The nine speaker systems were tested in three important areas, which were musical (pop and classical), movie experience (dialogue and sound effects) and gameplay (EAX, A3D). We tested the speakers in three volume levels: low, medium and high, by which I mean really high. 

Finally, our comments and recommendations were directed at three categories. These were the budget-minded home user, the gamer and the audiophile who goes for nothing but the best. 

Each speaker system was rated and commented upon by eight people including myself. Three of these people were hardcore gamers, who actually start the day by blasting through Half-Life or Quake II. Another was a dedicated listener of classical music, and the rest of us were fairly typical users, with the exception of one person who is a complete DVD freak who doesn’t leave home without his movie collection. So I guess we had quite a well-rounded team as our panel of judges.

Most of us were looking for the best overall performance, while the others were looking for the best bass. We also looked for the convenience of the speaker controls and their designs. After all, nobody wants to have a monster on their desktop. 

For CD audio and DVD audio testing, we hooked up a Pioneer DV-606D DVD player directly to the speakers. This way, we avoid using CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs, which house cheap DACs (Digital to Analog Converters), and having to send the signal thorough the soundcard’s amplifier. By doing this, we are able to use a clean analog audio signal for testing.

For game testing, we hooked up the speakers to a Diamond Monster Sound MX300, for DS3D EAX and A3D sampling on Half-Life, NFS III and Quake II.