Loudspeakers can get very expensive. Even a ‘budget' set of surround stuff, especially if it is to include an active subwoofer for low-frequency effects, can really empty your stash. A set of five surround speakers and sub for only $1500 is thus
Click to enlarge |
a surprising offering and could be construed as making serious compromises in quality. Experience dictates that getting a slice of good sound for a ‘monkey' can be as hard as climbing a greasy pole.
Thankfully, competition for stereo has been a hotly contested market forever, so there are some amazingly high performance/cost relationship speaker products out there.
We pitched Q Acoustic's 1000 Series 5.1 system and the Diamond 9 HCP 5.1 system from Wharfedale, both of which boast exactly the same price point, in order to determine which are the best bargain boxes around; after all, a monkey is still a monkey, and we suspect you won't spend that kind of cash rashly.
_____________________________
Q Acoustics 1000 Series ¦ $1597 ¦ 
¦ www.crestmore.com.au
For: Smart looks and smooth sound output, with excellent dynamics
Against: Subwoofer is limited by cost in how deep and loud it will go
Verdict: This speaker package works well together
This Q Acoustics system is dubbed the 1000 Series, and comprises a classic array of front-ported lefts and rights, with an extra driver in the centre box, and a subwoofer to go with ‘em.
