2.1 speaker systems have been in existence for a long time, but even today it is hard to come across a set that sounds really good. The cheaper ones are often built to a budget and produce passable sound, while the more expensive ones sound decent but are no match for a pair of bookshelf speakers from a respected brand at the same price. Bookshelf speakers also take up a lot more desk space and often require amplification, which a lot of people will see as an additional headache. Hence the popularity of the 2.1 speaker systems. Their space saving design and plug and play nature is what made them so popular. It is also the reason why people choose to buy them despite the quality compromise.
But sometimes you have manufacturers that take up the task of creating truly good sounding 2.1 speakers that will challenge the stereotype. Most of the top desktop speaker manufacturers have tried this and few have succeeded. This time we have a new entrant in this segment, a name we are all familiar with, thanks to their quality storage devices and power supply units.
The SP2500 is Corsair's first speaker system and it seems they have pulled all stops to make sure it is the absolute best in the segment. We hooked it up to our PC to see how good it sounds.
Design
While the online pictures leave no doubt that the SP2500 is a physically large set, we were a bit shocked when we actually saw it for the first time. The subwoofer could easily pass off as a stool and the satellite speakers were as large as our face. Visually, the speakers are moderately attractive. They have a very safe design that doesn't stir any extreme emotions in the viewer. Corsair has left that to speakers size.
The massive subwoofer turned out to be lighter than we thought. It uses a fourth-order bandpass enclosure design. What this means is that the driver is completely inside the enclosure and is mounted on a partition within, with its backside facing a sealed compartment with a fixed quantity of air, and the cone facing a ported compartment. This arrangement requires a lot of space, which explains the large size of the subwoofer.
The satellite speakers are traditional boxes with a no nonsense design. Each of them has a 3-inch mid-range driver and a 1-inch ferrofluid cooled silk diaphragm tweeter. The satellite speakers are completely non-adjustable but they come with plastic stands that you can place under either the front or the rear feet of the satellites depending upon whether you want the firing angle to be higher or lower. Still, despite this, we would have preferred adjustable speakers as that allows a finer control over the firing angle.
The 8-inch subwoofer is powered by a 120W amplifier. The satellites are bi-amped, which means there is an amp for each of the drivers. The mid-range drivers get 40W of power each and the tweeters get 16W each, which is more than the combined power of most low-end systems. The total power rating of the system is 232W RMS, which is measured by the FTC method. The FTC rating is obtained by measuring across both the channels across the audible range (20-20,000Hz) at 0.1% THD.
Most other manufacturers state the EIA rating, which is obtained across a single channel at 1KHz with 1% THD. Due to this power output obtained using the EIA method is often larger compared to the FTC method, but less realistic. None of us listen to 1KHz sounds from a single channel and 1%THD is too high to dismiss. Had Corsair used the traditional method their total output would have been closer to or more than 300W RMS.
On the back of the subwoofer you will find the line in input, which uses standard RCA jacks and auxiliary input. The output to the two speakers is through unconventional (for a speaker system) ATX connectors. The reason for this is because the speakers are bi-amped and ATX cables allow Corsair to send the two dedicated streams without having multiple ports per channel. They are also easy to replace and extend if necessary. Lastly, you have the VGA connector to the remote controller.
The remote on the SP2500 is pretty awesome. It has a large display, a volume control knob that also serves as navigation control through the on-screen UI and three backlit keys below. One of the keys controls the master volume, the other lets you adjust the subwoofer level. The third buttons lets you enter the menu. From there you can select various sound effects and equalizer presets as well as the input. You can adjust the duration of the backlight and the color.
The remote also has another auxiliary input and a headphone out. There is also a mini USB port, which allows you to connect it to the PC. This function is reserved for future firmware upgrades, which may add additional functions or alter existing ones.
We first hooked up the SP2500 to our PC with a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 sound card and later on to an Xbox 360 for gaming and movie sound testing.
When we first started testing with the PC, we set the volume on the sound card to maximum as we usually do and controlled the final volume through the volume control on the SP2500. But then we realized that the system was unable to handle the output of the sound card at max volume and so whenever bass came into the picture the DSP in the system would tone down the sound, which made it muddy.
We then set the sound card output to 50%, which reduced the strain on the speaker system and made them work properly. The culprit here was the DSP, which was clearly overwhelmed by the input signal. Lesser speaker systems that cannot afford the luxury of having a dedicated DSP built-in had no problem whatsoever in our tests.
Once that was settled we tried our usual batch of uncompressed audio files. Now the first thing that strikes you about the sound is the bass response, which is immensely powerful. Once you get over the subwoofer, you will realize that the satellites also do a fine job of rendering mids and highs.
Music on the SP2500 sounds good. The voices sound natural and the instruments are played back with the kind of accuracy that would fool you into thinking they are playing right in front of you. The tweeters render the high end beautifully with perfect clarity without being too harsh. The mid-range too is very good but a little more clarity would have made it excellent.
The powerful bass, once put under a tight leash comes across as dynamic and full bodied. It fills in the low end effortlessly and can go fairly deep. But it lacked somewhat in terms of definition. In some tracks we were overwhelmed by the boomy bass, while the tight punch we expected wasn't there. Reducing the bass reduced all impact and hence was pointless.
Because of this, some tracks sound less than stellar. The subwoofer makes its presence felt, which might be great in movies and gaming, but it sounds odd in music. This is even more apparent in a small room, where the subwoofer seems too big for its own good. If you are in a big room, however, the subwoofer is unlikely to overwhelm you as much. Still, that punch is missing.
The speakers have excellent stereo imaging. The satellite speakers are able to position sounds all around you in a way that almost makes you turn around as if it came from behind you. Soundstaging is brilliant as well and you can easily distinguish one instrument from another.
Movies and gaming are a completely different ball game altogether and this is where the SP2500 truly excels. The satellites ensure all the dialogues come through clean and clear and the subwoofer ensures all the explosions are delivered with aplomb. But at the end of the day, this is still a 2.1 speaker system and no matter how good the stereo imaging is, it cannot replicate a proper surround sound speaker system. Those heavily into movies and gaming would do better by investing in a 5.1 channel speaker system, such as the Logitech Z-5500, which is slightly more expensive than the SP2500.
Due to the presence of a DSP, the SP2500 offers multiple sound effects for you to choose from. Our favourite was the Late Night mode, which cuts off the subwoofer and boosts the bass output of the satellite speakers, so you get a balanced sound without waking up others in your house. The other effects were not so impressive. In fact, their very presence raised questions in our mind.
Corsair claims that the SP2500 delivers life-like stereo sound yet they have provided these sound effects that alter the original sound. Any audiophile worth his salt would never touch any of these and stick to the Reference setting, which disables all the equalizers.
Verdict
The Corsair SP2500 is priced at Rs. 12,500 plus taxes. For that price you get a very powerful speaker system that also comes with a lot of bells and whistles, but more importantly sounds good. Still, to be honest, what we heard was nowhere near as impressive as we thought it would be. Corsair is marketing these as audiophile grade speaker system and we think that's stretching the truth a bit too far. A true audiophile wouldn't even bother with a 2.1 speaker set, no matter how good it is. But for an average user this would be perfect. But then again, an average user won't spend that much on a speaker system.
Music sounds good but not great and definitely not worth the price. Movies and games sound best on the set but then these are the things that are best enjoyed on a surround sound speaker set. In the end, we would only recommend this set to those who want something for movies and gaming but don't have the space to set up a surround sound speaker system. Those who love music would do well to invest in a pair of bookshelf speakers and amplifier combo for the same price.
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