Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speaker System Video Review

 
Introduction 

Lets play a little word ascociation together, Ill say a word and you just say th first thing that jumps into your mind. “Corsair” did you say memory, power supplies or cpu cooling? I very much doubt many of you at all said PC Audio Systems, if we are honest none of us at OC3D tower thought it either. When Corsair first contacted us about the SP2500’s we have to admit we did wonder if this was a a diversifying step too far. After a little research and some lengthy chats with both Corsair marketting and the SP2500 designer himself we had to give the SP2500’s a shot.

Here is what Corsair have to say:

Intelligent power

The Gaming Audio Series SP2500 high-power 2.1 PC speaker system is the product of a design philosophy that embraces the importance of clean, detailed audio reproduction — not just for games, but for movies and music as well.

Building a great PC speaker system is more than about giving you room-shaking power. You also need optimal imaging and positional accuracy, and sonic depth and detail.

Since you have only one speaker system, you don’t want to make compromises. That’s why we’ve created the SP2500.

The smartest speaker system you’ve ever met
The digital signal processor and dynamic digital crossovers provide sophisticated processing and equalization effects for a listening experience that simply can’t be matched on ordinary analog speaker systems. Enjoy late night gaming or movies without disturbing others, adjust your listening experience for your favorite gaming, film and music genres, and choose from custom listening environments.

The beauty of bi-amplification, and more

Each two-way satellite has discrete digital amplifiers for both the specially developed 3” midrange driver and the custom-designed 1” ferrofluid-cooled, silk dome tweeter for accurate reproduction. You’ll enjoy pristine audio that’s clean and tight, even when pushed to the limits. You’ll also experience stereo imaging that’s nothing short of amazing, creating a compelling experience that’s as close as possible to how the recording engineer or the game designer intended.

You’re in control

We’ve designed the Gaming Audio Series SP2500 to be a flexible and capable audio hub that will give you years of performance through multiple PC upgrades. You get a PC input, two additional audio inputs (perfect for a gaming console and your MP3 or network music player), and a headphone connector that lets you tap into the incredible digital processing power even when you’re listening in private.

Master them all with the desktop controller. The 1.8” (4.6cm) color TFT display looks great, day or night, and the intuitive menu system is simple and straightforward

 

Full specs below: 

Specifications

• Frequency response: 35Hz – 20kHz +/- 3dB
• 232 Watts total power (measured via FTC “RMS” method)
• Subwoofer dimensions: 18.1 x 10.2 x 11.7 inches (46 x 25.8 x 29.7 cm)
• Satellite dimensions: 4.25 x 4.7 x 6.25 inches (10.8 x 12 x 15.9 cm)

  Subwoofer:

• 8” 120W (IEC60268-5 24hr continuous rating) subwoofer with durable rubber surround
• Fourth-order closed bandpass enclosure design
• Bridged dual 60 Watt class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP  for 120 Watts of power (measured via FTC “RMS” method)
• Ultra-efficient integral power supply with 100V – 240V AC input

  Satellites:

• Bi-amplified, two-way design with detachable audio cables
• 3” 16W (IEC60628-5 24hr continuous rating) midrange drivers
• 1” 40W (IEC60268-5 24hr continues rating) ferrofluid-cooled silk diaphragm tweeters
• 56 Watts per satellite (measured via FTC “RMS” method):
  • 40 Watt midrange class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP
  • 16 Watt  tweeter class-D amplifiers with integrated DS

    I/O, Controls and Programming

• PC input on subwoofer
• Dual 3.5mm auxiliary inputs (one on subwoofer, one on desktop controller)
• 3.5mm headphone output with digital signal processing
• Wired desktop controller with high-resolution color 1.8” (4.6cm) TFT display and multi-lingual interface (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese)
• Mod Xâ„¢ theatrical audio  processing for Blu-Ray and DVD audio that recreates the theater experience
• Dynamic DSP programs and EQ curves for late night listening, environment simulation, and optimal enjoyment of game and movie genres

  Package Contents

• Subwoofer
• Satellites (Two)
• Desktop controller with 6’ / 1.8m cable
• 3.5mm to stereo RCA cable for PC input
• Two 6’ / 1.8m satellite audio cables with ATX4 connectors
• Power cable

 

Conclusion

It will come as no surprise that I absolutely love these.

Certainly speakers for your home PC have come a long way from those tinny beige things that we pretty much were all forced to have if we wanted to hear more than a beep.

So far have we come that the Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speaker System is on a par with some hi-fi speaker packages. When I first got them out the box it looked like that immense bass unit would drown out those little satellites. As it is the whole system blends perfectly together to give us a torrent of noise that would shake your fillings loose if you desired.

It’s not all about volume either. The clarity is the over-riding sensation we’re left with. It didn’t matter what was pumped through them or how loud they were turned up, the SP2500 just kept on churning out amazing soundscapes that saturated the air with tight growling bass and glassy highs.

The control unit is of particularly high quality giving a plethora of options to shape your tone. A highlight is the display which allows you to have a visual representation of how hard you’re pushing the SP2500s along.

Naturally this kind of exceptional quality and performance doesn’t come cheap. You’re laying down a penny shy of 200 notes to own the Corsair SP2500 2.1. At no point though do you feel like they’re overpriced. The build quality and audio reproduction are so incredible they’re far and away the best PC-based speakers I’ve heard. It’s not like you’re limited to just PCs either as the various inputs mean you can attach them to most things and get enjoy the sound quality anywhere.

They are an investment. You replace your speakers about as often as you replace your monitor, perhaps less, so whilst the initial outlay may appear to be steep the SP2500s will give you many years of listening pleasure long after your current tower is consigned to the loft.

So the long and short of it is after 2 years I’ve finally found a replacement to the worthy albeit aging Z5500’s, and I can honestly say if you don’t really want or need 5.1 then the SP2500’s are leagues ahead in terms of audio quality, teamed up with a decent sound card these will put a serious tilt in an audiophiles kilt (as far a set of PC orientated speakers can do of course!)

With the loudest, clearest, nicest looking, best performing PC speaker set I’ve ever seen, let alone tested, the Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speaker System gets an easy OC3D Gold Award and has started to make us think we may need a Diamond award when something really special like this arrives!

  

We would like to thank Corsair for the SP2500’s on test today. You can discuss your thoughts in our Forums.