MaximumPC 2007 02

reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized

76 MAXIMUMPC february 2007

I

t’s been some time since we’ve had any

new PC speakers to test—manufacturers’

assembly lines seem to be stuck in iPod

mode—but the market has finally shifted,

and now we have PC-oriented models com-

ing out of the ductwork.

—Michael Brown

aBit iDoMe D500 Digital 2.1

We subjected our eardrums to the medioc-

rity of Abit’s iDome D500 Digital 2.1-channel

speakers so you won’t have to.

Seriously, the audio that emerged from

this milquetoast system was so blasé it

made the laid-back Bose Companion 5 sys-

tem throb with vitality in comparison. Shoot,

we had to check the iDome’s subwoofer to

make sure it was warm.

Listening to games, CDs, and MP3s on

the iDomes is like eating doughnut holes: You

get a lot of soft middle and not much else. We

couldn’t detect the subwoofer’s contribution

until we cranked it all the way up, and then it

only muddied the waters.

Abit built a 24-bit/192KHz DAC into the

iDome system, along with SPDIF inputs and

outputs—a curious design decision on a num-

ber of fronts. First, the only commercial CDs

released in this for-

mat are DVD-Audio

and SuperAudio

CD, but DVD-A and

SACD players output

only to analog—and

to 5.1 channels, to

boot. The same goes for surround-sound

game audio. Additionally, the DAC sounds no

better than what you’ll hear coming from most

motherboards. The built-in DSP effects didn’t

float our boat, either. Next!

Bose coMpanion 5

MultiMeDia speaker systeM^

Bose’s Companion 5 system puts ease of use

ahead of pure audio performance.

To deliver one-cable convenience, Bose

taps your PC’s audio capabilities via USB,

rendering your soundcard impotent. And the

Companion 5’s stylish satellites plug into the

powered subwoofer via 7.5-foot hard-wired

cables, but you’re screwed if they’re too short

because their connections are nonstandard.

The “5” in Companion 5 alludes to Bose’s

promise to deliver 5.1-channel surround sound

using just two satellites and a sub. The system

does present a wide soundstage, but it fails to

truly position audio events in a 3D space.

The Acoustimass bass module, mean-

while, sounds oddly muffled—it lacks the

in-the-chest thump we crave while gaming,

watching action movies, and listening to

music. The satellites deliver crisp, sparkling

highs but wallflower mids that fail to support

the upper spectrum. Disappointing.

altec lansing FX5051

Altec Lansing, like Bose, taps USB for sur-

round-sound audio, but Altec’s FX5051

system is a true six-channel surround-sound

system. And unlike the Bose system, the

FX5051 has discrete analog inputs, so you

can connect it to an add-in soundcard.

Unfortunately, we were even less

impressed with the FX5051’s audio quality

than we were with the Companion 5’s. While

we prefer the Altec’s six-channel setup over

Bose’s pseudo surround sound while playing

surround-sound content, we found the Altecs

easy to overdrive into distortion.

The double-barreled subwoofer features

an isobaric design in which two 6.5-inch driv-

ers are horizontally mounted in a clamshell

configuration. But the drivers get just 28 watts

of power from the integrated amplifier, so they

don’t deliver much oomph.

The FX5051’s speaker cables are hard-

wired to their cabinets; the front-channel

cables are six feet long and the rears are just

12 feet long. This doesn’t provide much flex-

ibility, but since the cables end in RCA plugs,

you can couple them to longer cables.

Speaker Spelunking

Down-and-dirty explorations of three new PC speaker systems

the Bose companion 5’s volume control is in a wired puck, which

also has a headphone output and a line input for an Mp3 player.

abit’s satellites look ready to kick sand

in the face of other speakers, but they’re

really just 25-watt weaklings.

$400, http://www.bose.com

bose companion 5

cruMB

Loud and drop-dead sexy.

raiseD^6

Muffled bass, proprietary

cables, USB audio.

$250, http://www.alteclansing.com

altec lansing fx5051

ButterMilk

Six discrete speakers,

conventional analog inputs,

wireless remote.

Maple Bar^5

Easily pushed to distortion.

$270, http://www.abit-usa.com

abit idome d500 digital 2.1

apple Fritter

MDF cabinets. Not much

else to say.

French cruller^4

Lacking in fidelity, definition,

and power.

how we wish altec lansing’s FX5051

speaker system sounded as exciting as

its subwoofer looks.