Heavy Weight Speakers, Heavy Weight Sound!
The design of the speakers is certainly striking. The black pod design is supposed to be futuristic, the green text is supposed to scream “Xbox”, and the grills remind me of old radio microphones:
Both satellites and sub are 100% plastic, with those curious large-holed grills that will hold no defence from a two-year-old with a pointy object. Unlike most plastic setups however, these are as solidly built as you could ask for, with sturdy unyielding (yet adjustable) stands. The grills don’t appear to come off no matter how much effort you put into doing so, yet again a tribute to the build quality of the things.
Once hooked up to my ever-faithful Dreamcast for some listen tests, I learned what earns these things their £149.95 RRP: Playing through Rez was all the more mind-blowing than ever, with the clearest crispest most perfect sound I’ve heard in a home speaker set. Those of you with Creative Labs Inspire setups take heed: These things blow every creative setup out of the water. The clarity remained from the barest whisper to as loud as I thought my neighbours would tolerate. All the while, the subwoofer gave meaty thumps that made me tingle inside. I popped an audio CD into the Dreamcast, and was again shown just how good these things sound. You will never want to run sound directly from your TV speakers again with these by your side.
It’s not all rosy though. Read on...
