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Rating: 
Summary: bug with the phase knob
Review: Cambridge Soundworks did a lot of things that I like with this subwoofer. I like the idea of a separate control unit with a remote, which I imagine digitizes the signal so a cheap phone cable can carry the signal far away without hum or loss. I like that there's an equalizer. I like the looks of the box, and the size is quite reasonable. After bringing one home, I hooked it up to speaker level inputs, and noticed an odd phenomenon: the sound changed dramatically at one point on the phase dial, around 160degrees. I believe that below 160 degrees, the crossover filter wasn't working correctly, above 160, it was. I tried line level inputs and noticed the exact opposite: above 160 degrees, the bass was a much higher frequency. The piece I was using to test this is Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra (i.e., the 2001 fanfare), which has a low frequency pedal note basically throughout the piece. (I think my CD has this pedal note as two frequencies an octave apart.) I went back to the store and tried this same piece on their P500 and P1000. Both did the same thing, so it's not just my box; it's an inherent bug. This sudden difference for a small change in the phase knob disturbed me. I figured I could deal with this issue as long as it sounded good. I brought home an open box Energy e:XL-S12 to compare. The Energy has a bigger woofer and is ported, so I figured it would be sloppier than the P500. I put on a Bach fugue and did the comparison. Sixteenth notes in the pedals are very hard for organ pipes to do well, nevermind speakers, but after comparing a section, I noticed a difference, and asked my wife who "isn't discriminating" (her words) to listen. After listening to just a few seconds immediately said, "This one [the Energy] sounds way better, huh?" yup. The big, ported subwoofer somehow is more accurate. The P500 never hits any of the notes, and just compromises with some mud in the middle. The Energy makes a valiant attempt (although not quite matching the more pricey Velodyne SPL800). The Energy is also slightly louder, and clearly goes lower in frequency (despite a not-so-disparate spec). I hope Cambridge Soundworks fixes their bug in the phase knob. I hope they add a light to the volume knob so you can see its setting when controlling it with the remote. I hope they figure out why their bass isn't as tight as a big bass reflex box. I hope they can make that satellite module smaller so it doesn't take up the space of a audio component. When they fix all of that, I'll want one badly.
Until then, it's an okay performance sub, in a small, attractive package, but other subs (like Energy) have better performance at the price.
Rating:
Summary: bug with the phase knob
Review: Cambridge Soundworks did a lot of things that I like with this subwoofer. I like the idea of a separate control unit with a remote, which I imagine digitizes the signal so a cheap phone cable can carry the signal far away without hum or loss. I like that there's an equalizer. I like the looks of the box, and the size is quite reasonable. After bringing one home, I hooked it up to speaker level inputs, and noticed an odd phenomenon: the sound changed dramatically at one point on the phase dial, around 160degrees. I believe that below 160 degrees, the crossover filter wasn't working correctly, above 160, it was. I tried line level inputs and noticed the exact opposite: above 160 degrees, the bass was a much higher frequency. The piece I was using to test this is Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra (i.e., the 2001 fanfare), which has a low frequency pedal note basically throughout the piece. (I think my CD has this pedal note as two frequencies an octave apart.) I went back to the store and tried this same piece on their P500 and P1000. Both did the same thing, so it's not just my box; it's an inherent bug. This sudden difference for a small change in the phase knob disturbed me. I figured I could deal with this issue as long as it sounded good. I brought home an open box Energy e:XL-S12 to compare. The Energy has a bigger woofer and is ported, so I figured it would be sloppier than the P500. I put on a Bach fugue and did the comparison. Sixteenth notes in the pedals are very hard for organ pipes to do well, nevermind speakers, but after comparing a section, I noticed a difference, and asked my wife who "isn't discriminating" (her words) to listen. After listening to just a few seconds immediately said, "This one [the Energy] sounds way better, huh?" yup. The big, ported subwoofer somehow is more accurate. The P500 never hits any of the notes, and just compromises with some mud in the middle. The Energy makes a valiant attempt (although not quite matching the more pricey Velodyne SPL800). The Energy is also slightly louder, and clearly goes lower in frequency (despite a not-so-disparate spec). I hope Cambridge Soundworks fixes their bug in the phase knob. I hope they add a light to the volume knob so you can see its setting when controlling it with the remote. I hope they figure out why their bass isn't as tight as a big bass reflex box. I hope they can make that satellite module smaller so it doesn't take up the space of a audio component. When they fix all of that, I'll want one badly.
Until then, it's an okay performance sub, in a small, attractive package, but other subs (like Energy) have better performance at the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome bass, and a beauty too
Review: I bought this sub for my husband, because I was sick and tired of the huge black box that sat next to our couch. It was an eyesore. I own some of the Cambridge computer speakers and was really impressed with their sound for the money, so I gave this a try. Now we both have what we want. My husband gets a great sounding subwoofer that shakes our walls during fly by scenes of Top Gun, and I get a good looking sub that doesn't make our living room look like am electronics yard sale. My husband especially loves the remote on the subwoofer. Great idea- and adds a cool factor that he shows off to his buddies.
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