KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
The Antec SoundScience Rockus 3D 2.1 speakers are a firm indication that Antec have a long, fruitful future in the audio sector and as a first entry into this new market, they rarely failed to impress. When compared with our award winning Arctic Cooling S361 budget speakers, they are clearly a more cohesive, potent design with higher output levels, and more precise soundstaging. They are also less fatiguing over longer periods of time.
When moving up the price scale they also compare very favourably with the more expensive Razer Mako's, able to deliver a higher level of detail with music. The Razer Mako's however have a more powerful subwoofer which needs less fine adjustment across a wide range of material. I am certainly not indicating that the Rockus 3D 2.1 speakers fail in the bass department, but sometimes I wanted a little more impact. What they do have in their favour however is an extremely focused, refined bass delivery which can make some of their competitors pale when pushed hard.
While they are clearly much better than the Arctic Cooling S361's, they do cost twice as much, therefore our final analysis also needs to be much firmer. Negatively, I disliked the 3D functionality and found that it only detracted from the audio quality, except when watching high octane movies with a plethora of car chases and ‘in your face' explosions. It does massively increase the feeling of a wider soundstage, but it actually comes at the expense of ultimate sound quality, so I would avoid it.
The pod design is great, but I would like a few changes. Firstly, Antec should never have placed a three way bass control switch on the back of the subwoofer. A much finer bass control should have been included on the pod itself, for easy access. I found myself frequently playing with the bass settings and swearing inwardly at being forced to poke around the back of the subwoofer. For some reason Antec haven't thought to include a headphone input on the Pod either, which seems like an oversight to us.
In closing, these are great speakers which will assuredly raise the output quality of many enthusiast computer systems. We don't like the 3D mode and a few redesigns for the next revision could very well place these speakers into the must have category with very little competition. For now, they come highly recommended, but with a few niggling issues.
KitGuru says: If you have £170 to spare and want to upgrade your PC sound, then these look and sound great.
Exceptionally well written Zardon. I like these. seem a bit above the normal, especially the design class.
Great review man. I love the appearance of the satellites. those are stunning. Might pick these up next pay day. my old creative speakers are on their last legs
Wow I must have missed the announcement that these were even released. Look good to me. bit expensive, but quality always is.
WOw I have to pick these up, the design is beautiful. sound will be more than enough for me.
Just ordered a pair, almost went for the creative gigaworks, but I know ill miss the subwoofer. these seem spot on. bit more than I wanted to pay, but ill pay the credit card later.
Hexus didnt seem to like these at all. but others seem to be extremely positive. good review. might pick them up later but id like to hear them myself 🙁
Man I love Antec, ive an antec case, antec PSU and I have to get these, when they are back in stock on newegg.
The subwoofer is quite boring looking, but those satellites are seriously sexy. very unusual design ethic. love them.
Hey, did they hire the harley davidson work force to make them ? :p
Is the sub really rated to 100W? thats very powerful for a desktop speaker system
The review text makes them sound a lot worse than 8.5 /10 tbh. It looks like an attempt to go aftr Boze and the like. The design looks nice, but it’s gimmicky and they seem way overpriced too. Corsair’s SP2500 seems to blow these out of the water from reviews i’ve seen so far.
I think the problem is Zardon is used to 10-20k systems, so he picks holes in all the areas, then realises later than they only cost £170.
Seems a fair price to me. and ive heard the corsair speakers in a local store here, wasnt that impressed, unless the setup was wrong on some level.
I don’t think the design is gimmicky at all. This shape has been proven to create very good focused sound quality, it’s a half way house to a full horn shape speaker which b@w have used before. They look really good to me and the output volume is fantastic. Tight bass is what I like
They look really different and the reviewer explained the weaknesses and strengths well. I might buy them.
Not sure they appeal to me. Design is a little over the top.
I wonder if Antec will bring more of these out, I’d like to see a 5.1 set
Pretty cool they are able to make these themselves. Its like corsair now making their own hardware.
I dont know what the dude earlier was on about the corsair ones ‘blowing these out of the water’. ive heard the corsair speakers and they sounded good, but not great. I heard this antec speakers around CES time and they sounded much better. most reviews of these speakers online are really positive. certainly the ones ive read are anyway.
Its all down to personal preference. like my buddy has a sennheiser headset he raves about and I dont have the heart to tell him they sound harsh to me. What id like he would probably thinks sucks. audio is very personal taste.
You can’t listen to speakers in a store and get any kinda sense for how they really sound. But from this review and other reviews i just get the impression they are good but not great, unlike the corsair speakers, which have generally been raved about. But it is all personal preference i guess.
the corsair speakers are so crap. i picked up a set of these and they blow the corsair ones out of the water. the corsair speakers make me think of the sound that you hear when you see an old honda civic with a 16inch such rattling the license plate driving down the street. the corsair speakers just sound cheap and loud. my friend agrees but he paid 250$ for them and can’t get rid of it. sucks for him.