The control interface and amplifier are all built into the subwoofer unit, and there is no seperate remote control. The controls on the front of this unit include volume, tone adjustment, and independent volume balance for the sub-woofer, surround and center speakers.

At the top of the control panel there is a switch for the user to up-mix a 2 channel signal to all 5 speakers. This is very useful if you don't have a 6 channel sound card, or are using a CD player as a source. Connection to a PC is via 3 analogue cables, which terminate in 3.5mm jacks, suitable for connecting to even the cheapest onboard soundcards. There are no digital inputs, but these are usually reserved for high end speakers.

One rather fatal flaw with the design of this system was the omission of a 3.5mm or ¼ inch headphones socket. This can be very handy for gaming in the middle of the night.

Despite their shortcomings, the sound is reasonable for films, especially when utilising the 5.1 surround sound. The case is the same for gaming, although any loud explosion will cause the sub-woofer to distort horribly.

For music, these speakers are something of a pain to endure. After around 20 minutes they cause even the most hardened rock listener to have a headache. They generally accentuate all cymbals, especially the hi-hat (the most continuous sound in almost any song). Most speaker setups over compensate for the lack of the mid and high range by including an overpowered sub-woofer that pleases only drum and bass listeners. However, in this case even the sub-woofer is disappointing, not really coping with any moderately loud sound below 100Hz. Anything below this frequency causes the sub-woofer to distort as well as muddying the whole sound.

Final Thoughts

Overall, these speakers are quite poor with music being simply intolerable.It does have its good points for film and gaming, but it would never cope with the volumes required for a true cinema experience nor a realistic gaming experience. However, at only £32.84 from MicroLand these are incredibly cheap. For low volumes they just about suffice but if you're looking for a louder, fuller sound, we'd advise looking elsewhere.

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