Legit Reviews

Corsair SP2500 2.1 232W Audio Speaker Kit Review

The Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 high-power 2.1 PC speaker system is Corsair's first attempt at a desktop audio solution. Will their first attempt hit it out of the park or fall short and leave you wanting more? Corsair says this kit is perfect for not just for games, but for movies and music as well. Read on to see what the SP2500 is all about!

When the Corsair SP2500 2.1 PC speaker system showed up in the test lab, we hooked it up and were shocked to hear our music. We were able to hear details in the audio that we weren't able to make out on our old speaker system. The satellite speakers on the SP2500 are amazing and the midrange audio is crystal clear. Most audiophiles talk about sound separation and having bass that overpowers vocals and we finally get what they were talking about. The Logitech Z-5300 system that we were running appears to have had greatly exaggerated bass and as a result we were actually missing out on the clarity of our audio tracks...

Article Title: Corsair SP2500 2.1 232W Audio Speaker Kit Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1492/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $235 shipped

Go ahead and send those to my house now. I'll trade you for the Antec's.

232W RMS 2.1 system??? seems like an absurd amount of power for that many speakers, pumping 50w RMS can easily make a lot of things vibrate/fall

My stereo has 3 speaker boxes, one on a 50w bass channel and two smaller ones splitting a bass and each having a 25w treble. I'm afraid to turn it up louder than 20/30 because of the power the thing has, and can't listen to it above 14 (<50%) if I want to hear anything aside from the stereo lol (at 20/30 just about everything in my room shakes, including lightbulbs in lamps or anything on the speakers or the table the speakers are on, and I have high pile carpet that muffles it too)

must be a sick system

I work for Corsair and the SP2500 is very much my baby.

Wattage isn't just about how loud a speaker system can get; it's also crucial to how the system sounds at low volumes.

The vibration and shaking you might get with other PC speaker systems is often because the speaker drivers used simply can't handle the maximum power of the amplifier. If the 50 Watt system you mentioned shakes or buzzes, this is due to the enclosure design and construction, or the choice of drivers. By comparison, the SP2500 was spec'ed and built to run at 100% volume just fine; in fact, it's rated to run at maximum volume for two days. With both the master volume and subwoofer output at 100%, you may notice a little distortion in the subwoofer, but nowhere near what you'll hear in the other system that Nate mentioned in his review.

Another thing to consider when trying to equate maximum loudness with rated wattage is the input sensitivity -- I've noticed that some other PC speakers in this segment run the line-in sensitivity very "hot," which allows the system to get louder, quicker. But this can cause its own issues with distortion.

But to repeat what I mentioned at the top -- wattage, and apportioning it correctly (in our case, using bi-amplified satellites) plays a huge part in the quality of the audio at any volume.

I think I'm using the same old Logitech setup too. These sound like a good upgrade although I'd like to see a 5.1 setup!

I would really like to hear a set of these to see how they stack up against the Antec Rockus and my Klipsch system.

hmm wouldn't mind picking up a set of those to replace my cheap Dell set at work. Corsair is really branching out, nice to see

I like em, at least from what I can read. The price seems steep to me, but I have been happy with my $20 cheapies. I'm sure if I heard them compared to what I am used to I would be more inclined to buy them

I'd be curious how the SP2200's sound for the $100 price point too... how big of a quality difference does $150 get you?

Illuminati wrote:I'd be curious how the SP2200's sound for the $100 price point too... how big of a quality difference does $150 get you?

Ditto

They look sharp though.

I can appreciate the 2.1 sound. For me if I really want the 5.1, I can go to my Denon and NHTs in the media room. Price is a bit steep for me, but then again, I remember my first Creative speaker set back in the day. I really LOVE the controller!

I think it's also interesting that Corsair is throwing its weight behind a 2.1 kit. I wonder if Dylan can give us some more inside dirt as to the possibility of a not-so-subtle shift in Corsair's future business plan

Seriously though, Nate, the review actually has me curious enough to grab one of these kits. For a person who doesn't have a super-high quality set of speakers already, these look really tempting.

If I wasn't working in such a mess right now (dorm rooms / room mates) with so little space I think I'd have to pick up a set of these to try. I've been doing DIY Audio and computers for awhile. Though I can definitely appreciate a solid and well built 2.1 setup (never had the irk for 5.1), the control pod is what always gets me.

DIY Audio's biggest downfall is you never have anything like the Logitech Z-5500's or Corsair SP2500's control pod. Those things are VERY useful and make pre-built-in equalizers something I'd consider using.

Tator Tot wrote: DIY Audio's biggest downfall is you never have anything like the Logitech Z-5500's or Corsair SP2500's control pod. Those things are VERY useful and make pre-built-in equalizers something I'd consider using.

Tru dat...I love the control pod, especially when they have headphone jacks like the Corsair does.

FZ1 wrote:

Tator Tot wrote: DIY Audio's biggest downfall is you never have anything like the Logitech Z-5500's or Corsair SP2500's control pod. Those things are VERY useful and make pre-built-in equalizers something I'd consider using.

Tru dat...I love the control pod, especially when they have headphone jacks like the Corsair does.

Well bad pods, like on some of the low end Logitech Speakers can have crossover noise on them which is annoying. But yeah, any well designed pod just makes your speaker setup feeling like it's from the 21st Century and not the 80's.

Control Pods

Back then i was reading this article but it seems it have got lost on me .
But whatever , the reason it can cost a 150$ difference between this and the SP2200 is that ... EDIT : OK , the tweeter shouldn't cost that much .
And 3" 40W's are quite hard to find too ... Why can't they use a 4" instead ... oh well .
This has the power you won't find easily . It's raw power with lower sensitivity .
As for the post about DIY Audio , if you know digital , you can do it . Pods like these are simple actually , but cost a fair amount of money and thinking .

After 5.5 years of use the Corsair SP2500 subwoofer finally gave up the ghost

Were you cranking it? Did you go full Spinal Tap?

Nope, just turned it on today and it was dead. Didn't blow up under heavy use, catch on fire or pop... Just doesn't work. The satellite speakers are fine.

It may be time to dissect it, I've torn stuff down before that ran any kind of amp power and found all it needed was a little fuse inside that was never referred to in any documentation as user replaceable. They want you to buy a replacement, I'm too cheap if I can get another year or two I'll always try to fix something until it is FUBAR'd before I replace it