The Corsair SP2500 has built up a big reputation as a 2.1 pc sound system thanks to quality satellite speakers and a huge powerful subwoofer. Its not unusual to see them written up as "best 2.1 computer speakers". So when somebody complained to me that they thought these speakers had a "muddy" sound I was a little concerned and I decided to put them to the test. I read some Corsair SP2500 reviews saying the same thing - so what gives? These are not some cheap gaming speakers, and by the same token they are not in the same class as a deluxe set of 5.1 home theatre speakers. At the time of purchase I decided to sacrifice 3 satellite speakers to save space and save my sanity in trying to decide how I would place the extra speakers.
The test...
I devised a simple test: play the same digital file through the same device but outputting to 3 different speaker sets. I then recorded the output of the speakers to a Zoom H4n and compared the results. The 3 different speakers sets were the Corsair SP2500, my home theatre speakers (a mix of Jamo and Sansui driven by an Onkyo receiver amplifier) and the Klipsch speakers of my Alienware M17xR4 laptop.
Watch the video of the test...
As seen in the video, here are the graphs of the results:
(Sound files at the end of this article)
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| Corsair SP2500 |
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| Jamo Sansui home theatre combo |
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| Klipsch speakers in Alienware laptop |
What do the graphs say?
The graph of the SP2500 shows a fairly full line with relatively small spikes. It seems to be serving up all frequencies fairly consistently and that might lead some people to believe the sound is muddy because there are no particular "hero" instruments standing out. The Klipsch speakers of the Alienware M17xR4 delivers the string plucking very clearly and that can be seen as the spikes on the graph. On the other hand, my home theatre combo is producing spikes on the bass notes with some moderate mid and high notes. Check out the sound files below, run your own tests and tell me what you think.
Sorry if you are looking for a gamer's test, but I'm not a gamer.
Original music by Luna Lee here.
Sound Flies
CORSAIR SP2500.wav
JAMO-SANSUI COMBO.wav
KLIPSCH ALIENWARE M17xR4.wav
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