Juster Multimedia Speakers

It's surprising how many computers have kick-butt sound cards capable of studio quality output, yet use dinky little speakers to deliver that sound to the user. If all that ever comes through your speakers is the whimsical Windows system sounds of your choice, or if you're forever shifting your computer around and don't want to have to lug any more big boxes, then you've got an excuse. But if you actually want to enjoy the sound from games, music software or even DVD playback, you really need something better.

Let's assume you're on a budget, and don't want to buy some monster multipoint setup. Let's also assume that you don't have a spare hi-fi system whose auxiliary input you can hook up to your computer's line output - this is the cheapest way to get great bassy stereo sound, but if you don't actually have a spare stereo or the space to put one in the computer room, it's not an option. Stereo speakers are also, usually, not magnetically shielded, so they'll distort the image on your monitor if you put them close to it. Computer speakers, including all of the speakers in this comparison, have magnetically shielded drivers that won't muck up the image on any monitor (or TV, for that matter).

So, given these assumptions, you're after something that doesn't take up too much space or cost very much money, but sounds OK. You're not going to get concert hall realism out of any low cost computer speaker system, but that's all right; you just want something with a bit of bass and, perhaps, somewhat less obnoxious resonance problems than the average crummy plastic-boxed single-driver widerange speakers.

What you're looking for is a cheap three-piece system.

These systems have a couple of satellite speakers which are, by themselves, about as awful as the crummy speakers you're replacing. Fortunately, they also have a subwoofer. The sub plugs into the wall and contains amplifier hardware for itself and for the satellites. The sub also has some kind of "crossover" network to make sure the sub gets most of the bass frequencies and the sats get most of the midrange and treble. These crossovers are usually pretty rudimentary in cheap systems, so the teeny satellites still have to try to deal with bass and the sub driver, buried in its box, contributes a bit of distorted midrange as well. But they work fairly well.

A subwoofer is supposed to be something that emits the really low bass tones that most speakers can't get near, but the subs that come in cheap three-piece system stretch the definition a bit; they don't have much deep bass response, because they're quite small (think two to three stacked shoeboxes) and use drivers about five inches in diameter. You are just not going to get response below 50Hz out of a five inch driver, no matter how fancy a box you put it in, without doing Bose's trick and using an array of the things and a huge bass boost. But given that nasty little plastic speakers with three inch drivers (or smaller) invariably give up at least an octave higher, these little subs do very well for the money.

What kind of money? Glad you asked.

I've checked out no fewer than four three-piece systems from Juster, a popular maker of dirt cheap speakers whose products I've previously reviewed here. The speakers I reviewed last time have been superseded, now, so I decided to check out what Juster have to offer at the moment. All four systems sell for well under $200 Australian, and one of 'em's less than $AU100. All of them have plastic satellite speakers, but wood-boxed subs, which is pretty impressive for the money.