3DsoundSurge Reviews: Videologic Sirocco


	Simon King puts Vidiologic's high end multimedia speakers through the grinder..

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Videologic Sirocco - Simon King - Last updated 20/5/99

Installation:

The cable to the sub is fairly long at 2m. The satellite cables are a little shorter, about 1.75m, and could do with being somewhat longer. Although the sub cable is easy to replace, the satellite cables have four cores, and so twice the amount of cable would be required if you wanted to replace them. The cable itself is of fair quality, the satellite cable being of slightly thicker gauge than the sub, and both of them being significantly better than some of the bell wire you get with PC baked bean tins.

The Sirocco manual is as comprehensive as you could wish. The opening pages give you some of the usual blurb about how good these speakers are, and then lead on to some very clear diagrams on how to set up the system, including speaker placement, troubleshooting and technical specifications. That’s all you need for these speakers. And away we go with the music.

The Sirocco’s were never going to sound bad, not with the price tag they carry. The problem lies in justifying the expense. My reference for benchmarking these speakers has been the a HI-FI CD test tones, and a direct comparison with my own hi-fi system that normally serves me for front speakers.

My hi-fi, as mentioned before, is a Sony LBT-N455. The speakers have a conventional three way design, plus a separate rear mounted 8" sub with a front mounted 2.5" bass port, driven by a separate amp in the hi-fi. My pride and joy, and a snip as my 18^th birthday present for Ł450. The Sony has awesome bass extension, but can be less than musical, having a lot of pace and drive, but sometimes falling short on detail and imaging. The twin subs on the Sony mean the bass is still pumping at frequencies as low as 40Hz, and is still noticable at 35-30Hz

The Siroccos manual makes mention of how to position these speakers in the ‘triangle’, where the distance between the speakers is 75% of the distance from the speakers to your head. Follow this, plug them in and away you go.

Performance:

sirocco.jpg (10083 bytes) Like I said, I never expected them to be bad, but I never hoped that they would sound as good as they do. Quite simply, they are the best audio set-up I have ever heard. They are superb. I decided to pull some of my favourite CD’s and hear the difference between Sirocco and Sony.

First up, a B-side from Oasis called ‘Talk Tonight’. An informal acoustic track that start with the words "Just let me take me watch of". The acoustic guitar is sublime and the vocals soaring and powerful. The Sony makes a good job, and certainly gets the foot tapping, but the track never soars, and their’s a possible lack of definition between the guitar and the vocals.

The Sirocco’s are like a breath of fresh air. The amount of detail that the monitors can render is enough to make your spine tingle. The sub doesn’t have a lot to do on this track, but it makes sure that the satellites are not left floundering.

‘1979’ by the Smashing Pumpkins, takes up the challenge, as a 128kbit MP3. Again the Sirocco’s beat the Sony by a comfortable margin. The Sony lacks the detail and the sheer breadth of soundstage that the Siroccos effortlessly accomplish. The Sony shows it’s ability to go down low, as the twin subs really thump out the beat on this track. The Sirocco’s single sub is more punchy, but doesn’t quite have the depth.

Our HI-FI CD test tones show just how low the Sirocco's go. Between 65-55, these black boxes will rock your world. And knock all your ornaments off the shelves. The bass tails off under 45, but is still noticable. Note that having the sub control set to full will make the sub distort with these kind of low frequencies

As far as 3D audio goes, the superb clarity and definition of the Sirocco’s means detailed reproduction of HRTF’s. Both Vortex2 and 10K1 sound excellent, with 3d positioning sounding very coherent. I’ve mentioned that I’m not a great fan of 2 speaker 3D audio, but if you must, the Sirocco’s are an excellent way of experiencing it.

One thing that is worth mentioning is the fact that these speakers will really show up lower bitrate MP3’s. 128kbit really is the acceptable minimum. 112kbit sounds flatter, and also gives some strange phasing effects on quick stereo pans. Another thing to watch with these guys is make sure you don't have the treble on your sound card set too high, otherwise sibilance will set in. Notch it down slightly, and it disappears.

In a four speaker configuration, the most difficult task to accomplish is matching another set of speakers to the Sirocco’s. No matter what you put with them, it will never sound quite as good. Videologic have thought of this, and you will soon be seeing the Sirocco Crossfire’s. Made with slightly smaller sats, this set is planning to give the FPS2000’s a good run for their money.

Overall Performance: 97/100

Price/Performance Ratio: 89/100

Summary:

So these are the best pair of computer speakers I have ever heard. They are also Ł200 on the street. That’s around $320. A lot of money. I think my testament should be the fact that these speakers sound significantly superior than a Ł450 hi-fi. Oh, and a Surge of Approval.

Overall score: 93/100

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