Abit's iDome DS 500 Speakers Previewed

And I'm not just saying that. Don't get me wrong, actually the speakers are OK, but the price tag is somewhat in the SF territory. Don't worry. I will reveal it to you at the end of this preview but first, let me present the speakers and what they can do. Then you will decide for yourselves.

Because you can see the picture with the speakers (and I have to say that the layout is quite self-explanatory) I won't say anything about the aesthetics. The technical data seems rather good on paper: the frequency range is 20-20,000Hz, total output power is 50W RMS (25W per channel) and all the watts are coming from a 4" midwoofer and a 1" tweeter, the output impedance is 4 Ohm and the speakers come with a rated SNR of 86dBA. On the I/O side we have both analog (RCA) and SPDIF connectors. The speakers also include an integrated 24bit / 192kHz DAC and have a preinstalled "uGuru chip" that takes care of the SFX equalizer presets.

Performance-wise the speakers sound OK on the mid/high-range and they seem to possess a linear frequency response that stays linear until your ear won't be able to hear them anymore. The music is a little too flat on the low-range due to the absence of a subwoofer. Speaking of which, an especially designed boombox is available for this system adding the low frequencies when they are needed. The "Bass", "Treble" and "SFX (equalizer)" knobs do a good job but you'd better stick with the hardware equalizer of your sound card provided you have a Creative/ Via Envy based product running in your system.

Overall the speaker set is well-build and sounds rather good. Except for the huge price. The iDome DS 500 are available on stores with a starting price tag of $160, and the iDome SW 510 subwoofer (should you choose to buy it) will set you back another $110. Needless to say that in this price range, you can get a fully-capable pair of 3-way audio enclosures and a 2 channel amplifier that will sound way better than the iDome 500 speakers do. But in the end, it's your choice. And your money.