Boston Acoustics Media Theater

Mark Muschett - February 99

Overview

Update: It's worth noting that this review was posted February 22, 1998. It's definetely not a good buy for $300 today which may be why Boston Acoustic's discontinued the system. Systems like Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 is definetely a better option for most people and it only cost $200. If you can find the Boston Acoustics Media Theater for $150 or less it would still be a good buy. 

Stop someone on the street and ask them to name a famous speaker manufacturer and odds are you are likely to hear the name Boston Acoustics.  The company has developed a well deserved  reputation of quality.  Be it home stereo, home theater or automotive speaker systems they name speaks of volumes about what you are getting so it was with significant excitement that I dove into my review of their Media Theater system.

Let me start by saying these speakers are not cheap.  Coming in two configurations with a base price of US $299.00 with an optional surround sound speaker for US $99.00 you had better be serious about your audio.  But if you are, then the Media Theater system will repay you in leaps and bounds.

So just what do you get with each configuration?  Lets start with the base system.

The base system consists of two medium sized (4 3/4 * 4 1/4) distinctive satellite units which each contain a 3 1/2 inch speaker that handles the high and mid-end plus the neat subwoofer enclosure that houses a 6 1/2" throw woofer.  The satellites sit on a very sturdy metal stand.

The right satellite is the control center of the system with a volume control, surround level/test control and subwoofer control as well as a convenient mini-jacks for headphones.

So what's the theater in the media?  The base system is virtual Dolby certified which means that Dolby Labs approves (as well they should since the algorithms were done by Dolby) of the effectiveness of the algorithms used to simulate the rear channel using the two satellites.  This concept will be familiar to most gamers by now.  The actual Virtual Dolby Surround decoder is located in the units subwoofer.  More on performance later on.

Boston Acoustics also offers an optional surround sound speaker which retails for $99.  A typical home theater unit uses two separate (but mono) surround speakers.  To make more efficient use of space the Media Theater's surround unit is designed with speakers on both sides of a single unit rather than two separate units.  This unit is optimally placed in the rear center of a room.

Connecting the surround speaker to the subwoofer causes the decoder to automatically switch from Virtual Dolby to a full Dolby Pro-Logic decoder.

Installation

The speakers jacks and cables are all colour coded making following the clear instructions in the 25 page instruction manual a   breeze. Cable length for the satellites is more than adequate (8') to connect to the subwoofer and still allow for some flexibility of placement of the sub.  The surround speaker, as I noted earlier, is provided with over 25 feet of heavy gauge cable so rear placement is not an issue.  The satellites connect using standard RCA male jacks, the cable from the soundcard and the surround speaker connect via standard mini jacks and the control cable from the right speaker connects to the subwoofer via a 9 pin DIN connector.

As I noted, the volume control for the system is on the front of the satellite.  This is also the main power switch for the unit which is a nice feature considering that some units place the main power  on   the subwoofer.

Surround levels are adjusted using the controls on the right speaker as is the subwoofer level.  Turning the subwoofer control all the way to the left activates the Media Theater's build in test tone generator which automatically tracks from left to center to right  to surround channels and   is used to adjust the surround levels.

Connecting the optional surround unit was also a breeze as the unit is supplied with enough cable (50') to not limit placement in most rooms.

Performance

Let me open by stating that these are the best sounding 2.1 PC speakers that I have ever heard.  In fact, this system will put many home entertainment units to shame.   Tonal quality is rich with clear high ends, striking midrange and bass that is solid but not boomy.  The satellites cross over to the subwoofer at 160 Hz and the sub on paper takes you down all the way to 50 Hz. 

The speakers scale very well  from low to very high volumes but while the spec sheet states a sound pressure level of 105 dB at an average listening distance I found that the system was not as loud as other I have tested.   This is not to say that it does not pump out the volume, but I think that Boston Acoustics has sacrificed some volume for better overall sound.

Frequency response is listed as 50Hz-20kHz.  My testing, using a HIFI Surround test CD graciously provided to me by Boston Acoustics, shows that the there is excellent low frequency response right down to 45 Hz! At 40 Hz its much quieter, but you can still really feel it. At 35 Hz the sound is really quiet but I still feel the bass.  At  30 Hz  the sound is barely audible (and no feeling) and 25 Hz and below the bass does not get lower but the sound is very distorted.

Listening to music with these speakers is a joy.  From classical to rock the Media Theater system produced awe inspiring sounds, not even considering the diminutive size of the speakers.

For 3D gaming, imaging is nice and clean resulting in optimum performance of your choice of two speaker 3d algorithms.  In terms of gaming sound, gun shots crackle, explosions boom and even with the volume cranked there was nary a trace of distortion.

For Virtual Dolby Surround and Dolby Pro-Logic testing I used the previously referenced test CD, NHL 98, Wing Commander Prophecy and Unreal.

Virtual Dolby Surround performance is excellent.  While not as immersive as full Pro-Logic support it does an admirable job of filling the sound stage  using algorithms from Dolby Laboratories and is a significant improvement from straight stereo sound (which was easy to compare by turning the virtual Dolby Surround on and off rapidly in succession as a test sound was playing).   One disappointment with Virtual Dolby Surround is the with the headphone plugged in it seems to bypass the effects.

With the surround speaker connected, full Dolby Pro-Logic support was fantastic.  In Wing Commander Prophecy the hum  of the ships engine emanating from the surround speakers is a major improvement over the standard stereo setup.  Likewise for NHL 98.  With the crowd noise pouring out of the surround channels, the immersiveness of the game was raised another notch.  Unreal is another story all together.  It offers what is in my opinion the best implementation of Dolby Surround in a computer game to-date (to test using Unreal, access advanced options - sound and turn off 3D hardware and set surround to yes).   Screams and moans emanate from all around you and ricocheting shots from the razorjack whiz back and forth from front channels to rear channel.  Better yet was that to my ear the reverb effects offered in full Dolby Pro Logic mode were very impressive.  It was not without faults as at times when firing a gun the sound would only come from the rear channel.  However, I am quite sure that this was a flaw with Unreal and not with the Media Theater.

There is yet another bonus.  Cards with A3D or DS3D support can turn on the rear channel and while not offering positional support on the rear channel the Dolby circuitry misinterprets some the sounds resulting from the 3d algorithms and sends some sound to the rear channel.  This may not be to everyone's liking but it can work to add some ambiance to the 3D effects.

Better yet, owners of the SB Live can take advantage of the Live's Live!Surround mode.  The Live!Surround feature allows users of the Sound Blaster Live to use their home theater surround systems to play PC games with 3D audio such as EAX based games and DirectSound3D titles and take advantage of the rear channel using the standard stereo line in. It does this by encoding the surround channels into the front stereo channels which in turn works with the surround receivers or systems such as the Boston Acoustics Media Theater, which have the capability to decode the audio streams in real time and enable the audio playback through the various speakers.

So just how does it work?  On the positive side, with  the Live!Surround enabled,  front/rear effects were fantastic with the Live taking advantage of the great surround speaker developed by Boston Acoustics.  On the down site, as it is just a mono signal, rear left and rear right positioning becomes an impossibility and panning is not as effective as on a four speaker setup.   The rear speaker also uses a different subwoofer crossover which  means that explosions behind you don't offer the quite same boom as that same explosion in front of you.  Nevertheless, its still nice to have the option of using that rear channel.

To sum it up, the Boston Acoustics Media Theater is an awesome performer.

score: 100/100

Price Performance Ratio

At $299 list price for the main unit and an additional $99 for the surround using the Media Theaters will quickly pull the true PC audiophiles out of the crowd.   Those who are able and willing to spend the money won't be disappointed as they will get big home theater sound in a small package. However, having said that, I do find that as you move into the high end of speakers and pass an imaginary price threshold that the performance gains per dollar spent are far less than at the lower end of the spectrum. 

score: 90/100

Summary

As I said at the start, the Boston Acoustic Media Theater system is the best 2.1 PC speaker system I have ever heard.  The one drawback is that its Dolby Pro-Logic and not Dolby Digital and so does not take full advantage of DVD.  Still, if you are in the market for awesome sound, then I urge you to check out the Media Theater system.  You can order them online from Bostondirect  or by calling 1-877-333-4001.   Best of all, if for any reason you are not satisfied with a Boston Acoustics system, you can return it within 30 days for a full refund on the product and all associated UPS ground shipping charges - No Questions asked!!  You have to know that kind of guarantee only comes when you have the product to back it up.

Overall score: 95/100 *Surge Of Approval*

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Review posted: February 22, 1998

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