AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
This PC sound system was sold from 1999 onwards, price in Germany was 199 DM, discounted to 149 DM a year later. You got a small vented sub with a 5" class driver and two closed cubical 2.5" satellites, all clad in beige plastic. About a year back, this one was snagged for the princely sum of about 20€ on the 'bay in order to grace the office of a music-loving colleague and part-time organist with limited funds.
The satellites were set up to the sides of a 19" monitor on a typical 80 cm deep desk (one of a pair of workspaces facing each other), facing forward, the sub being behind the monitor slightly towards the left, port plugged with an old sock to keep the boominess at bay. Sub level had been adjusted by ear for a balance midrange response. 3-4 measurements were taken at slightly varying positions, on average maybe 30"-45° off-axis, mic pointing at satellite as far as possible. (Sonarworks SoundID Reference mic into EVO 4, 0° calibration loaded.)
Results:
I always thought they sounded good in the midrange with the sub placed nearby and the sock mod, and that's pretty much confirmed. You couldn't quite get rid of exaggerated bass (confirmed), and the highs would be a bit sharp. Turns out that's quite a bit more than just a bit...
And this is the predicted response with EQ:
Due to the nature of wideband drivers (there is a marked change in highs response in the vertical) and desk placement, this is only ever going to be accurate at a few points in space, so I wouldn't expect things to be perfectly ironed out, but things are substantially less strident and boomy for sure. The top octave still seems a tad hot, but overall, pretty good.
Sadly, my own set (which admittedly was yellowed a fair bit) has apparently been disposed of. At least the remaining 12V / 1.5 A power supply proved handy when the local WiFi router began to go on strike... turns out transformer plug pack supplies don't last forever either. Mind you, the previous supply had been running for over 20 years combined and I bet would work fine again with a new filter cap, assuming I could be bothered to attack the ultrasonic welds.
The satellites were set up to the sides of a 19" monitor on a typical 80 cm deep desk (one of a pair of workspaces facing each other), facing forward, the sub being behind the monitor slightly towards the left, port plugged with an old sock to keep the boominess at bay. Sub level had been adjusted by ear for a balance midrange response. 3-4 measurements were taken at slightly varying positions, on average maybe 30"-45° off-axis, mic pointing at satellite as far as possible. (Sonarworks SoundID Reference mic into EVO 4, 0° calibration loaded.)
Results:
I always thought they sounded good in the midrange with the sub placed nearby and the sock mod, and that's pretty much confirmed. You couldn't quite get rid of exaggerated bass (confirmed), and the highs would be a bit sharp. Turns out that's quite a bit more than just a bit...
And this is the predicted response with EQ:
Due to the nature of wideband drivers (there is a marked change in highs response in the vertical) and desk placement, this is only ever going to be accurate at a few points in space, so I wouldn't expect things to be perfectly ironed out, but things are substantially less strident and boomy for sure. The top octave still seems a tad hot, but overall, pretty good.
Sadly, my own set (which admittedly was yellowed a fair bit) has apparently been disposed of. At least the remaining 12V / 1.5 A power supply proved handy when the local WiFi router began to go on strike... turns out transformer plug pack supplies don't last forever either. Mind you, the previous supply had been running for over 20 years combined and I bet would work fine again with a new filter cap, assuming I could be bothered to attack the ultrasonic welds.
