Introduction

Bigger and better

Our desks are becoming more and more crowded. First came the bigger monitors, but now we have to deal with speakers. Back in the day, two dinky little gray computer speakers and a CD-ROM drive were enough to earn a computer the hot "multimedia" label. Thankfully, the industry has grown since then.

DVD drives are becoming more commonplace in our computer workstations. Even the budget PCs are able to boast of a theater experience thanks to a DVD drive, and a decent video card. In this case, however, image isn't everything. Recreating the movie experience takes more than a nice picture.

Desktop theatre?

Yes, the smell of popcorn, annoying moviegoers the next seat over, your shoes sticking to the floor as you shuffle to your seat, and other theater experiences can all be cheaply replicated with the help of those people you call friends. The only thing we are missing so far is the sound system. The movie experience pays a great debt to the sound system. Anyone who has a home theater will tell you that in order to be immersed in a movie environment, you need a good sound system.

VideoLogic's latest offering, the DigiTheatre (as part of the American Revolution, we decided to spell everything differently) speaker system tries to do all this and a little more. The DigiTheatre's are a true Dolby Digital 5.1 solution, with a built in AC-3 decoder and a six channel amplifier which power 5 satellites and the subwoofer. The system can be divided into two parts, the Dolby Digital and Dolby Surround Pro-Logic decoding component, and the speakers and amplifiers.

How does a company better known for its video products, such as the Sega Dreamcast's PowerVR chip, perform when it comes to audio? Good question. As VideoLogic has already proven performance in its Sirocco line of multimedia speakers. While the Siroccos were designed to compete in the studios, the DigiTheatres were designed to make their way into dorms, bedrooms, and offices. We can argue over whether this is a more modest or ambitious task that VideoLogic has undertaken. Let's take a listen, and find out how these speakers perform!