“We’ve Got You Surrounded… Feel The Power”

Introduction
People, for whom performance is everything, don’t care the least of how a speaker looks. Conversely, there are others who can’t be bothered how a speaker performs, and only care about its aesthetics. Personally, I appreciate a speaker that looks as good as it sounds. And Cambridge SoundWorks (Subsidiary of Creative Technology) fits the bill and has just given birth to a new meaning to Affordable Home Theater in the form of the Desktop Theater 5.1 DTT2500 Digital. It’s touted as a next generation home theater system following its first smaller Desktop Theater 5.1 launched just 12 months back.






A Bird’s Eye View
Cambridge SoundWorks DTT2500 is its latest complete multi-channel surround audio speaker system that offers the most price-worthy solution for mainstream PC / Home-theatre users. Along with its five stylistic looking speakers and a powerful black subwoofer, a Dolby Digital decoder + amp has also thoughtfully been integrated. The DTT2500 system comes with five identical 3.5 inch black speakers (similar size to FPS2000). Each features a 2.5 inch long throw speaker driver and the subwoofer features a 5.25 inch long throw bass driver.

The Center speaker itself comes with two detachable mounts (one points the speaker upwards, and the other point it downwards) and is magnetically shielded, so you can place it on the PC monitor or TV without worries. The speaker cables consist of bare-wires (to hook onto the speakers), with RCA connectors on their other end (to plug into the amp). Two tripod stands (about 3 feet in Height) are also bundled – both aesthetically and better constructed than its predecessor IMHO. This package works out to a retail cost of about S$500.
















Check Out the Engine
Encased in a small black box is a 24bit Dolby Digital decoder and six channel amplifier that drives 7 watts each to the front left / right, and rear left / right surrounds; 21 watts to the center speaker; and 20 watts to the subwoofer. At the back, there are RCA jacks for connecting the various speakers, a coaxial digital input for Dolby Digital and S/PDIF signals, and two mini-jack type analog inputs for stereo, Pro-logic support and FourPoint Surround (for 3D Sound Cards that support multiple speakers, like SB Live, MX300). It also comes with a switch to auto detect signals coming in and turn on the appropriate sound modes.

This time round, Creative has also included a Digital DIN (Creative proprietary digital format) that lets you transfer digital audio from Sound Blaster Live! directly, in conjunction with the front and rear analog outputs. And lastly, a nice feature is the Subwoofer Line Out slot that lets you hook up an additional, preferred powered subwoofer. But honestly, the subwoofer in the package would give you more than enough power and balance to be satisfied.







On the Front panel is a power button, main volume control, and level controls that can individually alter the center, subwoofer, and surrounds’ settings. The Creative Multi-Speaker Surround (CMSS) button alternates between four DSP modes – Music, Movie, Stereo, and Four Point Surround. And the Dolby Surround button toggles between digital and analog input. There is also a mute button, a speaker test calibration button that sends test tones to each speaker, and an audio mode button that lets you play just the left or right channels of a stereo digital signal. This is especially useful with material that has different languages / audio encoded separately in the left or right channels. Seems like the only component missing is a remote control that would have rendered the setup perfectly comprehensive, even though it would have raised its price.

Let’s look at the specs:

Specifications

• Each main, center and rear satellite speaker features a 2.5" long-throw speaker driver for rich, wide range sound
  
• The subwoofer features a 5.25" long-throw bass driver for high-impact bass output
  
• High performance Dolby Digital decoder amplifier with built-in 24-bit Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)
  
• Front and rear satellite power output of 7 Watts RMS per channel
  
• Center satellite power output of 21 Watts RMS per channel
  
• Subwoofer power output of 20 Watts RMS
  
• Frequency Range: 40Hz – 20Khz
  
• Satellite dimensions (H x W x D): 89 x 89 x 89 mm
  
• Subwoofer dimensions (H x W x D): 203 x 165 x 355 mm
  
• Two Stereo line-in for font and rear speakers
  
• Two DIGITAL in (Digital DIN and SPDIF IN-AC3)
  
• Supplied with 3 meter and 5 meter speaker wires, long enough for speaker placement in corners or wall-mounting options
  

What Does It Sound Like?
Setting up the DTT2500 was a simple process, unlike the hassles typically encountered during conventional home theater system setup. I just connected all the speakers, balanced their levels by increasing the volume to a comfortable listening level and ran an internal test tone. I then proceeded to start various tests on a Toshiba SD2108 DVD player, Marantz CD-63II KI and Creative PC-DVD 5X Dxr2, sampling its audio performance based on different user group categories.

Music
With the system setup in my HDB living room, I started listening to CDs on my Marantz CD player with its digital output plugged into the S/PDIF input of the DTT2500. After some toying with the various modes, it became apparent that music sounded best with the CMSS mode on “Music” as expected, giving me a matrixed surround sound. In my course of listening, I couldn’t believe how good it sounded. The midrange was clear and uncluttered. And the cone drivers handled much higher/extended frequencies than I had ever anticipated. Listening to Eagles: Hell Freezes Over, I was surprised at the amount of depth and spaciousness that came through the speakers. Front to Back Depth was absolutely spot on. And the Sub has a nice pitch definition for such a relatively inexpensive driver.

Digital Movies
Still astonished over the high quality CD music it delivered, I moved on to test its 5.1 capabilities. I hooked up my SONY Wega TV (Yeah!) to the Toshiba DVD player and connected its AC3 output to the DTT2500’s S/PDIF input. Watching “The Matrix”, I was pleasantly surprised at the dialogue clarity - it was neither spitty nor echoey, extremely natural. “The Matrix” scene where Keanu Revees dodged bullets on the rooftop in slow motion was awesome - both visually and “ sonically” drooling. Bullets whizzed past my shoulders via the surround speakers at the back of me. The heavy soundtrack of “The Matrix” really works out the Sub too, and I found it handled without difficulty. In addition, I also tested out the Subwoofer’s performance via the Apollo 13 DVD, where the blast-off scene really brings the sub to its lowest frequency. No problems here too. Lastly, I tried Air Force One Movie DVD – another obvious choice for a total system workout. Throughout the tests, I was amazed at the dynamics and overall clarity rendered by the system. Notably, the Surrounds also provide a very good 3D sound field.

VideoCD
Well, I also tested its Video CD handling capabilities to see if the DTT 2500 could in any way, enhance one’s viewing experience. Since I had the original VCD for the movie – SCREAM, I use this as a base for testing. Do note that I had to first disable the CMSS function by depressing the CMSS button until ALL its three LEDs were off for proper stereo reproduction.

Surprisingly, it seems to enhance even the stereo sound track of the movie. The movie is rendered with greater ambience, emanating the eerie sensation typical of horror movies and virtually immerses you into it. Also, for Video CD movies encoded in Dolby Surround stereo and played via the DTT2500 Digital’s digital/SPDIF input, you can also utilize the Dolby Pro Logic decoder to experience discrete multi-channel audio.

PC Applications
On my PC, I hooked up the DTT2500 to my Creative PC-DVD Mpeg2 card via the SPDIF OUT (for AC-3 audio), and also connected it up to my front and rear channels of the SoundBlaster Live!. The latter provides for gaming and other audio applications like MP3, Internet Phone, etc, on the PC. I shall focus on this, having already tested its DVD audio playback qualities earlier.

Games
Well, I tried out games including Half-Life, Quake III Arena, Need For Speed 4, FIFA2000 and Unreal Tournament. Just one Word: Fantastic! Under games that don’t support Dolby Digital / Prologic (not many do anyhow), I used the Four Point Surround Mode which I believe to be ideal. Half Life was an unprecedented audio experience, and felt just like a movie with its exaggerated positional sound! Playing Quake III was also immensely intriguing. Even though I couldn’t sight my opponent, I could discern him via his footsteps from the various speakers. Obviously, when one hears better, one plays better. Need for Speed was also enhanced with sounds of cars shooting pass me via the front-and-rear panning. You can just feel how close the cars are behind, from the distance and delay effect produced in-game rendered so real by the DTT2500. Playing FIFA2000 was also like witnessing an actual match, fans cheering all round you. Feels especially good when you score where the fans would just go wild!! Unreal Tournament had the same effect like Quake III. In all, the DTT2500 is a serious contender for Gamers alike.


My Wish List (Room For Improvement)
Take the following points of view from a home theater buff like me, who also plays frequent on-line games and listens to music.

• An optical input would have been nice for AC-3 sources for DVD players with optical outputs or just allowing a user to make a choice.
  
  
• With its sexy black colour and solid Home-Theatre capabilities (could be used also in an average living room), a remote control would have been deeply appreciated.
  
  
• The number of DTS DVD titles is slowly growing (not much currently). Hence, I would suggest Creative to include this DTS support for future systems (by the way, their latest PC-DVD 8X also has DTS support now). If they do, then they will be the first to release a DTS capable amp slated for PC use once more.
  
  
• Having a line out for the Subwoofer on the DTT2500 was especially thoughtful. Now, if we could only have a Line Out available for all channels, then it would be “Heaven”.
  

In all, the various wishes would inevitably raise the price. But hey, I’m willing to pay for it, and trust me lots of other users would too!

Bottom Line
Convergence of technologies indicates the PC environment slowly being moved into the Living Room. The DTT2500 is one serious contender for entertainment, not just for the PC, but also as a Living Room Home-Theatre option. Granted that my previous wish list remains unfulfilled, this is still the most balanced and affordable PC theater solution I have come across so far. If you are into Home Theater or DVD movies and a tight budget, this could be just what you’re looking for.

In summary, it represents a well-aggregated system for Music, Games, Movies and perhaps for future HDTV too! I highly recommend it over anything out there right now. Big Boys from Yamaha, Sony and Pioneer, this is just the start of things to come. I just wonder how CSW manages it at this price and performance. The DTT2500 is truly a testament of quality from Cambridge SoundWorks.