SP2500 Listening Tests and Conclusion
This was a fun system to listen to - it actually delivers significant bass, and we didn't notice any audible distortion, even when cranking it up to full volume. Coincidentally, we would say that this system plays loud - very loud for a PC or gaming speaker system. And we loved the fact that it simply put out sound without turning the output of the tweeters into mush. When it played loud, the audio was usable, and we also liked how setting the bass level independent of the tweeters allowed you to "flavor" the sound, but didn't mean that the bass didn't track with the overall volume when you raised or lowered the system.
CD: Dishwalla - Pet Your Friends
"Counting Blue Cars" is a track I'm quite familiar with, and it's one I use to listen to the interaction between snare and bass. I felt the snare was missing a little bit of its midrange tone, being instead very snappy. Still, it didn't sound anemic or boxy, just a natural result of the lack of a bit more needed surface area on the driver. When the electric guitars set in during the chorus the mix really thickened up and I enjoyed the rich encapsulating sound. These speakers can handle a thick mix without compressing the sound or running out of steam. Guitar solos came through clean and the top end of cymbals and finger noises on guitar strums had a nice crisp sound that was authentic and natural. "Charlie Brown's Parents" revealed a wide, accurate soundstage that surprised me. The stark vocals came right out of the center, while the meandering guitar filled out the right side of the mix. The bass in this track really reveals "boom and sizzle" syndrome, and there was indeed some of that here - the subwoofer didn't have enough delineation from the mains that left it sounding a little boomy whereas on a larger system you'd hear more punch and less boom. Even with this, the speakers really sounded... well, pleasing. It's just fun to kick back and hear tunes on the SP2500 - much more so than almost any other 2.1 system I've listened to in a long time.
CD: Mission Impossible Soundtrack
This is simply an excellent piece, and we loved the bass emphasis that these tracks, especially the "Main Theme" put forth - causing us to feel the bass through the 3/4-inch wood floors that run through our office where we were testing the system. Danny Elfman and crew's score for this film is a tad formulaic, but it's truly enjoyable on a number of levels. It's not terribly cerebral and the instrumentation is very particular and flows in and out of the mix dynamically, giving the entire CD a really moving and flowing feel that does well to conjure up imagery from the film.
CD: Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
This is one of my favorite albums. Though some of the vocals are purposefully distorted, the rich mix reveals what a system will do with a lot of information - and the soundstage is typically very wide and intricate. With the Corsair 2.1 Speaker System it was immediately clear that the speakers wee able to handle lots of modern compressed content and still present a cohesive soundstage. This was demonstrated perfectly with "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move" (with the latter being intensely wide and spread out across the soundstage that was my desk). The bass on "Dare You to Move" was actually quite natural and punchy. Vocals were clean and perfectly placed in the center, with the doubled guitars aligning in perfect stereo from the left and right speakers. "The Beautiful Letdown" had a great sample of male vocals and it was nice to listen to the well-rounded performance that delivered a fairly accurate presentation of the track. It also featured a nicely "thumpy" percussion line that showed off the subwoofer nicely.
Conclusion
I wrote this entire review while listening to the Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speaker System. I honestly couldn't help it - it's fun to listen to and a system that I can't imagine anyone would be disappointed with. It's only real deficiency, and we have yet to see a PC speaker that has overcome this, is its lack of powerful midrange. We haven't heard any 3- or 4-inch speakers that could handle the level of midrange a larger, more capable, speaker can. It's somewhat the law of physics - and you know how easy those are to violate... Still, the Corsair system is one the company should be very proud of - especially at a price point of $249. At that price these should fly off the shelves and we can heartily recommend it as a very capable 2.1 solution for those looking to get better sound with their office PC or laptop. Hook this thing up to your workstation and you might find yourself working longer and harder - just to hang out those extra few minutes in the office and listen to more music!
SP2500 2.1 PC Speakers
MSRP: $249
Corsair
46221 Landing Parkway
Fremont, CA 94538
www.corsair.com
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About Corsair
Founded in 1994, Corsair supplies high performance products purchased primarily by PC gaming enthusiasts who build their own PCs or buy pre-assembled customized systems. The company's award-winning products include DRAM memory modules, USB flash drives, power supply units, solid-state drives, cooling systems, computer cases and headset and speakers systems.
The Score Card
The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:
Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating
Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.
Audioholics Rating Scale
— Excellent
- — Very Good
- — Good
- — Fair
- — Poor
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If anyone is placing an unshielded sub next to a computer (not recommended), at least orient the sub so the driver is orthogonal to the HD. Using right hand rule, point your thumb in the same direction the driver is in, and rotate your hand. The rotation of your hand shows you the orientation of the magnetic field.
Thus the cone of the driver should either fire directly towards or 180 deg away from the HD.
I once had a very powerful sub placed near a CRT (had no choice) and simply fired the sub drivers towards the side of the CRT and there were no magnetic field related issues.
cwall99;797071
I'm guessing they opted not to shield the sub because that's really only an issue with a CRT (at least that's what I've been led to believe - I read it on the internet, so it must be true). Since CRTs are, essentially, extinct (except on my home desktop), they're probably just saving on manufacturing costs on a feature that 99%, ok, 90% of the world doesn't need.
Hard drive are susceptible to magnetic interference far more than crts are data los is a real issue and for 250 shielding should have been included in all three parts