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• The Good: Fabulous audio reproduction; exceptionally cool wired remote with bass, treble, balance and loudness controls; has analogue RCA, composite SPDIF and digital optical inputs; cool "smart" speaker features.
• The Bad: Not much to pick on here.
• The Verdict: Loud, clear, with high-end input options and well-designed controls, this is an audio investment that should keep paying you back for years.
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• Reviewed on: Hewlett-Packard Media Center m380n Photosmart 3 GHz Pentium 4 PC with 1GB of RAM, DVD and DVD-recordable drives, a seven-way media reader, TV-input/PVR capability, Maxtor 120GB IDE and 250GB SATA hard disks running at 7200 RPM, an HP F1703 LCD panel, a 128MB NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card, and Windows XP Media Center Edition.

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REVIEW:

When I was setting up to review Edifier's S2.1D multimedia speakers, the specs didn't look all that exceptional on paper - I was expecting a run-of-the-mill PC audio system. What I was treated to after opening the box and hooking them up caught me completely off-guard.

The Edifier S2.1Ds not only sound great, they're an exceptionally "smart" set of speakers. I say smart, because there's actually a bit of computing power built into the $140 (Cdn.) package.

The speakers, built by Edifier Enterprises Canada Inc., are controlled by a wired remote. It's a small box with an on/off switch and a control dial that looks like a miniature version of the rippled squeezy-thing on a manual juicer — no chance your fingers are going to slip on this baby. It's surrounded by a circle of green LEDs that light up as the knob's level goes up or down.

The remote has a microprocessor (that "smart" bit I mentioned) that lets the dial control a lot more than the volume. Pushing one of a set of buttons lets you use the dial to fine-tune the balance, bass and treble, too. There's a switch to activate a bass-boosting "loudness" circuit if you decide you need a bit more punch. All the settings will be there the next time you power up the speakers, even if they've been unplugged, too. Edifier has thoughtfully built in a small chunk of Flash memory to preserve the settings.

The processor also has a feature that will keep you from blowing your ears off if you left the volume up really high the last time you were doing some listening. When you first hit the power button, the speakers power up gradually to the last volume setting, giving you time to scale back the noise level if necessary.

The system will take just about any type of input you can throw at it — analogue RCA, digital SPDIF through a composite jack, or optical. Yup, I said optical. It can't decode a surround-sound Dolby Digital signal, but the Edifier's SPDIF system has its own 96 KHz, 24-bit decoder and an optical receiver for digital audio signals. Even though it's only a two-channel system with a subwoofer, you can take advantage of the cleaner digital signal generated by composite SPDIF or optical connections, and the system will automatically detect and configure itself for analogue or digital input.

All the bells and whistles don't mean much if the sound doesn't measure up. No worries here, though.

The speakers are made of particle board (MDF) covered by a black veneer. This gives them acoustic properties that, in my opinion, blow away PC speakers in cheaper blown-plastic housings. The MDF makes them heavy, though, which is a consideration if you're wall-mounting them or need to move the speakers around the desk regularly (the speakers and sub total about 12 kilograms).

The 100 watt amp isn't what you'd usually find in the average set of computer speakers, either. Built into the subwoofer housing (the natural place for it), it's a high-current amplifier using a Toroidal (ring) transformer — audiophile-level stuff. It has a weighted signal-to-noise ratio of 85dB or less. The output is clean and clear right up to about "nine" on the volume dial, when a bit of distortion creeps in — but by the time you hit nine the system is LOUD, and I seldom ran the speakers at more than about 6 at most.

The satellites each have a three-quarter-inch cloth dome tweeter and a three-inch paper cone midrange. They look great with the cloth cover on or off. As a classy touch, they have solid brass feet.

The satellites are only 4 Ohm, 20-watt speakers, but thanks to the clean signal from the high-current amp, they generate great sound. There's enough volume here to absolutely drench a den, dorm room or bachelor apartment — like I said, I really wasn't expecting either the quality or quantity of sound the Edifiers can crank out.

The subwoofer is no slouch, either. It's a 40 watt, 8 Ohm unit with a 6.5-inch driver in a twin-ported band-pass case. It's punchy and delivers lots of thump, especially when the "loudness" feature on the remote control is turned on. The overall bass response for music is excellent, but there's decent low-end rumble there for things like explosions in games, too.

Both the sub and satellites are shielded, so they won't play havoc with your other electronic equipment. Edifier includes all the cabling you'll need for setup, including an optical coupler.

The Edifier S2.1D package definitely isn't cheap compared to basic desktop speakers that you can get at any corner computer store these days. But considering the quality of the amp, its overall construction and the cables included, it's a pretty sweet deal for anyone who is serious about audio for gaming and multimedia playback on a PC or game console. The S2.1Ds are well made and well designed - and most importantly, they sound great.