Wavemaster Stax Speakers Review

1. Introduction2. Wavemaster Stax 2.13. Testing and Performance4. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

To put the Wavemaster Stax speakers under pressure, we set them up right next to the Creative speakers – driving them with a series of audio tracks chosen to stress different aspects of their performance.

Here's a quick reminder of the Wavemaster Stax's key specifications:-

• Satellite: 2 x 2.54 cm full-range speaker with Mylar membrane
• Subwoofer: 12.5 cm long-throw woofer
• Integrated amplifier: 3 channels
• Output power (RMS): Subwoofer 22 watts, 2 x 10 watt satellite
• Frequency Response: Subwoofer 30-150 Hz Satellite 150 Hz – 20,000 Hz

With the seating arranged comfortably in a quiet room, we were able to easily swap the jacks around several times during the playback of each track and take careful note of the increase/decrease in audio quality.

We kept the volume at around 80% throughout – loud enough to stress the cones etc, but not enough to cause significant distortion.

Just in case you want to visualise which tracks we used, you will find links to YouTube versions below (we used high quality MP3 files for the testing).

Blur -Song 2
We kicked off with a track that moves back and forth between quiet, open – almost acoustic sections – which give way to thundering guitar and drums. Blur’s Song 2 might have come from a Brit Pop band, but it's still a bit of a head banger. The Creative 2.1 speakers were much more muffled in comparison to the Wavemaster Stax. When it came to the guitars solos the Creative speakers couldn’t quite handle the high frequencies, and overall the Wavemaster Stax gave us a much clearer quality. We'll call that 1-0.

Muwookie's Memories
While Muwookie's Memories might kick off with a gentle jazzy rhythm, pretty soon you have a heavy bass kick in next to a soulful woman's voice hitting notes at the top end of the vocal spectrum. The Stax managed to pick up healthier bass tones and provided an overall richer and less distorted experience. However, it’s worth mentioning that the Creative speakers didn’t fall too far behind in this test – mostly due to the configuration of the subwoofer speakers, which we will address after the test results.

Each set of speakers holds its own, we'll score 0.5 points each on this test. That's 1.5-0.5 in favour of the Wavemaster Stax.

Michael Jackson's Billie Jean
Love him or hate him, the punchy rhythm of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean needs crisp reproduction if it's to avoid sounding slurred. Everyone is familiar with the pulsing vibe and it was that vibe that drove a clear wedge between the two sets of speakers. Creative's solution is confused by a bass line that isn't as deep as drum & bass. In contrast, the Wavemaster Stax was crisp.
Score another to the Wavemaster Stax, for a 2.5-0.5 lead.

Rusko – Woo Boost
Wheldrake might be a parish village in North Yorkshire, but it has produced Christopher William Mercer, known worldwide as Rusko, a serious player in the dubstep community. By any measurement, Woo Boost is filthy dub step with uncompromising deep bass tones. While the bassline is designed to rumble, you want your speakers to be able to deliver it with minimal buzz. The audio profile of dubstep is much closer to the kind of gun fire and deep explosions you would expect in a modern game. It was all too much for the Creative 2.1 speakers as they distorted and buzzed when things got serious. In comparison, the Wavemaster Stax delivered a much clearer sound – dealing with the torture in a much more effective way.
Another win to Wavemaster Stax. We're now at 3.5-0.5 going into the final music test.

Vangelis – Love Theme from Blade Runner
For many geeks, this is the ultimate love song. Not a word is spoken, but as soon as you hear that mystical saxophone, you're imagination is instantly whisked a hundred years into the future. Shut your eyes and Sean Young is letting her hair down – playing the ivories. We used the re-mastered 2003 version of the Blade Runner Love Theme, where each of the interlinking musical themes is crystal clear. Wavemaster's Stax picked up on – and clearly separated out – each layer of sound. Unfortunately, while the Creative 2.1 speakers were warm, they were also muffled at several key moments. Overall, it was a rather inadequate experience. With the Wavemaster Stax 2.1 speakers, it just seemed that there were more instruments involved.
Again, clear win to the Wavemaster Stax 2.1 leaves us at 4.5 to 0.5 as we head to game performance.

Finally, we hooked the Wavemaster Stax 2.1 speakers up to a PC running Call of Duty Black Ops and they had no problem increasing our engagement level. That said, the bass thump of the Creative speakers also works, so we're calling this a draw at 0.5 points each.

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