Cambridge Soundworks PC Works FourPoint Surround

Mark Muschett - Last updated February 12, 2001

Overview:

Update: The FourPointSurround (now mostly refered to as the FPS1000) are no longer the only sub $100 system you can find. For some other options check out our review index. It's also worth noting that Cambridge SoundWorks have now introduced the FPS1500 for $75 and FPS1800 which according to reviews are both clearly better than the FPS1000. The FPS1000 can still be an interesting option if you can find them for about $50 and are on a tight budget. 

Built around the Cambridge SoundWorks PCWorks design the FourPointSurround system is the first speaker system designed with 4 speaker gaming in mind. The box includes the 2.75 x 2.75 x 2.75 inch magnetically satellites and the 5 3/4 inch subwoofer inside a plastic enclosure. The satellite amplifier puts out a clean 3.5 watts RMS at less than 1 percent THD and the sub amplifier puts out 10 watts RMS, also at less than 1 percent THD. The system is powered by 12 v power suppy adapter. The front speakers come with nine foot cables and the rears come with 12 foot cables.

The Volume control is at the end of a 12 foot cable thats also used to connect the sound card to the subwoofer. The package also various hardware options for incldes mounting the speakers inclunding 4 hook and fastners, desk top stands and a loop pair of plastic speaker stands for the rear speakers. Lastly, the package includes a manual with detailed installation instructions.

Installation:

Following the clear instructions in the manual, installation is a breeze. The front speakers sit on my desktop and the cables drop down to connect to the back of the subwoofer using RCA connectors. The rears were a little more problematic for me as I like them at the back of the room, not positioned at my left and right side as recommended in the manual. Twelve feet is not enough for that so I had to use my own extension cables. As I noted above, the volume control is attached to a 12 foot split connecting cable with two sets of stero mini-plugs at each end. One set goes to the sound card and the other two the subwoofer. The subwoofer has the main power switch as well as its own volume control which only needs to be set once. Power up the system from the back of the subwoofer and thats it. You never have to see the back of the subwooferagain as the system has an automatic on/off circuit that switches to a low-current standby modeafter its been silent for about 25 minutes.

Image for installation can be found Here

Performance:

At low volumes this is an excellent system but don't expect to wake up the neighbours. I'm not saying they are quiet, as in a small room typical of most users the system will more than fill the room with great sound. The satellites pump out nice clean highs and reasonable midrange frequency sounds. The subwoofer has surprisingly good oomph for its diminuative size but does not really get down into the low low end. I am just going by ear as I could not find any specs on the frequency response.

However, using a HIFI Surround test CD I was able to do a subjective analyisis of the low frequency response. These speakers have really excellent even subwoofer response with good volume right down to  45 Hz!  At 40 Hz the volume was still good but the frequency changes to a higher (incorrect) pitch.

Cranking up the sub to full volume leads to distortion, so regardless of your tastes you will have to limit yourself to around 3/4 volume.

As I noted before, the volume control is very handy, giving users qucik access to playback levels without reaching for the speakers as is necessary on some other systems.

Thats all the good. The biggest negative is around the power management feature on the system. If your volume is not set hight enough the speakers will shut down. In addition, there are occational pops and buzzes from the speakers, apparently resulting from the power management circuitry. This is only mildly irritating and most noticable when the system is idling. As I noted earler, I would like to see longer cables for the rear speakers. Finally, the plastic stands for the rear speakers for
lack of a better description are pretty cheesy.

score: 70/100

Value:

With a suggested list price of $99 this simply cannot be beat!

score: 100/100

Summary:

With a great price and good sound in a small package that beats many more expensive speakers the FourPoint Surrounds will help to bring good pc audio to the masses. Don't let the few small issues discourage you from what is a great companion for all of the 4 speaker 3d sound cards on the market. As long as you are not out to wake the neightbours then the bang for the buck will be tough to beat.

Overall score: 85/100

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Reviewed: January 4, 98

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