Razer Mako 2.1 speakers

Wirelessness? =P

Hmmm.... interesting.
Do you have to place the speakers on a hard desk, because I should think that the quality of the sound could vary hugely depending on your desk.

That price seems excessively high, I got a 5.1 set of speakers for 200~ last year, although ofcourse they need an external amp but still..

Excessive price for 2.1 obviously.

Could you wire the speakers via a local network then?

Originally Posted by Cupboard
Hmmm.... interesting.
Do you have to place the speakers on a hard desk, because I should think that the quality of the sound could vary hugely depending on your desk.

Anything but thick carpet.

Originally Posted by p3n
That price seems excessively high, I got a 5.1 set of speakers for 200~ last year, although ofcourse they need an external amp but still..

You know **** can be bougth at very low price these days :) The price isn't too high if the speakers just provide good enough sound to justify it.

They look pretty nice IMO and if they sound as nice then I'd imagine there will be people interested in buying a set of these. Aftet all not everyone needs, wants or CAN PROPERLY PLACE a 5.1 set.

You should always place a sub on the floor (unless u have a 4" thick table handy), it will greatly increase the base but as Bindi said don't use thick carpet, it can muffle the audio.

I have seen this set on sale a lot lately, probably due to the price and sub par performance.

I prefer sticking to stereo's for my audio needs. my PC is connected to my main stereo with optical SPDIF and second stereo with a 3.5mm to RCA plug (second stereo speakers go under my couch for added bass/vibrating couch).
for the price of these 2.1 speakers, I could get a half decent stereo like this:
http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/tq/99/82025099.jpg

anyway, it's good to see more peripheral hardware reviews on Bit. I wouldn't mind seeing a round up of front panel/fan controllers, myself (though they all do pretty much the same thing, some more gimmicky and more bling-y than others)

i thnk razer are being very ambitious with their pricing here. i guess that razer is a kind of gamers armarni now and can charge what they want as long as a glowing tri-snake is included somewhere

Originally Posted by Jipa

Quote:

Originally Posted by p3n
That price seems excessively high, I got a 5.1 set of speakers for 200~ last year, although ofcourse they need an external amp but still..

You know **** can be bougth at very low price these days :) The price isn't too high if the speakers just provide good enough sound to justify it.

They look pretty nice IMO and if they sound as nice then I'd imagine there will be people interested in buying a set of these. Aftet all not everyone needs, wants or CAN PROPERLY PLACE a 5.1 set.

agreed, tried setting up a 5.1 and it was a bitch! just wondering how these things would work in a game environment....

It always amazes me that PC speakers can defy the laws of science and produce great sound from tiny speakers, even after the sound is bounced off floor, walls and the ceiling, plus any other objects around. And no restricted "listening position", sit anywhere for the full sonic experience;

Whether you’re sat in front of the desk, standing being them or on the other side of the office, in Harry’s chair, with a cabinet between you and the speakers themselves…they still sound good.

It seems mounting expensive speakers on expensive stands well away from walls and corners is pointless, when a mere £250 will get the budding audiophile these. Cheap at half the price.

I don't think a true audiophile will be seen dead with anything that doesn't need to be connected to an amp to function.

I highly doubt many audiophiles would buy this. Not because it's bad, which by the sound of the review it isn't, but because it doesn't have SPDIF and/or optical in. And let's face it: Many audiophiles today don't have a clue what really good audio is. They just think 'Wow, expensive! Must be good!' as HTR will definitely point out at some point of this discussion. ;)

I would no doubt be happy with those speakers, judging by the review as I think they look good and apparently they sound accordingly. Then I saw the price and all my will to buy that vanished.

It's nothing special to fill a room with sound with a 2.1 system; my Creative Gigaworks T20s do that and they're just a 2.0 system!

the thing I notice is that pe a €190,- 5.1 system for pc's outperforms a lot of home cinema systems costing around €1000 (and those systems only add the dvd playback function :S) I really like this design from Razer as well as it's omni-surround-functionality, haven't heard it so can't judge on the sound quality... shame tho they lack the things like spdif/optical a well as a remote (at least I didn't see one in the review) or else they could be used as a hcs

For £250 you can get some really nice other stuff - ie

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3609

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3154

or...

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2197

Still, the Razers look nice - good to see more peripheral reviews at BT towers :)

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Anything but thick carpet.

I'm worried about my z-5500s now :D

How thick is thick? I mean, my carpet is kind of standard wall to wall thing but not shag. Just the untextured stuff.

I don't see how carpeting would affect sound unless you had a down-firing subwoofer.

Originally Posted by Emon
I don't see how carpeting would affect sound unless you had a down-firing subwoofer.

...Did you read the article?

Originally Posted by jezmck
Excessive price for 2.1 obviously.
Could you wire the speakers via a local network then?

Funnily enough, I actually tried that using a set of Ethernet-over-power adaptors before bit-tech stole the Makos off me, but alas it didn't work.

Originally Posted by Lilliput King

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Anything but thick carpet.

How thick is thick? I mean, my carpet is kind of standard wall to wall thing but not shag. Just the untextured stuff.

I tried it on carpet tiles and it was fine, though a little muted compared to a solid surface.

I have one question, did you break the speakers in? Most systems, especially more expensive ones need to be broken in. That would explain the poor bass response as subwoofers need to be broken in the most.

@joe - i'd assume he was replying to lilliput king, as the z5500 sub is not down-firing.

I think it's a bit harsh to expect a 2.1 setup to have a digital input for this much money.
Once you start adding in a DAC you're going to end up with either massive increase in cost or a compromise in everything.

There's no way these could be called 'Audiophile' though - I know people who spend more than this whole setup costs on a single driver.

If anybody wants to know what to compare $350 Razor Mako speakers to ... take a look at the Audio Engine A5. A product actually made for that price range!