed--they are even batted inside with accoustical foam, nice! The sound output from these is modest, after all the drivers are only 2.75" or so, but their range of output is surprisingly good--they produce good clean sound all the way down to 150Hz or so which is key in a good satellite system to properly integrate with a sub sonically. Another great feature to this setup is that all four satellites connect to the sub/amp via RCA style jacks--this is good and ensures that you won't accidentally reverse the polarity of a speaker or strip wires or break a terminal. The stands for the rears are frankly pathetic. I can't imagine what situation these would be useful--they are only about 3feet tall and are fairly spindly. I appreciate the sentiment of their inclusion however, and wish they were a little more useful than they are. Compared to competing products, I don't see these stands as any better or any worse though. If there's a good side to them, the wire for the satellite routes through one of the legs and into the base making them look as neat as possible when assembled. I've got the front 2 flanking either side of the monitor with the rear 2 hanging on the wall opposite the monitor using the built in nail holes.
The volume control is probably one of the better units I've seen, having all four strands of wire bundled together splitting into 2 pairs about 3 feet down--one for the soundcard rear/front outputs and one for the front/rear input on the sub. The knob itself is stuck to my monitor under the right corner of the tube using the supplied stick tape. It's in a handy spot, not in the way of anything and probably won't get knocked off anytime soon. Seems to make things as clean as they could be, but it still looks like a mess with 4 wires hanging off the back of the monitor, 2 wires off the back of the desk and 2 more wires snaking accross the floor. All of which terminate at the back of the sub making a nice, full plate of spaghetti waiting to entagle the wayward ankle that strays too far into the back reaches of the desk--or the noisy cat...
The 2 things I would improve upon are relatively minor. While I'd like the sub to be a little more robust, it's just not realistic to expect to rattle windows with a sub$100 speaker system, so I'd have to rate it as slightly above average when used as recommended. There is a power switch on the back of the amp that is either on or off. The Altec Lansing ACS48's that I've got have an integrated power switch and volume control into one of the satellites providing very easy adjustment. The Altec's also shut themselves off when there's no signal. I know that amps don't consume a whole lot of current at idle, but it'd be nice if there was no power switch, just an auto off and on. The power cord itself is another cause for complaint with me. It's your run of the mill wall brick that most external modems use--I have to ask; why the heck do companies make these things?? Compaq and Toshiba both use power bricks that are essentially the same thing, but use a regular cord for the socket, thereby not gobbling up 2 or more plugs on a powerstrip. Some powerstrips have their sockets rotated 90deg so this isn't as much of a problem, but this particular wallbrick is so damm heavy that it falls out of the socket if the strip is mounted on the wall--yuck.
Bottom line; At $40 I don't think there's any speaker setup in the world that can match the Cambridge Soundworks PCWorks 4point surround setup. At $100, I still feel you are getting a decent value for your money, but there are also just as capable 5.1setups that might work better for the same or less. Spatial stereo imaging is signature Cambridge fantastic due to the extra effort in crossover design. FourPoint imaging is pretty good with an Aureal based soundcard and damm near fantastic with an SBLive!XGamer, MP3 or Platinum--the Live!Value sounds on par with the Aureal. I'd have to say that all-in-all, this system is target at maybe more the gamer than the PC movie buff--4channels is just enough to exploit DirectSound goodness, but not quite enough to get the full enjoyment out of movies. For sound editing, steer well clear of separates--what you hear isn't what you get in the recording, trust me. The independant subwoofer level adjustment, remote volume control, overall sound quality and build quality of these speaks is well above average, although I wouldn't say that they are light years better than anyone else's offerings in this price range. If I had to pay full price for these - $60-$70 is about the current street price, I'd be fairly pleased with my purchase. If I wanted the ultimate PC speaker setup, there's much better stuff out there for another $100 or so. If you find 'em for $40, snatch em up quick and run out of the store--No! Don't look back, they'll know what you are up to man! Hurry!
Well, for $40 I couldn't walk past these babies. I've used a few of Cambridge's products before--particularly the System12 portable unit which sounds amazingly fantastic for it's size and price. Cambridge spends alot of time on the electrical designs of their systems using comparitively complex crossovers to correctly time align and equalize their component systems. The result is an extremely transparant transition from the sound output of the subwoofer and sattellites. While I like Bose stuff, Bose is almost the diametrical opposite to Cambridge in that there is a *very* noticeable and perceptable difference in sound from the sub to the sattellites and this is a major limitation that's inherent to separates. There are several mechanical (enclosure design) and electrical (crossovers mainly) ways to overcome or at least greatly offset this shortcoming, but these measures require extra expense, research and design to the manufacturer. Cambridge has been at this for sometime, although their entry into the PC market is fairly recent. While I wouldn't consider even the greatest Cambridge has to offer audiophile grade, I do believe that everything they make is well above consumer level quality in both sound quality and construction.
And it shows with the PCWorks 4 channel system. Prior to owning these, I felt that the PCWorks line as a whole is inferior to the SoundWorks line but the price reflects this and shouldn't come as a surprise. Being somewhat of an audio freak, I generally frown upon plastic subwoofer enclosures, as I have yet to hear one that sounds even halfway acceptable, and the PCWorks sub is no different. With it's 4.5" driver and very small port, the enclosure "wheezes" at even modest sound levels--this is inherent to all ported enclosures, not just Cambridge. While the diameter and length of the port are critical to the tuning of the enclosure, small diameters wheeze at much lower volumes than larger diameter ports would due to the decrease in air velocity in the larger port. There's alot that can be done to reduce this wheezing such as chamfering the mouth of the port to slow the velocity of the air from the port as it interfaces with non-moving air, and this has been done to some extent with the PCWorks. Unfortunately, it's not as effective as it could've been probably due to space and design constraints. Still, they took a stab at it and that's to be commended. The shortcomings in the subwoofer design were painfully aparent while the setup was sitting on my desk next to the monitor. The instructions recommend setting the sub on the floor, preferably in a corner to maximise the output. I had put it on the desk as I didn't want to un-twistie what looked like 30feet of speaker wire from the satellites (I love audio and computer hardware, but I HATE wires) Placing the unit against the wall on a carpeted floor quieted the wheezing substantially while attenuating the bass output slightly due to acoustical coupling to the wall--output went from "slightly nasty" to "somewhat pleasant" just by moving the thing to the floor (and following the directions I might add =)
The satellites are another issue altogether; Well designed and thought out, sturdy and well constructed--they are even batted inside with accoustical foam, nice! The sound output from these is modest, after all the drivers are only 2.75" or so, but their range of output is surprisingly good--they produce good clean sound all the way down to 150Hz or so which is key in a good satellite system to properly integrate with a sub sonically. Another great feature to this setup is that all four satellites connect to the sub/amp via RCA style jacks--this is good and ensures that you won't accidentally reverse the polarity of a speaker or strip wires or break a terminal. The stands for the rears are frankly pathetic. I can't imagine what situation these would be useful--they are only about 3feet tall and are fairly spindly. I appreciate the sentiment of their inclusion however, and wish they were a little more useful than they are. Compared to competing products, I don't see these stands as any better or any worse though. If there's a good side to them, the wire for the satellite routes through one of the legs and into the base making them look as neat as possible when assembled. I've got the front 2 flanking either side of the monitor with the rear 2 hanging on the wall opposite the monitor using the built in nail holes.
The volume control is probably one of the better units I've seen, having all four strands of wire bundled together splitting into 2 pairs about 3 feet down--one for the soundcard rear/front outputs and one for the front/rear input on the sub. The knob itself is stuck to my monitor under the right corner of the tube using the supplied stick tape. It's in a handy spot, not in the way of anything and probably won't get knocked off anytime soon. Seems to make things as clean as they could be, but it still looks like a mess with 4 wires hanging off the back of the monitor, 2 wires off the back of the desk and 2 more wires snaking accross the floor. All of which terminate at the back of the sub making a nice, full plate of spaghetti waiting to entagle the wayward ankle that strays too far into the back reaches of the desk--or the noisy cat...
The 2 things I would improve upon are relatively minor. While I'd like the sub to be a little more robust, it's just not realistic to expect to rattle windows with a sub$100 speaker system, so I'd have to rate it as slightly above average when used as recommended. There is a power switch on the back of the amp that is either on or off. The Altec Lansing ACS48's that I've got have an integrated power switch and volume control into one of the satellites providing very easy adjustment. The Altec's also shut themselves off when there's no signal. I know that amps don't consume a whole lot of current at idle, but it'd be nice if there was no power switch, just an auto off and on. The power cord itself is another cause for complaint with me. It's your run of the mill wall brick that most external modems use--I have to ask; why the heck do companies make these things?? Compaq and Toshiba both use power bricks that are essentially the same thing, but use a regular cord for the socket, thereby not gobbling up 2 or more plugs on a powerstrip. Some powerstrips have their sockets rotated 90deg so this isn't as much of a problem, but this particular wallbrick is so damm heavy that it falls out of the socket if the strip is mounted on the wall--yuck.
Bottom line; At $40 I don't think there's any speaker setup in the world that can match the Cambridge Soundworks PCWorks 4point surround setup. At $100, I still feel you are getting a decent value for your money, but there are also just as capable 5.1setups that might work better for the same or less. Spatial stereo imaging is signature Cambridge fantastic due to the extra effort in crossover design. FourPoint imaging is pretty good with an Aureal based soundcard and damm near fantastic with an SBLive!XGamer, MP3 or Platinum--the Live!Value sounds on par with the Aureal. I'd have to say that all-in-all, this system is target at maybe more the gamer than the PC movie buff--4channels is just enough to exploit DirectSound goodness, but not quite enough to get the full enjoyment out of movies. For sound editing, steer well clear of separates--what you hear isn't what you get in the recording, trust me. The independant subwoofer level adjustment, remote volume control, overall sound quality and build quality of these speaks is well above average, although I wouldn't say that they are light years better than anyone else's offerings in this price range. If I had to pay full price for these - $60-$70 is about the current street price, I'd be fairly pleased with my purchase. If I wanted the ultimate PC speaker setup, there's much better stuff out there for another $100 or so. If you find 'em for $40, snatch em up quick and run out of the store--No! Don't look back, they'll know what you are up to man! Hurry!
