Edifier S5.1 240W Speaker System

Reviews: Multimedia

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Nicholas Hart
Kurtis
Edifier
Aug. 28, 2004

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Testing Continued...

Music

For testing music I listened to both MP3s and to DI.fm's "Chillout' and "Mostly Classical' channels. The Chillout channel tends to have a lot of ambient deep bass with plenty of mid and high tones. The Edifier S5.1s did an excellent job with this and sounded very nice. Comparatively lacking in bass, the Classical channel does a good job of showing off what the satellites are capable of. Everything is clear and well defined at all volume levels.

I can't name all the MP3s that I listened to since there were many and my memory isn't quite that good but I'll list a few: Phil Collins - Sussudio/Another Day in Paradise; Dr Dre - Let Me Ride; Foo Fighters - Everlong; Helmet - Unsung; Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey; Cake - Never There; THX - Deepest Bass.

Music on the Edifier S5.1s sounds very nice with full mid and high tones that are missing on many PC speaker sets. The bass is also strong but unfortunately not as deep or "hard-hitting' as I would like. In Cake's "Never There' for example, the bass sounds great. But with The Beastie Boys' "Brass Monkey' it seems like the sub simply isn't quite capable of reaching that low of a frequency. This also showed on the THX "Deepest Bass' song. The Edifier sub performed quite well until the song reached extreme lows at which point it just seemed to be missing some of the beats. So these speakers may not be the best for bass-heavy music, but 90% of what I played sounded great and the satellites are exceptional.

Movies

I watched Star Wars Episode 2 and The Fifth Element for testing the Edifier S5.1's movie capabilities and here they certainly shined. The Fifth Element opening music contains some bass that almost sounds as if it's being played backwards. Listening to it was like ascending in an airplane, I could feel pressure in my head. Elsewhere in the movie, the bass is not so pronounced, but everything comes in loud and clear. From Chris Tucker's whiny "Ruby Rod' performance to the Diva's opera performance or the gunshots and explosions, every sound was reproduced faithfully.

Star Wars helped to show some of the subwoofer's capabilities, especially during the flying scenes. The troop drop-ships all produced a low rumble that had my windows shaking and the file cabinet rattling. The seismic charges launched by Jango in the Geonosis asteroid belt were simply awesome. The lightsabers had their typical "zwoosh' and the blasters sounded great.

Games

I played Doom3 first making sure to select the surround sound option in setup. I just happened to be on a level that helped me test the surround function out as there was a ceiling fan overhead spinning away. Everywhere in the room I went and with each turn I made I could hear the fan thumping in the appropriate place. Surround certainly makes a difference when you can hear that one of the zombies is limping up behind you giving you warning to turn around and shoot rather than get smacked with a wrench! The sound itself is great with each shotgun blast and grenade explosion coming in loud and clear. Not to mention the other creepy sounds that populate this game; undulating slimy masses covering the walls, whispers in the dark, possessed marines grunting on the comm. A good set of speakers definitely helps the experience of this game.

I also played some Battlefield: Vietnam and again was not disappointed. The only thing that sounds better than mowing down the enemy with my M60 is doing it with the speakers cranked up. Rocket blasts, the sounds of bullets hitting the dirt around me, even the flag waving in the wind sounded great with these speakers. Unfortunately (for my ego) the sound of an explosion from me crashing a helicopter into the trees was also just as clear.

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Page 4 of 5

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Page 1: Introduction & The Packages
Page 2: Taking a Closer Look
Page 3: Setup & Testing
Page 4: Testing Continued...
Page 5: Conclusion

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5 User Comments

1 - Posted by Rich on August 30, 2004 - 6:59 am

So Nick, how pissed are the neighbors??

2 - Posted by Nick on August 31, 2004 - 1:28 pm

HAHAHAH

I don't live in an apartment so that certainly helps. And then there is the fact that these things dont thump nearly as powerfully as Z680s or Gigaworks subs do. It is funny tho to listen at normal sound volumes and have the wife come in from the kitchen and ask about the thumping sound.

3 - Posted by Rich on August 31, 2004 - 1:41 pm

She's not familiar with that sound yet?????? For shame! :P

4 - Posted by Kerplunk on September 2, 2004 - 1:48 am

Thx for the review. i'll buy a 5.1 speaker system, but im not sure what to buy, edifier s5.1 or logitech z-680... what do you recommend me to buy?

Thanks a lot.

5 - Posted by Kerplunk on September 2, 2004 - 2:43 pm

thx for the reply Kurtis. Reading this review, there said that you may put some code with the remote control to "give more power" to the subwoofer.

How do i get this code?

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