{"id":37143,"date":"2013-08-23T15:30:41","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T14:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=37143"},"modified":"2013-08-24T23:07:21","modified_gmt":"2013-08-24T22:07:21","slug":"genius-notebook-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/genius-notebook-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Genius SP-D150 Notebook Speakers sound and look great"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genius has been designing innovative and well-priced PC peripherals. Their SP-D150 “USB-powered PC Speakers” are designed to look great and sound good while taking up little space. They will probably sit to either side of your display in what is especially recommended for a notebook or for a compact PC system.\u00a0What is impressive is that the Genius notebook speakers sound good for a low price. They are a miniaturization of ultra-modern speakers, and the choice of black or white, as well as the silver speaker cones and accents are an elegant touch – all for only about $16.90 MSRP.

\"Genius <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Genius <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Genius Notebook Speakers \/ SP-D150 Tested<\/h2>\n

Since they are not yet available for purchase, we received our SP-D150 directly from Genius.\u00a0 Of course, the most important thing about any speakers is their sound and we have been able to audition these speakers for about a month from a variety of sources.\u00a0These notebook speakers are considered “one-way” as there is a single full-range speaker without any need for a crossover in each speaker enclosure. The speakers are ported for maximum bass and are quite efficient. The cables on the back plus the design of the attached stands keep one from placing the speakers directly against a wall, so you don’t have to worry about covering the ports.<\/p>\n

The SP-D150s are bookshelf speakers which means that they are designed to sound better sitting on a bookshelf – ideally in some sort of corner placement. That is where you will get the most effective bass response and the best imaging.\u00a0The SP-D150s look good and their “cube” style sets them far above most generic plastic-looking PC speakers in their price-range. However, it is important that PC speakers sound decent – one does not expect audiophile quality from seventeen dollar speakers nor should one expect thundering bass without a subwoofer. We have had these speakers for about a month as our main PC desktop speakers as well as listening from our notebook. During this evaluation period, we have listened to our music, watched movies, and played many PC games using them.<\/p>\n

We used the Genius SP-D150s together with our Compaq notebook’s integrated sound, our desktop PC with the EVGA Z77 motherboard’s integrated sound, as well as with a Diamond Xtreme Sound 7.1 USB Sound card on both of our PCs.\u00a0Although the next standard for BluRay is 11.1 audio, the very best audio systems in the world – genuine audiophile systems – are stereo. This editor was privileged to evaluate and to own many high-end audiophile systems in the 1970s. A favorite stereo system included two pairs of stacked, mirrored and imaged Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers, a Mark Levinson modified Harmon-Kardon Citation tube pre-amp, Great American Sound amplifiers bridged to 1000W per channel, a Thorens turntable and a Grado Signature cartridge. Many years ago, this kind of system was far more affordable. Today a similar system might cost $100,000.<\/p>\n

\"Diamond<\/p>\n

Working as a consultant in high-end audio, this editor soon found that most specifications for audio are ridiculous over-exaggerations as most speakers and other audio components never come close to their advertised specifications. A genuine audiophile system has no tone controls – the preamp is a straight wire with gain and neither are there balance controls which would add distortion to the pure sound. CD audio is still quite deficient sonically when compared to analog vinyl records according to audiophiles. Only DVD audio has finally caught up with the analog recordings of decades past.<\/p>\n

Eventually this editor lost some of his ability to hear the extreme high-frequencies and returned to playing music in the background and gaming without listening critically. The most recent PC speakers evaluated for ABT are the Genius SP-HF800A which we reviewed here<\/a>. They are both very good-looking \u00a0and sounding wood-finish speakers, with very nice features for their class and price.<\/p>\n

A Cambridge SoundWorks quadraphonic system has been used for gaming since 2001 and was recently retired. As you can see, the typical PC speakers are usually “hidden” because they tend to look cheap, plastic, and generic.\u00a0A Klipsch v200 PC audio system lasted this editor for about 10 years. It looks much nicer than the Cambridge system but is also very expensive in comparison. Klipsch speaker faults include a very bright and almost shrill tweeter and somewhat of a ‘hole’ in the midrange although the bass is impressive for a PC speaker system.

\"Cambridge <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Klipsch <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Genius <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Sound systems tend to last a long time and one should have a system that is not only pleasing to the ears, but to the eyes also, and they should fit in with the decor. Getting the “look” right is something Genius has excelled at with the SP-D150 speakers. What about their sound? Head to the next page as we unbox them and check their specifications before we audition them.<\/p>\n

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Specifications, Features & Important Information<\/h2>\n

The Genius SP-D150 is available in a white or black speaker set and has a modern cube design which delivers clear and balanced sound. A maximum of 4-watts RMS total output (at 10% THD – Total Harmonic Distortion) is generally sufficient for an MP3 player or iPad, a tablet PC, desktop or for a notebook. The small high-performance speaker driver units cover the full-spectrum of sound down to mid-Bass at about 147Hz (at -20db) and these speakers can reproduce relatively clean midrange and treble frequencies to about 17KHz (also at -20db).\"Spkr-pair-2\"<\/a>The silver coating on the speaker is primarily for aesthetics, and Genius succeeds. The SP-D150 speaker pair just looks good beside a PC because of its modern design. You can use these speakers by connecting to any playback device with the 3.5mm jack and you use the USB lead to supply the speaker power. Choose black or white to complement or contrast with your PC. \u00a0The speakers weigh 550 grams and their dimensions are measured in mm: 143W x 108H x 128D.\u00a0Let’s unbox them and then audition the Genius SP-D150 USB-powered speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Part NO.<\/th>\nBlack:31731032100;White:31731032101<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RMS (Watts)<\/th>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Signal-to-Noise Ratio<\/th>\n70 dB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Frequency Response<\/th>\n147 Hz ~ 17K Hz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Power Source<\/th>\nUSB Plug<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Color<\/th>\nBlack \/ White<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Volume Control<\/th>\nYES<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Line in jack<\/th>\nYES<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The Speakers, the Setup and the Sounds<\/h2>\n

Here is the SP-D150 box.\u00a0Although the box looks like it was hit by the delivery truck, the contents were undamaged. On the box, ‘Cubed’ and ‘USB Powered’ are emphasized.\u00a0Also pictured is the other side of the box which has the the speakers’ features in English and several other languages.\u00a0The end flaps give you a further illustration of connecting to a portable unit. One end flap has the specifications which includes the frequency response of from 147Hz to 17,500Hz (at -20db).\u00a0The contents are well-packed for shipping and both pairs arrived in perfect shape and ready to plug in and listen to music.\u00a0There is a quick installation guide which shows the end user how to set up for music.

\"SP-D150 <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"SP-D150 <\/a> <\/div>
\"SP-D150 <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The two speakers compliment each other and the left side has the volume knob and line-in and USB cable where it gets its power from your device as it contains no amplifier to power both speakers. The peak RMS power draw at 10% distortion is 4W (usually measured at the speakers’ maximum loudness), so these speakers are probably using less than 1W of power continually at normal listening volumes. However, please note that playing them loudly will probably drain your device’s battery much more quickly than using its built-in speakers.

\"Genius <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Genius <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The pyramid bottom of the speakers are as wide as the speakers for extreme stability and they have plastic grips which keep them from sliding and from scratching the furniture.The back of the speakers have the bass reflex ports – they are plastic tubes molded into the hollow speakers and they act to reinforce the bass produced inside the speaker boxes with the bass produced outside by the speaker directly. The left speaker is hardwired to connect to the right speaker.<\/p>\n

Installing the speakers is simple. Plug in the jack and the USB connector; adjust the volume knob and play music, a movie, or a game. Check your setup and make sure that you have the highest quality sound available under Windows. Here is the test notebook’s integrated sound at its highest settings.\u00a0Next set up your speakers. You will choose 2-speaker stereo.\u00a0There is one issue that we discovered that may be a problem for some users. The speaker wire and the connecting cables are quite short. It is no problem if the speakers are placed next to the PC or device.

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Listening Tests<\/h2>\n

For our listening tests, we used the speakers daily for everything audio-related including hours of gaming. Playing XCOM Enemy Unknown<\/em> for many hours required the gamer to constantly listen for audio clues of alien activity, and sensing accurate sound directionality saved a lot of time in hunting them.\u00a0For music, we used the well-recorded DVDs of Steely Dan and Carlos Santana that this editor is very familiar with. We also compared with our $50 pair of the much larger Genius 2-way, 3 speaker system, HF-800A<\/a>. Of course, we ran the usual audio synthetic tests and naturally they showed some differences but they absolutely cannot tell you how either of the speaker systems actually sound when playing music. That is what trained ears are for!<\/p>\n

\"Genius<\/a><\/p>\n

First up, we compared our Genius fifty dollar pair of speakers, the SP-HF800A.\u00a0For music, the larger Genius speakers sound better overall depending on what kind of music that you play. If it requires heavy bass, then you would probably prefer a system with a subwoofer. For Jazz and for general listening including gaming, the small Genius SP-150A speakers were clear and not tiring, even over extended sessions.<\/p>\n

\"Genius<\/a>Both speakers gave a good stereo stage with fair imaging and slightly more bass than one would expect for their small size. The small SP-D150 speakers sit fixed on their stands and tilt upward angling the sound toward the listener if placed to either side of a device or a PC display.<\/p>\n

Of course, neither of these systems are “audiophile” and they are not close to high-end, yet both sets of the Genius speakers can reproduce music very decently – each over their range with no bad surprises. A gamer has no trouble distinguishing positional audio precisely, and for music, imaging is good. For a seventeen dollar pair of great-looking PC speakers, we would have to say they sounded very good.
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Pros<\/h3>\n