Customer Reviews

Xbox Spherex 51000 6-Piece 5.1 Surround Sound System

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I actually do not own a XBOX. I want a SMALL surround sound system for my living room and I don't want too many bulky electronics. I decided to for for Spherex based on many raved reviews. The satellite speakers are based on the highly-regarded Omnipolar technology developed by Mirage system.

I was not disappointed

Out of the box there's MINIMAL adjustment needed - just hook up your TV's analog output and your DVD player's digital output to the subwoofer. There are 2 optical and one coaxial digital inputs and one analog input (total of 4 inputs). No need to buy bulky receiver / amplifier. After breaking-in the satellite speakers for a few hours (this is very important) and then put the subwoofer in the corner of my living room (where it should be placed), I fired up the system for critical listening.

My first impression is that this is a SUPERB, neutral sounding system. I also have a Rotel / Vandersteen surround system in my theater room (over 10 times the cost of the Spherex) and I have to say the Spherex system held on its own. Its sound stage is incredibly wide and deep, especially for my small living room. The treble is smooth, not fizzy. The subwoofer is full and tight-sounding, perfectly matching the satellites. I then hook up my home theater PC to it and play my classical MP3 collection ripped at 256 kbps via the Dolby Pro-logic II mode - again superb sounding.

For movies the Dolby Digital and DTS works superbly as well. The sound stage is again incredibtly wide and immersive. Try to watch the Lord of the Ring with Spherex and you will see what I mean.

Now the down-side. There's some mild static noise when no music is playing - it does not bother me at all, considering there's nothing in this price range (surround receiver + surround sound speakers) that can match the Spherex (I paid $380 shipped). Secondly, it doesn't look like audiophile product - then again it's only $380. Third, it doens't use regular speaker cables (it use RCA plug speaker cable - go figure.) I need more than 20 feet for my rear speakers so I have to go to Radioshack to buy longer cables.

Overall I am thrilled by the sound quality of the Spherex system.
Five Mirage Omnipolar speakers + a subwoofer + a receiver easly cost over $900. I have not compared it to the Logitech Z-5500 system which is probably Spherex's closed competition but it does not have the Omnipolar technology.

Bottom line - anyone looking for a small surround sound speaker system and don't want bulky electronics should check the Spherex out. YOU DON'T NEED A XBOX TO ENJOY THIS SYSTEM.

I got this 2 days ago, the first one i got was defective ( the IR receiver keeps shutting off), i returned it to Bestbuy and got a different one. I didn't know that in order to hook the xbox up, you will need an "advance av pack". That's all you need to get, the optical cable is included in the package. I fired up the "Saving Private Ryan" dvd, i was amazed. It was like you're inside the movie. I have a Phillips Home Theater system which i thought was excellent. But after hearing the spherex sound, i immediately got rid of my Phillips. Next stop, the game, I popped in Halo 2, awesome experience. You could actually hear if someone is right behind you. DOOM 3, scared the crap out of me, i was like in hell. Hearing those tormented souls whispering in your ear. While emptying the load on my plasma rifle.

If you're thinking of getting this "bad boy", i got one friendly advice for you. "Stop thinkin', just get it".

Ok, to start off I'm not an audiophile. I have used and dived into tens, if not hundreds, of audio and video devices and systems. I get to know what I buy and don't stop at just getting a component to work.

So far, this system is performing well, but the sound quality I was expecting, expectations can jade ones experience if they are too high, was not quite there. Part of this is definitely related to the room of use, which is less than optimal for surround. However, I was hoping, based on reviews, that this system with its non-direct focus of sound would help null that out. I also, jsut recently got the system, so its hardly been tuned to its best performance. It far surpasses my fairly new TV's speakers, but that's not really hard to do, since most TV's have mediocre to poor speakers at best.

Overall, the sound is very good. The system installation is trivial. It has 2 optical and one coax digital inputs, which was perfect for my three digital sources; XBox 360, Showcenter 200 (HD video/audio client), and an HD digital cable box. There is an additional analog input (2 coax for left and right and a cable that will convert that to a 1/8" stereo plug for MP3/Computer/.... Also included is the currently non-usable USB port for firmware upgrades as well as playing digital audio from a computer; no new firmware is posted and the PC drivers for the digital audio does not appear to be ready. One final output port allows attachment of headphones or other audio recording device. As I mentioned in my title, that was absolutely perfect for me and my wife; now all our audio is through one "receiver" and can be heard through speakers or headphones. The rest of the plugs are for speakers; all standard RCA type jacks. The speaker wire was surprisingly thin. I would have thought that it would have been a little beefier. Then again, they are only putting 55W/channel front and 16W rear, so I suppose the thickness is relatively trivial at that relatively low wattage. They are upgradeable, since every cable is RCA on both ends. There is also a big expansion slot, but I've not seen any info about probable uses from the company. This could be a source of more inputs, output channels (7.1) although I doubt that, THX filtering maybe, all on an expansion card. The speakers are small and decorative, however, despite wall mounting holes built into the case, they strongly recommending that you not do that; despite all the demos they show at their site places the speakers on the wall (go figure). The reflective sound nature is deadened by position so close to the wall (they recommend 3 feet between speaker and wall) reducing the effectiveness of the surround effect and overall sound quality. Also on this note, placing them in a confining space like a low book shelf or audio/TV cabinet/stand shelf will have a tendancy to make the speakers sound muddy (which was my first experiece with them.) That makes the placement of the center channel speaker difficult; the best would be on top of a tall TV cabinet with the TV inside, if you have one, or on top of the TV, which is impossible for me since me DLP's case is too thin on top. The Sub wofer is good and somewhat adjustable. The included remote is adequate, but a multi-device remote becomes a big help when you start turning on and configuring three devices (TV, Video (DVD), and audio receiver.)

The display unit provide, also is the IR receiver, is intersting and provides a lot of info about what's currently being played. However, it's sometimes difficult to discern which features are really lit from across the room; there are 14 total, 7 on each side, and some turn from green to red to indicate an additional mode.

The only "problem" I've experienced is the unit, when powered of by the remote (power switch on the unit is left on), will sometimes not power back up again from the remote. When this happens, I need to turn the power switch of and then back on, and the system responds normally. They do state in the manual that you should power the unit off, via the switch on the back, when the unit will not be used for a while; just like a receiver or TV. I am a little concerned about this issue, which leads me to my next point.

I like the idea that this is upgradable with firmware via the USB port. New features, fixes (hopefully for the power on one), and performance improvements are just a download away. However (I say that alot), this also leads me to believe that companies are shipping products early, letting the end user debug problems, and fixing the most serious that effects the most users. A great business model for making money and cutting costs, but I feel that gone are the days of getting a reliable product that does what it claims to do and then using it. An example here is the PC digital audio. "The software is not ready yet" is the claim. Well then, why was it listed as a feature instead of a future enhancement. This current firmware fix fascination is leading to this kind of product development; shoot for the stars and if we reach orbit, that's good enough and they'll still buy it. Ok, off my soapbox.

To sum up, sound is very good but didn't blow me away, unit sets up in minutes, wish it an input or two more (1 digital and 2 analog preferrable for a total of 4 and 3) for future needs (again it met mine right now, but I'm out of inputs), upgrades are easy, and reliability is in question (it locks up and won't respond to power command from the remote; hopeful software fix). All in all I'm pleased (mostly because I got it at a great price), but I thought it was a little pricey for the sound that I'm experiencing. I recommend it, if you have some cash to throw around and a place to run all those wires (a common problem for almost all surround systems.) Hope that helps.

I wanted a surround sound system not just for gaming but for watching DVDs in Dolby 5.1 and DTS. After reading extensive reviews from gaming and home theatre sites, the choice was clear.

The Spherex system fits nicely in my apartment without taking up a lot of room, yet offers a sound experience much larger than its size suggests. I am impressed not just by the bass but by the clarity of the mid and high frequencies. Equally impressive is the wide sweet spot.

Gaming experience on the Xbox is so much better with the Spherex - epecially Doom 3 (you feel you are truly there with the sound immersion like when the door closes or a monster materializes behind you). Same goes for action movies.

The same sweet spot technology in the Spherex is also found in the higher end Mirage line of speakers at a fraction of the cost.

What's the con about this product? There is only one analog input but this becomes a diminishing requirement with everything going digital nowadays.

One thing I dislike is that the unit may still consume 60W in standby mode. I manually power off the unit via the rocker switch behind the subwoofer to avoid the 60W consumption.

Finally, what other product offers a 10-year warranty nowadays?

I've done my research and I've purchased this set for myself. There really is nothing that compares to the Spherex system within the same price range. Some might be discouraged by the Xbox logo that is on every component of this system. Some might think that's cool. Others might get the notion that it might be cheapy and/or low budget. Trust me on this...it is far from cheap. When I unpackaged my spherex system, I was amazed by the quality of each component. There are enough audio inputs to support a small Home theatre system. Two optical-in, one digital coax, a port for L-R analog, a headphone jack, and of course, inputs for all 5 speakers. The Sub is powered, not a cheesy passive sub. This will work with any game system, and other devices that support a 5.1 setup. Currently, I have my TV/vcr(analog), Xbox (optical), DVD player(digital coax), and still have room for another optical device if I choose.

My only negative on this system is the IR-reciever. It is very nice, but IF that component dies, you have no control over your audio system. The only way to control the system is through the remote which depends soley on the IR reciever being operational. Never fear...Spherex has a 10 year warranty on this thing. In 10 years, I'm sure I'll be ready for a new setup anyway...but at least my system is protected in the event that something fails. Problem is, if that IR-receiver goes...and you ship that part for replacement, you'll be unable to use your system for a while. Spherex would have been good to had some on-board controls as a backup option...but oh well. Just a minor deal in my opinion.

The sound quality is amazing. I kept reading about how amazed everyone was with the sound. Spherex uses a sound distribution method unlike most speakers you'll find. It emits sound to better reflect off of surfaces and your environment, so that you're in a "sweet spot" no matter where you are in the room. The sound is more realistic than some of the high priced speakers that I've heard. No need for any high priced recievers and separate components. Everything is built into the sub making setup a snap. Heck, my grandma could set this thing up. If you can make your VCR stop blinking 12:00AM, then you can set this up with no problem.

Just do your research. I've read reveiws in various third-party sources (game magazines, home theater mags, audio mags, etc.) and every source rates this system very high (usually 9+ out of 10, 90+ percent, etc.) Don't be fooled by the "dorky" xbox license...this thing is so versatile, that once you hear your games, movies and music on this thing, you could care less if these things were pink with hello kitty faces painted on.

For those looking to spend under $1000 for a nice surround sound package, you won't find anything better than this. Believe me, I've looked.

For the money this is a great system. It's easy to set up, you don't have to have a degree in sound design to balance your speakers and you can't beat the price. It took me longer to get it out of the box than it took me to get this puppy up and running. It will take some time finding a way to hide the wires. This is my first 5.1 surround system and after a lot of research (6 months) and hearing other systems this one beats others in its price range hands down.

On the positive side, the satellite speakers are heavy and have great output. The subwoofer is great in producing low end. You couldn't ask for more simpler hookup instructions. The omni polar design does make it a lot easier in finding the "sweet spot" no matter where you put them and they give you 2 optical audio inputs and one coaxial input as well as analogue inputs. They supply you with all the cables including a 1/8" jack to stereo RCA jacks so you could plug your Ipod, Nomad or whatever MP3 player you have. There is also a USB port for any future system upgrades via the web and an expansion slot for any future devices so this won't be an obsolete item in 6 month. Finally someone was using the old brain box. There is also a 10year-limited warranty.

There are a couple negatives. You are a slave to the IR box and the remote because this is the only way you are able to adjust any settings. I would have preferred a set of knobs on the subwoofer/amp to do some fine tweaking. And you may want to invest in a set of 20 ft audio cables (phono plug to phono plug) and a coupler for the rear speakers. Even though they give you a judicious amount of cable I found it still wasn't long enough to do what I wanted to do which was run the cables under the floor via the basement and come up the other side so you didn't see any cables hanging off of doorways and the walls. The optical cable that comes with the system was too short. I nearly broke it when I was hooking it up from my Xbox to the system. Also be careful handling the satellite speakers, those covers come off very easily so pick it up from the bottom.

To summarize, if you are looking for a reasonable priced, decent quality 5.1-surround sound system that a monkey could set up this is the product for you. Now if you will excuse me I have to get back to Doom 3.

Ciao

As a 60 year old gamer I'am rather fussy about quality of all things associated with my gaming using x-box. The spherex system is really outstanding. It is designed for games. It does the job of emersing ones self into the game and with a HD tv it makes any game rock big time. Example: bullets whiz past your head and you hear them hit the wall behind you. I like this system so much I can hardly wait for my 10 year old Bose system in the TV room to die so I can replace it with a Spherex too.

This system is incredible! I checked out many other set-ups at in-store test rooms and didn't find anything that sounded even remotely as good for less than $2000 (or less than 3x the size). The speakers fit practically anywhere and the sweet spot is literally everywhere; our entire living room, with 2 chairs and a HUGE sofa - which easily fits 4 or even 5 people - is enveloped entirely by perfect surround sound. I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend this system to anyone who is considering buying it; trust me, I did a ton of research and know that this is easily the best purchase you could possibly make. The sound is so clear and engrossing that without even realizing it you'll be completely absorbed in whatever movie or game you're playing at the time. I'm talking about that heart-racing, palm-sweating, edge-of-your-seat excitement that you can only experiece by being totally immersed in the media; even your old, favorite movies that you've seen a hundred times will seem new to you as you begin to hear things you've never noticed before. Also if you're a gamer, like I am, you'll realize very quickly how different, and better, all of your games play - when you can close your eyes and still feel exactly where everything is just by the sound - now that is an incredible experience (not to mention advantage). I could go on and on about it, but should keep this reasonably short, so I'll just finish by mentioning how much potential this system truly has; between the multiple inputs, firmware upgradeability, expansion slot, and 10-year warranty, this system will be state-of-the-art for the next 5 years, and still in your living room for at least a decade (most likely longer than your TV). Buy it and Love it!

All other systems are gloriously subpar; the dudes at Spherex have given mankind something to be proud of. Once you play Halo 2 and Ghost Recon2 on XBOX Live you realize that Spherex Surround does really come full circle.

For movies-it's unbriddled satisfaction; even better than gaming!! There is no sweet spot infront of your TV-all speakers can be individually volume adjusted!!!!

soon, PC to Spherex audio will be possible via USB!

check out: MaxxBass, DDX, Ti

...the remote fell in juice and it's still cranking on!

get this!

Mine isn't as thorough as everyone else's review although it's been several years since the company has not been in business, I'm so happy that it's still functioning just as strong as the day I got it.. and it's still as clean no scratches, just wished the company was still around to buy other optional items, so for those who are lucky to find on also intact, get it asap.

Game on!