xHiFi ... audiophile grade computer audio?

[Jammrock]

I first heard about xHiFi for about 2 months ago, and the polished look of the speakers caught my eyes. I found this article on Stereophile this morning about xHiFi:

http://www.stereophile.com/shownews.cgi?1588

Quick sum:

xHiFi is moving in to fill a niche in the modern high-tech audio world, namely 'audiophile grade' products for the PC, game console and SACD/DVD-A market. The first product will be a 2.1 PC/game console speaker set, featuring 360 degree satellites a 50 W sub with a built-in 'audiophile grade' amp. After that hits the market they will work on various upgrades like better cables, more powerful amps, multichannel, and a 24-bit/192 kHz upsampler to make things like MP3's sound nicer.

They also plan on making an high-end sound card and various other devices. But since this is "audiophile grade" equipment, it comes at a cost. Initial price for the xDucer 2.1 speaker system is $700 USD, and comes with a very stylish European cherry finish:

http://www.xhifi.com/

It will be interesting to see how all of this turns out. This also brings up the debate, will ultra-high-end speakers make a big enough difference on a PC to justify the $700 price tag? I suppose if their 24/192 upsampler is really high quality and the sound card they have in the works really beefs up the output sound it could...if you're crazy about audio at least.

Jammrock

[Maggi]

interesting find ...

It seems that all media are melting together on a PC.

[Umfriend]

I never did get to understand this subwoofer and small sattelite idea, I mean, the subwoofers are almost all smaller than my speaker is, and I got two of those! I need to listen to a setup like that once, but I simply do not believe it is actualy worth bothering. Am I thatwrong?
Umf

[Jon P. Inghram]

AOpen AX4B-533 TUBE, 'nuff said.

[Umfriend]

Was that meant cynical? I mean, would that thing satisfy anyone even remotely audiophile? ON the other hand, would it add anything to the sound Xperience of someone who "never hears any difference" ?

AOpen AX4B-533 TUBE, 'nuff said.

[thop]

Small satellites? They will never sound like their bigger friends. Even if your local BOSE dealer will tell you otherwise

[Indiana]

Thop, you're oh so mean...

But you're right, of course. Nothing better than some real speakers, those satellite / subwoofer combinations always continue to unimpress me soundwise.


Reminds me of a line from a certain song:
"I like small speakers - I like tall speakers - but most of all I like loud speakers...."

[Jammrock]

A well balanced "monitor (aka satellite)/subwoofer" combo can sound great, if done properly. Assuming these guys did it right, it can sound very, very good ... just not in a large room and from a distance. For PC, when your are 2 m from your speakers at max, it's more than enough.

Jammrock

[Wombat]

Originally posted by thop
Small satellites? They will never sound like their bigger friends. Even if your local BOSE dealer will tell you otherwise

Yeah, but if he's trying to sell you BOSE, he's not worth listening to anyway.
*mutter mutter* overpriced crap *mutter mutter*

[KvHagedorn]

Seems like the only spec these people list is that the tweeter modules go up to 50khz.. as if this isn't totally meaningless. Even a 10yo girl can't hear past half that high a pitch.

These people are just aping Bose.. aside from the obviously more intelligent crowd here, people are going to buy this product because it is slick looking and someone is telling them it is high end. Again, .

Look, if the "main" speakers (that is, the satellites) can't play down to at least 90 Hz or so, you will have a poor system which plays only mono well up into the midbass/midrange. I noticed they don't want to say what the crossover point is. It's true, there have been good sat/sub systems, notably M&K's sets, but if you look at the size of their satellites, you will see why. They use a 5 1/4 inch midrange in their sats, not some sort of ribbon-type tweetermabob like these things. You might be fooled into liking these at first listen, due to some tweaking that can be done to achieve a likable coloration, but put them next to, say, a pair of Paradigm Monitor 5s (which are almost $200 less for the pair) and you will be amazed at what they are lacking. A good speaker just has to be able to produce a clear and flat midrange or it is going to sound really awful.

[CHHAS]

90hz is a bit low for the cutoff to the sub, I think you can get away with going up to maybe 150hz, but definetely not higher.

[agallag]

I paid $600 canadian (~$400US) for my B&W 601 S2 speakers, and I'd bet my left nut that they sound better than these things. They probably produce almost as much bass too, without a sub. Of course, that doesn't include what I spent on the receiver/amp...

[Marshmallowman]

are they shielded?

[Wombat]

Doesn't seem to be, but they could be without too much trouble I bet. Especially since the center-channel speakers of the same product line are advertised as being shielded (I have a pair of 602.5s3 speakers, so I took an interest).

Of course, if you're really going for "audiophile quality," you're not playing MP3s. You'd have the storage space for uncompressed audio.

[VJ]

Like Agallag, I also spent some money on decent speakers (Quadral Argent 70), and I have little doubt they'll sound better than that xHifi-system. This doesn't mean the xHifi-system is not good, but let's face it, an audiophile is unlikely to use his PC for music (to give an idea: S/N ratio of my CD player is 106 dB, my amp has a S/N ratio of 110 dB (or 114 dB in source direct); no soundcard has such levels, and this is just one spec.).

My brother recently bought a small Denon system, with a pair of these speakers: http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/ (either bronze or silver range - not sure, the smallest ones in that range). And I must say, it sounds great, esp. considering the size of the speakers (you actually feel the air move when you hold your hand against the rear bass-hole ).


Jörg