Top Speaker Systems

Photograph: Marc Simon

The right surround-sound PC speaker system can make you feel like you're in the midst of a battle or in the middle of a rock concert. Our tests of six 5.1-channel models revealed, however, that spending the most money doesn't guarantee the best sound, the most convenience, or the best compatibility with your PC.

To assess audio quality we listened to samples of three stereo music tracks: AC/DC's "Hells Bells," Gorillaz' "Feel Good, Inc.," and Omar Sosa and Adam Rudolph's "Eye of the Blackbird." We also sampled the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince audio book. In addition, we listened to "White Rabbit," a track on Blue Man Group's The Complex DVD-Audio disc, and heard the opening space-fight scene in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. For the overall PC World Rating, we also took into consideration features, design, and price.

Logitech's Z-5500 Digital was our chart topper and Best Buy. It was the only one of the group to have digital inputs (coaxial and optical) for keeping the audio signal digital as long as possible. We actually liked the Z-5500 better than the company's Z-5450 model, which we reviewed for the January issue. The Z-5450 set includes convenient wireless back speakers, but it costs $100 more than the Z-5500.

Klipsch's ProMedia Ultra 5.1 produced rich, full audio in low, middle, and high ranges. However, it ranked only third in our chart because it was more expensive and less user-friendly than Creative Labs' second-ranked GigaWorks ProGamer G500 set. Cambridge Soundworks' MegaWorks 505 placed fourth because of lesser sound quality and a basic controller.

M-Audio's product combo--the $350 LX4 2.1 system and $200 LX4 Expander--offered good overall sound quality except for some brittleness in the middle to upper frequencies, but it isn't well designed for use with a computer. For one thing, it accepts cables with 0.25-inch plugs (not included) rather than standard 0.125-inch mini-plugs.

Sicuro's RW-670X placed last due to poor sound quality. The satellite speakers and the subwoofer have blue LEDs that blink to the beat, but we found this feature merely distracting.