Received my Carnegie CSB1's today, a lot of people wanted to know what I thought...

[sawzalot]

Given that it's a TL design, I would assume it would benefit a little more from proper stuffing than a typical ported or sealed design. If the speaker is understuffed, stuffing it properly may raise the tuning point to where it's supposed to be and tighten the bass and midrange up. IIRC anyways.

I hear that , however these are made with the proper amount of acoustimass stuffing , what they are missing is the no rez peel and stick to be applied to interior walls of cabinet and that means working through the driver openings which is rather smallish so I was curious if any Tower Owners have completed the task as of yet. I wonder if there is other threads detailing other owner experiences with this mod/repair?

 

[sawzalot]

Well I gotta run but this will be continued this evening as I will attempt one tower tonite.

 

[Jimz711]

I haven't attempted to stuff mine, I didn't get no rez went with a peel and stick from parts express. I have noticed on occasion and I mean very few occasions when the bass could be tighter. I am still thoroughly enjoying the speakers and will stuff them I've just had other home improvement stuff to do.

I haven't looked around at other forums to see if others have attempted stuffing them, I know the work is going to be kind of blind with the small drivers, but it should be worth the attempt.

 

[sawzalot]

Well here is an update , I laid one speaker on her back with the grill covers off and cracked open a Stella then proceeded to watch MNF so no drivers removed as of yet lol. I dont know what the heck is wrong with me, just dont have the heart to pull the drivers sheesh maybe tonite gotta get out right now busy schedule.

 

[j_garcia]

I listened to mine for a few weeks before pulling them apart.

 

[Jimz711]

Well, I have just about everything else I need to do out of the way so the plan is to add fill over the weekend. Anyone get around to adding fill to the towers yet?

 

[bilesteve]

Not exactly but

Well, I have just about everything else I need to do out of the way so the plan is to add fill over the weekend. Anyone get around to adding fill to the towers yet?

I did make the trek to Danny Richie's plant and spent basically all afternoon and into the mid-evening with him and came home with a brand new set of the Towers and the Center Carneiges.

Originally, I had taken my previous speakers to Danny for his measurement and upgrade recommendations, but first he had me listen to several sets of speakers set up there from his mini-monitor to a $5 figure set of speakers. As I told him later, he had me at the mini monitors, the rest was just better and better and pretty far away from the speakers that I had brought with me.

It was a delightful day and I had no intention of buying new speakers, but the demos showed me that are audio levels far above my basic plane, in 'another galaxy' I told him.

No need to go through more praise but I was super impressed with Mr. Richie, his knowledge, and his customer service. Somehow I think I will be back in Iowa Park again sometime.

And no, I have not put the NoRez into my new set, but they are in the process of break-in, so maybe some time next weekend, though Mr. Rice did re-arrage the poly fill for me and possibly added more before I left his home facility.

Great people to deal with, I think that I may be a convert.

 

[ImcLoud]

THAT IS AWESOME, I am still in love with my csb1's and as some of you know I change the bookshelfs in that room constantly, these things surprise me every time I listen to them.. I have to say I think the Carnegies from Danny are the best deal in "high" end audio rite now... The csb1's sound better than my ascend sierras which is a hard nut to crack especially for half the price {with the sale of course}...
So where are our pics of these new towers?????

PS I spoke with Danny on the phone and was also very impressed, very nice and intelligent guy to talk to ....

 

[psbfan9]

I did make the trek to Danny Richie's plant and spent basically all afternoon and into the mid-evening with him and came home with a brand new set of the Towers and the Center Carneiges.

Somehow I think I will be back in Iowa Park again sometime.

Iowa Park? Isn't that in Texas? I thought he was located in Tennessee or Kentucky?

 

[zieglj01]

Iowa Park? Isn't that in Texas? I thought he was located in Tennessee or Kentucky?

He is located in Texas

 

[Jimz711]

I have not added stuffing to my speakers yet, as I did not have my tools. Apparently the last time I moved, I dropped some stuff off at my parent's for storage. I completely forgot until I went to open up the speakers and well couldn't.

I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying the speakers especially for music. I have yet to find a genre of music they do not sound good with. I will not say they make poor recordings sound good but the "harshness" I had noticed with some recordings is significantly diminished with the tweeter in these speakers.

I am currently running without a center and even without a sub, for music I really do not notice anything missing. Obviously for movies the missing sub is noticeable, but with living in an apartment they are certainly acceptable. The speakers also image well enough that unless I consciously think about it, I do not notice I have no center speaker, as everything comes from the center of the television. I do miss surround speakers sometimes, but I do not miss the wires running across my floor.

I hope to get the speakers finished this weekend, with pictures to follow.

 

[Jimz711]

Carnegie Acoustics is located in Kentucky.

 

[bilesteve]

Yes, Mr. Richie is in Iowa Park, a few miles from Wichita Falls.

I rarely post but when all is set up (my home computer is having serious problems), I will try to post some pics.

Mr. Richie told me that No Rez to the Towers would yield a 'subtle' improvement in sound, for those of you putting it in the speaker.

 

[psbfan9]

He is located in Texas

Carnegie Acoustics is located in Kentucky.

Yes, Mr. Richie is in Iowa Park, a few miles from Wichita Falls.

Ok, thanks.

 

[charmerci]

Well, I got my pair yesterday. Came in perfect shape - even the box. (I've never had a speaker box come in perfect shape before - -they all have dents, small holes, etc.)

After moving around the polyfill inside to clear a passage for the woofer to the back port - they had a bit more bass punch than before. I can't remember what else changed about the sound.

As I almost exclusively listen to older music (pre-1990's), I can say that these speakers are pretty unforgiving on not-so-good recordings - the high frequencies. It's even hard to listen to them at much volume connected to my computer watching youtube videos. The Pioneer 22's roll off the upper end so I can listen to not-optimum recordings at a higher level without it being "painful." Having said that, they make the Pioneers sound anemic. These are much fuller sounding. They are more laid back than my B&W DM302's which the sounds seems to come out of the front of the speaker rather than behind it like the Carnegies.

The Carnegies sound less bass heavy pulled away from the wall. Unfortunately, I won't be able to pull them away much more than 14" - though I'll try later. (My room is not large.) I don't find the lower bass as tight as the B&W's though those don't go nearly as low even though they both have 5 1/4" woofers. (56 vs 70 Hz -3db) I haven't had a chance yet to listen to them with my sub(s).

They certainly are a nice sounding speaker. The info/sounds from the recordings come through very clearly and with more "precision." With my equipment - Sony CD player and Pioneer receiver with a chip amp (VSX-912), I notice a bit of a hollow sound to the midrange.

My ears are pretty sensitive so I think they probably would sound better with better equipment. They certainly sound better than my other speakers - except of course, when cranking up not-fantastic recordings.

(The two good recordings that I can listen to loudly on these are Dave Grusin's Discovered Again ('76) and Barney Kessel - Poll Winners Three ('62)

 

[ImcLoud]

glad to see you are happy with them, I only listen to youtube recordings on my pc speakers, I wouldn't dare blast it through a set of speakers, since distortion will make short work of the tweeters..

Maybe just a simple topping tp60 to power them, and a dac to take the signal from your pc, may help make youtube sound better? may be worth a try..

I have 200w mono blocks powering mine and I notice they sound very good at all volumes, I really think its an electronic issue, I cross to subs as I do with all books, and I absolutely love mine, they have lasted the longest on the stands to date, I am usually changing them around every month or so..

 

[j_garcia]

UnEQ'ed they are definitely unforgiving of poor recordings. My EQ tames them a fair amount which can yield nice results, but I pretty much don't use the EQ with music. The truth is, there is a bit of hollowness to the midrange on these guys. I don't find it distracting though, as all speakers have some sort of tradeoff; these deliver something I can easily enjoy that, while not perfect, don't have any glaring faults (IMO) either. I have mine about 2ft from the wall and they provide adequate bass; more when cranked, less at low volume, but I pretty much always run them with the sub unless someone comes over to listen to them.

 

[charmerci]

I was thinking - cranking these babies on great recordings. General listening B&W's, cranking bad recordings the Pio 22's.

I was hoping that I could get rid of the rest after getting this...maybe not. I just want one set of speakers - but I guess with my ears, nothing in the $500 or less will do.

(Btw, youtube runs out of the computer>DAC>receiver>speakers.)

 

[zieglj01]

I was thinking - cranking these babies on great recordings. General listening B&W's, cranking bad recordings the Pio 22's.

I was hoping that I could get rid of the rest after getting this...maybe not. I just want one set of speakers - but I guess with my ears, nothing in the $500 or less will do.

(Btw, youtube runs out of the computer>DAC>receiver>speakers.)

I was thinking - cranking these babies on great recordings. General listening B&W's, cranking bad recordings the Pio 22's.

I was hoping that I could get rid of the rest after getting this...maybe not. I just want one set of speakers - but I guess with my ears, nothing in the $500 or less will do.

I am not much of a Youtube fan for music - and even filters and, or Dac's will not
cover/fix much of that

Most all speakers tend to have a compromise somewhere - however, above $700/800
I tend to pick-up better sound quality.

There is no guarantee that ID or Retail is the best

There are some nice speakers on the Retail side - and some real nice deals
if you find them on close-out pricing.

Danny is a good designer - however, there are still design/cost limitations.

I still tend to switch my speakers around some - however, I know the ones
that I enjoy more.

Have Fun

 

[j_garcia]

You can't find a speaker that's perfect, only one (or a few) that you like For me, the 22s and 52s are perfect for general listening.