S2 4100 Manufactuerd by MidiLand Retail Price $399 Frequency Response: 45Hz - 20kHz Satellite Power: 25W+25W Subwoofer Power: 50W

MidiLand’s fairly new S2 4100 model has won quite a few accolades despite the whopper of a price tag. This system shares with the Bose Acoustimass system the sad distinction of being the most expensive system on the roundup. Seeing that this is a top-of-the-range product from a recognized manufacturer such as MidiLand, we were initially curious what else the S2 4100 shares with the Bose Acoustimass system. The answer is: it sounds great. And really loud. And everybody wants it. But more on that later...

The speakers are big, black, mean and devastating. And we loved it. (But the neighbors didn’t, and called the cops.) The 7.25x5x4.5 inch satellites can handle 25W RMS each, while the 16x7.5x17 inch, heavy subwoofer can do 50W RMS. If the shock makes you forget basic arithmetic, like it did momentarily to us, that’s a 100W RMS. The subwoofer houses an 8-inch long throw woofer -the largest on the roundup, if you’re counting- and 4 ½-inch drivers on the satellites. 

Installation is very straightforward. All wires, adapters and so on are included, plus a control module that can be mounted inside the 5 ¼-inch drive bay. The control module is an excellent idea. It includes volume, balance, treble, bass controls, mute & loud controls, input selection and MidiLand’s 3DSP 3D enhancer.

Back to the important stuff. The S2 4100 backs up all this with excellent sound. Big, loud bass, perfectly balanced mid-range, and crystal clear high frequencies. Stereo imaging is so close to perfect that nobody could tell the difference. Reviewers faint and drool over this sort of thing. In fact, during a lunch break, one of the judges (the classical music guy) tried to sneak off with it. It’s that good, and suddenly the $399 price tag doesn’t seem like such a big deal. When we running the Quake II Massive1 benchmark, the sound was simply excellent. The gunshots and the background music blended really well, even for a game. 
 

And when we played the Star Trek: First Contact DVD to try out the 3DSP enhancer, we found it may not be the real thing but is definitely close to it. So (deep breath, wipe drool from chin), all in all, this is undoubtedly the best speaker system in this roundup, even allowing for the price. After all, quality always comes at a price. This is our top pick for the demanding audiophile who doesn’t care about the price tag and only wants the best. Even if you’re not a demanding audiophile and  you have four hundred dollars you don’t want,  buy these speakers. You’ll never regret it.