Overview

Cambridge and Creative

Cambridge Soundworks began as a mail order-only company, selling speakers designed by Henry Kloss. Who is Henry Kloss, you ask? He was one of the founders of Acoustic Research, one of the most respected brands in the industry. He also was a founder of Advent, and KLH. You know those speakers with side firing woofers? AR marketed that design first. Recently, Cambridge Sound Works began to create self-powered multimedia speakers, which eventually led to their merger with PC audio giant, Creative Labs.

This combination was described as the optimal creation of a vertical industry, from the digital bits in your computer, to the vibrations felt by your ears. Creative Labs now had the privilege to control your entire audio experience. The satellite/subwoofer component systems by Cambridge have been well recommended by both online and print media. Later product offerings bundled four speakers into the package, for the ultimate in personal surround sound.

Everyone wants digital

Creative and Cambridge's latest creation are the FPS 2000 Digital speakers, a synthesis of both analog and digital technologies. What does FPS stand for? First Person Shooter? Frames Per Second? No, in this case, it stands for "Four Point Surround." When these speakers are bundled with the SB Live!, a purely digital signal can be sent from your system to the speakers, with only one digital to analog conversion before the speaker amplifier, hence the "digital" in the title. Does this technological achievement translate into improved sound. or is it just another academic exercise? Read on.