Cooler Xtreme : Audio
/ Sound : Boston Accoustics BA4800
Boston Accoustics BA4800
Final Thoughts
I also did some DVD testing,
namely using The Matrix, End of Days, The Mummy, The Jackal and a few other
adrenaline-pumping movies, and I found the speakers to be great there too.
Using WinDVD’s 4 speaker downmixing, I was graced with an excellent surround
experience. The phantom center channel was a little muffled and lacked that
pristine clarity that one finds from a 5.1 solution, but I was nonetheless
very impressed. As I mentioned before, the BA4800s had an uncanny ability
to centralized vocalists in music tests, and I felt this contributed to
a tighter center channel reproduction. I was never one to doubt the audio
performance of satellites based on their size, and the BA4800s deliver ear-crunching
sounds that definitely defy the relatively small stature of each satellite.
Obviously they can’t compare to a full-blown home theater system, but for
a personal theater, these are GREAT.
Another plus worth mentioning
is the super quiet amp that they used in the unit. I know many of you have
heard that some surround speakers can have significant hiss or background
noise coming from the rear speakers, but the BA4800s were nice and silent.
Yes, I could hear that slight waterfall hiss from the rears, but that was
if I actually put my ear closer to the satellites. Boston Acoustics doesn’t
give any SNR specifications, but the front speakers, too, were silent and
well behaved, with no weird pops or crackles during playback or when sitting
idle.
There are several things that
I will probably nit pick over. The first is that the rear satellites have
the potential to be positioned far from the player, and I found it strange
that the stock rear speaker stands only had a single mounting angle for
the satellites. If you play out the cords a little – and remember they are
20ft in length – you will find that the sound field is being fired OVER
your head, which would throw off sound cues in games, and change the delays
in surround music as well. I also wondered why the satellite enclosures
did not have any wall mount support systems, not even simple “screw holes”
that allow you to mount your speakers if that would suit your purpose more
than the stock stands. The other nit pick regards the huge power brick that
is used to power the speakers. Front satelite & stand This thing is huge,
and I still can’t understand why BA doesn’t integrate the power supply with
the subwoofer, as other companies have done – if they are worried about
the potential electrical interference of the power supply affecting the
audio quality, I could understand, but many professional level subwoofers
have integrated amplifiers without this worry. The only consolation is that
the power supply uses an inline design, so you actually plug a regular power
plug into your wall socket or power bar, unlike the damned annoying bricks
that have to plug directly into the wall or power bar and eat up three extra
sockets.
Overall
Score 9/10
As you’ve noticed,
these are pretty minor quibbles, and that just goes to show how cool the
BA4800s really are. The only other complaint would be the lack of a headphones
jack, but that’s easy to forgive, since not many other companies have caught
on with headphone jacks in the high-end multimedia audio market either.
The BA4800s are a high quality set of surround speakers, and they can be
found for just under $180. With its great musical audacity, and powerfully
immersive gaming performance, this speaker set really hits the spot for
audio and gaming lovers alike.
