VideoLogic Sirocco Pro Early Impressions

Published: February 25, 2000 -  Mikael Hagén

Update: The full review is now available

With the Sirocco Pro VideoLogic has taken another or maybe I should say several steps up on the price and hopefully quality ladder with a SRP of £549 (inc. VAT UK)/US$899. The system includes two speakers, amplifier and a subwoofer. It's still PC targeted and designed primarily as either desktop speakers or near-field monitors.

On back of the amplifier you will find two analog stereo inputs, SPDIF inputs of optical and coaxial type, analog stereo output, on/off switch and connections to the two speakers and the subwoofer. The digital inputs (only one active at the time) accepts sample rates of 32 to 96 kHz and 16 to 24 bit resolution. The line level output is used if you want to take advantage of the 24 bit 96 kHz DAC for another speaker or device that has analog line level input, which you may find useful considering the DACs exceptional quality with better than 100 dB S/N and dynamic range greater than 114 dB.

On the front of the amplifier, you will have a master and subwoofer volume control, tilt control, the ability to select input source, headphone out and a monitor button. The tilt is a tone control using dual shelving filters for mid/high frequency tone adjustment, +/-6 dB range.  Just like the attitude control on the Sirocco Spirit I found it be effective while still preserving the excellent quality and detailed reproduction of the sound.  Unlike the Sirocco Spirit, I had no issues with distortion when using it at loud volume. The monitor button is to cut off the subwoofer and drives the sats full-range for stereo monitoring. It's really just interesting for musicians who want to be sure their stereo mixes are correct. 

The main purpose of the amplifier unit is of course to drive the sats and subwoofer and for that it uses two amplifiers for the sats and two bridged amplifiers for the subwoofer. The power is 25 Watts RMS per satellite and 50 W RMS for the subwoofer or total power output of 100 Watts RMS @ 1% THD. According to the specs this will allow for a volume of above 110 dB. I've not done much measuring yet but it doesn't seem to go above that with the files we use for testing with a distance of 3 feet.   The frequency response of the amplifier is 10 Hz-100 kHz but the speakers of course have more limited frequency response (not measured it yet and not included in the specs).

For the mid/bass range cones in the satellites and the subwoofer VideoLogic has switched from the paper fiber found in the other Sirocco systems to High Definition Aerogel (Kevlar/Carbon-fiber composite gel) cones.  They are also longer, 5.25" and 8" respectively compared to the 4" and 6.5" used in the original Sirocco. The high frequency driver (tweeter) uses ferrofluid cooling and neodymium magnets plus a 25 mm textile dome which, according to VideoLogic, allows higher-power handling than the tweeter in the other Sirocco systems. All the drivers are still from Audax.

So this all sounds great but does it make much of a difference compared to the original Sirocco (which I sort of heard by using the Spirit together with the Crossfire subwoofer that's the same as the one included with the original Sirocco)? I have to admit when I read the Sirocco Pro press release the first time I expected it was another case of paying 2-3 times more money for 10% better quality. After now having spent well over a week listening to this system I have to say I was dead wrong! The detail and accuracy of this system are not only noticeable better, they are significantly better than the other Sirocco systems (which are already well above average for PC systems).  The difference is not just apparent when you play more sophisticated music with many instruments such as classical music as even for standard pop music the difference in clarity, accuracy and detail of the mid-range and high-end are much more significant than I ever imagined possible at this price point.  The subwoofer is also excellent, delivering tight, deep, powerful and rich bass. It also matches the satellites very well. It's all too common even on high-end systems that when the bass starts to kick in is very noticeable, and you clearly hear what sounds are produced by the subwoofer and what sounds are produced by the sats.  I guess the reason the Sirocco Pro sounds more well matched is thanks to good tuning of the cross-over point, the roll-off and most importantly small delay between the frequencies produced by the subwoofer and the satellites.

In games the difference between the other Sirocco systems sats and Sirocco Pro will be less significant but still a clear difference, with how much depending on the sound quality of the sound effects in the games. The significant difference in games instead comes thanks to the deeper, more powerful and richer bass. As mentioned it's well matched with the satellites midrange and high-end.  Imaging is also excellent if you are interested to use them with cards supporting 3D sound over 2-speakers although there is nothing earth shattering about the difference compared to other speakers in that aspect.

So how do they perform relative to other speaker systems in this price range?  Well we have never done a review of speakers in this price range and I don't own any system in this price range so no direct comparison was possible. Instead, I spent some time visiting stores in Stockholm to see how they compared and in your average computer or consumer electronic store you don't find anything with this quality.  In more high quality speaker/musician stores I did come across some systems that did perform close or on par with the Sirocco Pro but all of them were clearly more expensive with prices of $1500 or more!  These indirect comparison tests are less reliable than if I had them next to each other and there may of course be some systems out there that are better for less money but I checked out enough stores to be certain the Sirocco offers to my ears offers excellent quality for the price.

In the press release, the primary target group was defined to be home studios and PC-based musicians. The reason is of course these groups really need to have speaker systems that let them hear the music they have created as accurately as possible. The market for this speaker system shouldn't be limited to this group though.   Anyone who wants to hear the music and sound effects in games like the musician and sound designer intended them to sound should seriously consider buying the Sirocco Pro if they can afford it.  You don't have to be a musician to notice or appreciate music produced more accurately than the less expensive Sirocco systems.  I have had 6-7 friends over since I put them up next to the Spirit and no one had any problem to notice the difference.  Exactly how much better they found them varied from an earth shattering difference to clearly noticeable. They clearly are more revealing than the Sirocco Spirit which was illustrated in the way I noticed aspects of the music that   I had never heard or taken notice of before. The thought "aha this is how it's supposed to sound"  often crossed my mind. The bottom line is that the Sirocco Pro is simply an astonishing speaker system that beyond superb sound quality, offers an amplifier with volume and tonal controls, multiple inputs and outputs including both coaxial and optical input, headphone out and most significantly an integrated 24-bit 96kHz DAC which can also be used stand-alone to drive other equipment.

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