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

[jcl]

Nothing wrong paying for looks as long as you realize that's what you're doing and let's face it $90 for speaker cables isn't bad compared to what some are charging. I got a kick out of going to amazon and looking at some of the prices. These babies look a little more polished at $6800 an 8' pair, and better hurry 'cause they only have 10 left in stock! Can't imagine....

 

[ImcLoud]

$7000 that is kid stuff lol how about these Amazon.com : Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 7 Speaker Cable 6.0 Meters X 2 Cables New 7 Series : Electronics who ever buys these should be kicked in the d!ck

Wire world makes $5000 hdmi cables too, lol, $7000 rca {single} cables, it is sickening..

I would love to get some andrew jones pios, and hook them up with a $50K set of cables, just for the irony... Come listen to my $50K sound system the speakers were $200 and was $200 and the cables were $48,600

 

[darien87]

So got my Carnegie's yesterday, (5pm couldn't come fast enough).

Hooked them up and got them calibrated and I gotta say I wasn't floored. I guess it's my room but they didn't sound as impressive as they did when I listened to them at John's place. The mids and highs are good but they don't have the midbass pop of my VR 2's. But that is certainly understandable as I'm comparing a bookshelf speaker to a tower. John noted that his liked to be pointed straight forward but I think mine like a bit of toe-in. I'm sure John's ears are more sophisticated than mine though.

Maybe they just need to break in a little, (not that I'm a big believer in speaker break-in).

One bummer though, I did notice a blemish on the side of one of the bookshelfs. I thought it was some sort of bubbling at first but it appears to be some sort of pitting that was in the wood before they finished it. I thought these were supposed to be B-stock only in the fact that they had incorrect poly fill not scratch and dent type of B-stock?

 

[afterlife2]

They look great without the grills. I hope you get them to your liking soon.

 

[jcl]

Perhaps with a little more experimentation with placement you can get them dialed in. Sorry to hear about the blemish. They look stunning in the pictures.

Really like your stands btw, they look very cool. I saw some Focal's on the same stands and thought about the stands, but didn't think they would be sturdy enough with my young daughter and a dog.

 

[darien87]

Really like your stands btw, they look very cool. I saw some Focal's on the same stands and thought about the stands, but didn't think they would be sturdy enough with my young daughter and a dog.

Yeah the stands definitely aren't what you'd call sturdy. If the wife and I had kids I certainly wouldn't have bought them. The one on the right looks to me like it leans a little to the left but it seems to be straight. Maybe its just a visual thing.

One thing about these speakers though, the finish is so smooth and shiny that you almost need to handle them with gloves otherwise you get fingerprints all over them.

 

[j_garcia]

Those are the same stands I had my 38lb A/V-2s on and they were fine, but they were the 26" version not the 30" versions. My only complaint about them was the small top plate, so though I really liked them, I haven't decided if I will buy the same ones again.

Weird that they would sound so different for you. At my place that was setup with no EQ, analog direct with the 83SE. It took a few days to position them properly to get the most out of them for me. The A/V-2s took longer than that. Mine sounded good right out of the box too. I don't notice any change since having them and I still haven't calibrated them because I was waiting for the center to show up. I agree with the suggestion to keep messing with the placement. I know you said you sit further than me but can't spread them as far apart, but I feel these throw a very deep image so sitting further away should actually help them. In both of my rooms, they still sound very good when you are around 20ft away from them IMO. XPA-5 ishould be pushing the same amount of power to them.

They definitely won't have the same midrange kick of your BAs. My A/V-2s have more midrange kick too.

What were you listening to and what source? My 83SE is for sale...

 

[darien87]

I don't have many options as far as placement. My seating position is about 11 feet back from the speakers. About all I can do is move them out further from the wall, (they're about 17" out right now) or move them a little farther apart. But moving them farther apart would put the left front closer to the side wall and my Rythmik sub is on that same side wall a couple of feet in front of the left speaker. I would think that having the speaker close to the wall is not a good thing and I wouldn't want the sub to get in the way of the speaker. You can just see the edge of the sub at the far left of the first pic.

I was just listening to MP3's off the PS 3. But then I put in The Avengers BD and wasn't too impressed with that either.

 

[ImcLoud]

Im surprised, you are the first person I heard say they weren't impressed, Did you try spreading them out a little more , plull them out about another foot from the back wall, and face them straight forward {or just a slight toe in}...

I am not a big believer in break in either, mine sounded great rite out of the box, experimenting with placement made them better of course, and I noticed that fixing placement is easier at low levels, once you get them rite at a low level, they will amaze you when you turn them up... Like most speakers they like power on tap but you should have more than enough, I noticed that when I used my lepai 2020 with them, they sounded good but much better with a lot more power behind them,,,

PS nice looking setup, and try giving him a call about the floor in the finish he may take care of you...
PSS did you move the stuffing? I did before I plugged them in so Im not sure if it sounds different...

 

[Jeff R.]

You are making my nervous that I will regret my purchase based on your initial impressions....I hope you get them dialed in and reaffirm that you are happy with the purchase.

 

[ImcLoud]

You are making my nervous that I will regret my purchase based on your initial impressions....I hope you get them dialed in and reaffirm that you are happy with the purchase.

LOL, I wouldn't worry about being happy, I have listened to a lot of speakers and for $400 you are not doing better than these bookshelfs, and even the towers and center {I haven't heard} at their price point how could you go wrong? I bought a set, my office manager bought a set, and jgarcia has a set, all of us were impressed, my office manager is in love with hers, and she picked them over the epos 2's {which I also love}, focals that cost twice as much, the ascend sierras, and the wharfedale evo2-08's {which I love}... They are a really nice speaker you wont be sorry, I am getting a pair fo subs to go with mine, should be here soon...

 

[j_garcia]

I don't have many options as far as placement. My seating position is about 11 feet back from the speakers. About all I can do is move them out further from the wall, (they're about 17" out right now) or move them a little farther apart. But moving them farther apart would put the left front closer to the side wall and my Rythmik sub is on that same side wall a couple of feet in front of the left speaker. I would think that having the speaker close to the wall is not a good thing and I wouldn't want the sub to get in the way of the speaker. You can just see the edge of the sub at the far left of the first pic.

I was just listening to MP3's off the PS 3. But then I put in The Avengers BD and wasn't too impressed with that either.

Do I need to come by and give you a hand with the placement/setup? EQ can help, but it can't fix placement nor all room issues.

 

[darien87]

Do I need to come by and give you a hand with the placement/setup? EQ can help, but it can't fix placement nor all room issues.

I wouldn't turn down the help.

Any time you're feeling the need to stop by beautiful downtown Gilroy let me know. I'll buy you lunch.

 

[ImcLoud]

I wouldn't turn down the help.

Any time you're feeling the need to stop by beautiful downtown Gilroy let me know. I'll buy you lunch.

Is that some kind of code?

 

[darien87]

Is that some kind of code?

It's a thinly veiled plea for help.

 

[j_garcia]

I'll be around this weekend and should have some time to drop by. You have my number.

 

[ImcLoud]

Keep us updated, I was actually just on the phone with my OM that we built the 2.2 for, she was calling to tell me I had to listen to Let her go by Passenger because it sounds so good, lol... So I put it on, and there is something there, the beginning is detailed and his voice is fun, but not life changing, lol... I get a kick out of how much this girl has got into music and music systems since I met her, she plays violin and as most of you know most of us get our passion from creation, I will sit with a guitar on my lap for hours and I have no talent, lol, Imagine if I was great like some of these professionals out there, I would glue a neck to my hand and never put it down...

You want to hear where these csb-1s shine? play Royals by Lorde, there is a snap/clap in te melody with some synthetic-ish horn sound and Ella's voice {I won't even try to spell or pronounce her entire name, lol} show the shine in these bookshelfs, enveloping, crystal clear, and reproducing the entire range at even the lowest volume, you can make out every defined sound... and another song that sounds great on these is Avicii wake me up, very fast and big sweeps and some good male vocals, becareful this song clipped one of my sierra drivers to death {thank god for warranties}, but its one of them songs you can never get loud enough, passion and speed... Its like country club music {not to be mistaken for country rap, that I hate}....

 

[darien87]

So it looks like my issue with the sound of the CSB-1's was two-fold. First the songs that I was using turned out to be recorded at a low bit rate. I thought they were high quality but when I checked the info they were at 160kbps! I guess when I imported them to my PS3's hard drive I didn't check the settings. So I got the CD's and listened to the songs and they did sound better. I have since re-imported the songs at 320kbps.

Then I moved the speakers away from the back wall and out to the sides. Originally they were about 5' apart and about 18" from the back wall. Last night I moved them so that they are 22" from the back wall and 6' apart. This definitely improved the sound quite a bit.

The only thing I am leery about is that now the left speaker is now only a foot away from the left wall and it is firing pretty much directly at my front sub which is on the same wall. The sub is about 3 feet away from the speaker and is about 28" high. The CSB1's are on 30" stands. I hope this won't be an issue. I'll have to take some pics and post them so you guys can tell me what you think.

By the way Imcloud was right about Royals. That does sound good with these speakers. But I can't stand that Wake Me Up song. Just too weird to combine club music with country to me.

 

[ImcLoud]

So it looks like my issue with the sound of the CSB-1's was two-fold. First the songs that I was using turned out to be recorded at a low bit rate. I thought they were high quality but when I checked the info they were at 160kbps! I guess when I imported them to my PS3's hard drive I didn't check the settings. So I got the CD's and listened to the songs and they did sound better. I have since re-imported the songs at 320kbps.

Then I moved the speakers away from the back wall and out to the sides. Originally they were about 5' apart and about 18" from the back wall. Last night I moved them so that they are 22" from the back wall and 6' apart. This definitely improved the sound quite a bit.

The only thing I am leery about is that now the left speaker is now only a foot away from the left wall and it is firing pretty much directly at my front sub which is on the same wall. The sub is about 3 feet away from the speaker and is about 28" high. The CSB1's are on 30" stands. I hope this won't be an issue. I'll have to take some pics and post them so you guys can tell me what you think.

By the way Imcloud was right about Royals. That does sound good with these speakers. But I can't stand that Wake Me Up song. Just too weird to combine club music with country to me.

LOL, the country/club music takes some getting used to, but still better than the country/rap shite... Placement is the hardest part with any sound system {after paying for it}, placement can make something decent sound sub par, and it can be a few inches or just a tip of the toe in that makes it rite... Some speakers are easier then others, these aren't that bad.. I have to start all over with mine since I just received the subs to go with them...

 

[Jeff R.]

I got mine today finish is great. I immediately pulled off the front drivers and pushed back the insulation. Not sure if there is a science to this or not. I just pushed it to the lower back and little up in the corners by the tweeters. I believe I have a few inches or more of clearance behind the drivers. I think they look amazing. I did not realize the fronts sloped back but I like the style.

I can unfortunately not listen. My amp did not arrive today as it was supposed to. I plan to call Amazon about that. I paid an additional $7 for faster shipping at it should have been here today.

Just looking and wanting to listen......


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