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Date: |
January
9th, 2002 |
| Type: |
Review |
| Supplier: |
Guillemot
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| Author: |
Mayhem |
| RRP: |
$329
AUS (R.R.P.) for Game Theater XP 6.1, $199 AUS (R.R.P.) for XPS-510
Speakers |
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Now for the Hercules
XPS-510 Speakers, with more and more powerful games and home theater setups
based on the Home Personal Computer there is an ever present push for
more affordable surround sound speaker sets.
Features
5.1 kit with 60
Watts total output power
Ideal for 3D surround
effect for your games and your Home Theater movie playback
Five independent
satellites
20 Watts Subwoofer
encased in wooden enclosure for undistorted deep bass effects
Compatible with
all sound cards and Dolby AC3 decoders
Three year Warranty
RRP $199
Being a complete
six (6) speaker set gives you total surround sound with two front speakers,
two read speakers, a center speaker and finally a Subwoofer. A great benefit
from the satellites is that they are so small and easy to mount you can
put them just about anywhere (you could even screw them to the wall by
drilling through the mounting stands - which is exactly that these babies
will be doing soon).
Subwoofers are a
fundamental part of any large audio system, no matter what sort of music
you listen to a sub can always make your listening experience all the
better, having the Subwoofer mounted in a wooden box with a port (the
breathing whole at the front) allows maximum performance to be achieved
with little power output.
| Technical
Specifications |
| Total
Output Power |
60
Watts RMS |
| Subwoofer |
20
Watts RMS |
| Dual
Satellites |
5
x 8 Watts RMS |
| Special
Features |
Wooden
Case Subwoofer Bass, Volume and On/Off Switch Power |
| Game
Compatibility |
DirectSound
3D, EAX 1.0, EAX 2.0, A3D 1.0, I3DL2, MacroFX, MultiDrive, ZoomFX,
EnvironmentFX Sound Cards |
| Audio
Compatibility |
MP3
Player, CD Player and all sound cards |
| DVD
Compatibility |
All
Dolby Prologic and Dolby AC3 Decoder |
The only main drawback
from having all these speakers is the amount of wiring that is required,
as you can see from this photo the back of the Subwoofer has all of the
controls (inputs and outputs) for the system and is therefore the bottle
neck for wiring, when you have you speakers all nicely setup it is strongly
recommended that you use some cable ties or flexible wiring pipe to tidy
up all the cables and prevent wires getting all tangled.
By setting the six
(6) speakers in proper locations and angling them towards your computer
chair (where of course you will be sitting) you will improve the surround
sound by making sure that you are in the center of focus. The best location
for the Subwoofer is on the floor to the front of where you will be sitting
(mainly because the cable is too long to reach behind and for best performance
it should be mounted on the floor). The only real dilemma is where to
put the center speaker, depending on your setup you most like wont have
a central point for the speaker, in that case you should just mount in
to the front (front center).
*
Image modified from a scan by Asher Moses from TweakTown.com
NEXT: Setup,
Testing and Conclusion
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