Antec Soundscience Rockus 3D 2.1 Speakers
by Dustin Sklavos on November 18, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Audio
- Antec
- Soundscience
- Rockus 3D
Wrapping it up
Unfortunately we're getting down to crunch time with Antec's Soundscience Rockus 3D 2.1 speaker system, and there's a lot to consider here.
First, sound quality can feel a little thin at the highs and mids, but this is made up for by the system's ability to render a fairly comprehensive sound. The Rockus 3D is capable of revealing nuances in music better than a cheaper system is going to, and if you can get past the slightly tinny character of the speaker set you'll find it may actually produce details in the songs you enjoyed that you haven't even heard before on lesser quality kit. Likewise, the subwoofer sounds good without producing excessive bass at even the highest settings, and there's no distortion or vibration that occurs even at high volumes. Antec's engineers set out to produce a clean, reference-quality system that works great out of the box without any tweaking and in that respect they've been largely successful.
Second, the included optical connectivity cannot be understated. We've had people post in the comments that this should be much more common and I have to agree: using an optical connection makes the speakers hassle-free and takes any interference that might have snuck in (like, for example, on the demonstration using the Toshiba laptop) out of the equation entirely.
The much-ballyhooed 3D mode actually does serve a purpose beyond being a checkmark and gimmick to flaunt all over the product packaging. If it were so amazing that it made everything better, they wouldn't have bothered to put a toggle on the remote to let you switch it on and off, but in games—where pitch-perfect sound reproduction isn't the foremost concern—it can appreciably improve the overall experience. Movies with more dynamic soundstages are also likely to benefit, and hey, if it still bothers you, you can always turn it off. For music listening, though, we really didn't feel it added anything worth having.
What we have here is an excellent 2.1 speaker system that has one crippling flaw: an onerous pricetag. Antec feels the $249 MSRP is reasonable; they're pitting the speaker system against Bose's Companion 3 and cite that in their own studies, most people preferred the sound quality of the Rockus 3D. I have no doubt that's true, but the Companion 3 is a terrible deal, and it's the wrong product to target. The 2.1 systems the Rockus 3D really has to compete with are going to be in the neighborhood of $100 cheaper. At this point, the most popular 2.1 set on NewEgg is the Logitech Z-2300. We can argue that the THX certification doesn't mean a whole lot, and the Z-2300 doesn't offer an optical connection, but you're still left asking if the Rockus 3D is $120 better. Without having Z-2300's on hand I can't say for sure, but I can say that as a consumer looking at speaker sets I'd probably err on the side of the cheaper set.
And that's really the question: is the Soundscience Rockus 3D worth $249? If sound quality does matter to you, and you're on something of a budget, and the optical connection is important to you, AND you don't have room for a 5.1 system.... At that juncture I would say yes, the Rockus 3D makes sense. There's no question it's an excellent speaker set, but the pricetag is awfully steep for a consumer 2.1 system.
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Gunbuster - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
You should take speakers apart and tell us the manufacturere and ratings on the drivers. It's hard to judge scale from the pictures but I am sceptical of even that 25w power rating on the satilites. I am also guessing the driver is a reletivly small ones hidden behind the plastic grill.hybrid2d4x4 - Saturday, November 20, 2010 - link
Just like logitech's satellites, they probably rate them @ 10% THD (!!!). For reference, the cheapest 5.1 AVR I found rated its output at 0.08%THD. Yes, it may not be fair to compare against a $300 AVR, but it goes to show how huge the gap is between "computer speakers" and home theater gear. Also, Logitech's 10% is a horrible number to settle on as most people will hear 1% distortion.sonci - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
Thres no way, these things can compete against similar priced active monitors fromM audio or Swans, unless you have a really small room
I think people should be aware of real speakers and stop buying crap logitech or antec or whatever manufacter them, especially now that pc audio is becoming quite acceptable.
sonci - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
ps: audiophiles wont buy anything with the name "3D"kmmatney - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
Would these be good?http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-AV-Power...
Patrick Wolf - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
Not to a real audiophile. I'm sure they're decent, but the overall sound quality will be limited by their smaller size.And I agree that completely subjective reviews like this don't belong here. Sound card reviews maybe, but that's it. Leave everything else to the dedicated audio sites. All of these cheap popular brand (gimmicky) speakers sound about the same anyway; which in all honesty is not too good.
chrnochime - Friday, November 19, 2010 - link
I'd say the same about M audio and to lesser degree swans. There's a reason M audio speakers don't go higher than 1000 USD, and the fact that they don't make any speaker for use outside of studio....Go dig up what audiophiles in HK think of Swans.
I can think of a bunch of speakers that exceed Swans: Dali, B&W(803 and up arguably), Mcintosh, sunfire, magnepan, Martin Logan(vantage and up), vandersteen, salk, magnepan(maggie).....
AnnihilatorX - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
While the article mentioned it supports PCM only, does it support HD PCM though, by HD I mean non standard 192kHz 24bit 2ch PCM. Not many equipment support this however.Off topic but the reason Toslink/SPDIF is getting replaced by HDMI is that, the format is old and physically cannot carry information of 192kHz/24-bit for more than 2 channels. While 48khz/24-bit DTS/Dolby Digital Live 5.1 are compressed signals are fine, DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD for examples, can't. HDMI can do all, even DSD, in flying colors.
Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
It can't do HD PCM. Tops out at 96kHz.Dug - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
I'm so tired of measurements and anechoic chambers and testing with one recording that no on else can get. That's only important if you care.These are computer speakers. I'm not going to sit at my computer for critical listening, and I don't really think these need to reviewed that way.
I have friends that have spent thousands on creating great listening rooms, with measurements in one seating position. Trying to avoid reflections and create a flat response.
Tell you the truth. Can't imagine why. I didn't find it to be that great. So measurements don't mean crap.
Maybe what I like isn't "correct". But I don't care.
Just like a properly calibrated monitor or TV. I find it very flat and boring. I like a little more contrast.
After its all said and done, I just want to know if they sound good.