Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speakers featuring Asus Xonar Essence STX Review

1. Introduction2. Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speakers (1)3. Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speakers (2)4. Asus Xonar Essence STX5. Sound Quality and Testing6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

Corsair have built up a hell of a reputation over the last 15 years. Their success in the memory sector built a strong foundation for expansion into other territories – most recently power supplies and chassis design.

Never a company to rest idle they have continued developing other products, such as the HS1A USB gaming headset which we reviewed a short while ago.

The speaker market has been stale in recent years, with only the Antec Rockus 3D system catching our eye last month. Corsair are applying their experience and expertise by releasing the new SP2500 2.1 speaker system with some rather incredible specifications.

Before we continue any further, these are certainly not an entry level speakers … with an asking price around £230 in the UK they are set to make a substantial dent in your bank balance.

There is no point pairing up such an impressive set of speakers with a simple onboard sound solution, so for this review we are testing these speakers in conjunction with one of the finest sound cards on the market – the Asus Xonar Essence STX.

Corsair SP2500 2.1 Specifications

• Frequency response: 35Hz – 20kHz +/- 3dB
• 232 Watts total power (measured via FTC “RMS” method)
• Subwoofer dimensions: 18.1 x 10.2 x 11.7 inches (46 x 25.8 x 29.7 cm)
• Satellite dimensions: 4.25 x 4.7 x 6.25 inches (10.8 x 12 x 15.9 cm)

Subwoofer:

• 8” 120W (IEC60268-5 24hr continuous rating) subwoofer with durable rubber surround
• Fourth-order closed bandpass enclosure design
• Bridged dual 60 Watt class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP  for 120 Watts of power (measured via FTC “RMS” method)
• Ultra-efficient integral power supply with 100V – 240V AC input

Satellites:

• Bi-amplified, two-way design with detachable audio cables
• 3” 16W (IEC60628-5 24hr continuous rating) midrange drivers
• 1” 40W (IEC60268-5 24hr continues rating) ferrofluid-cooled silk diaphragm tweeters
• 56 Watts per satellite (measured via FTC “RMS” method): 40 Watt midrange class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP
• 16 Watt  tweeter class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP
• 40 Watt midrange class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP
• 16 Watt  tweeter class-D amplifiers with integrated DSP

I/O, Controls and Programming

• PC input on subwoofer
• Dual 3.5mm auxiliary inputs (one on subwoofer, one on desktop controller)
• 3.5mm headphone output with digital signal processing
• Wired desktop controller with high-resolution color 1.8” (4.6cm) TFT display and multi-lingual interface (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese)
• Mod X™ theatrical audio  processing for Blu-Ray and DVD audio that recreates the theater experience
• Dynamic DSP programs and EQ curves for late night listening, environment simulation, and optimal enjoyment of game and movie genres

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