Aureal's XL Series Speakers

Introducing the XL Series Speakers

The other major product Aureal was demonstrating at their booth was their XL Series speakers. Consisting of four 2-way satellites and an 8" subwoofer the XL series has been delayed since fall of this year. Every system at the booth was powered by two of these stylish satellites. Aureal obtained the drivers for the XL series from Vifa, a manufacturer of home theater speakers in Denmark. Because of space constrictions with the cone design of the enclosure, the tweeter is placed directly in front of the midrange driver. While we were initially a little skeptical of this design (for obvious reasons) we'll wait until actual testing before we reach a final conclusion on these speakers. I can say with all honesty that it didn't seem to be a factor in Unreal Tournament, but I was more concerned with the live opponents on my screen more than listening to the satellites. Let's go over the specs and see if there are any major points that stick out:

• Aureal XL500 - 4.1 Multimedia Speaker System
  Amplifier
• Satellites: 4 x 35W RMS output
• Subwoofer: 70W RMS output
• Total output: 210W RMS
• Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.05% at full rated power
• Satellites
• Driver: 4" mid-bass driver with a coaxially mounted ¾" soft dome tweeter
• Frequency Response: 150Hz - 20kHz
• Dimensions: 6" x 4 ¼" x 6 ¼"
• Mounting: Supplied adjustable cradles or standard tripod (optional)
  Subwoofer
• Driver: 8" long throw driver
• Frequency Response: 27Hz - 150 Hz
• Dimension: 10 ½" x 17 ½" x 11 ½"
• Weight: 35 lbs.
• OneTouch Panel: Backlit LCD display, 20-position master control dial, 1/8" headphone jack, Mounts under any satellite
  Accessories Included
• Two 8-foot cables for front satellites
• Two 16-foot cables for rear satellites
• Two 8-foot stereo audio cables
• One 8-foot OneTouch Panel cable
• One 8-foot USB cable
• Autocalibrate software CD
• Full-range microphone for Autocalibrate
• Power cord
• User's Guide

  One feature that really stood out was autocalibrate. If you already have a Vortex2 SQ2500 or 3500 Turbo sound card, you can use the included microphone to calibrate the speakers for your particular computer room. Another added feature we liked was the USB connector. The more USB devices the better!

  OneTouch Controls it all!

  With the OnceTouch display panel, users can adjust the satellite and subwoofer volumes, balance, fade, mute, standby, and 2.1, 4.1 or headphone indication. As an added convenience feature, OneTouch also includes a headphone jack.

  The XL Series speakers will be available in the first quarter of 2000 with an MSRP of $250 for the 2.1 setup and $350 for 4.1.