Installation

   Connecting the kit to my Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Platinum was a child’s game thanks to the SPDIF connector. Only one cable links the sound card to the speakers system and best of all it’s a digital link, thus there’s no sound quality loss. Sure you can plug the Logitech XTrusio DSR100 kit to non SPDIF sound cards using the conventional two way analogue output. Logitech provides several RCA, mini jacks and mini DIN adapters so you’re sure to be able to tie the system to your PC whatever connectivity it features. Once the subwoofer was connected to my PC, I plugged the power cord to the integrated power adapter of the subwoofer before connecting each satellite cable. Plugging cables was very easy: the bottom back of the main oval boomer offers mini-jacks connectors that are each colour coded to ensure you can spot quickly which cable has to be plug in which connector. Another good point goes to the XTrusio since the satellites cables are long enough to be placed everywhere around your desktop. If you plan to put the satellites on a wall you’ll be glad to know, Logitech has included in the kit two wall-mount brackets.

SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100 Connections Panel (click to enlarge)

Features

   Obviously each satellite is magnetically shielded so you can put them near to your screen without any worries about possible distortions. If the subwoofer makes the wall and the floor tremble like a good kick-ass boomer should do, I’m not sure that an aluminium case is really better than the classic wood body: anyway it’s surely more refined. The satellites don’t offer any adjustments and there’s no way to choose a stereo mode or quad mode. Those small satellites deliver a clear and rich sound, maybe a little too high pitched, because they come with a 57mm neodymium magnetically shielded driver, that include the LIMAD technology. The Linear Magnetic Drive technology enhances the overall sound’s precision and clearness as well as the linear frequency response while allowing the reproduction of a wider range of frequencies, without increasing the size of the speakers. This cutting edge technology is supposed to provide better sound than casual paper based speakers. The Logitech XTrusio DSR 100 is provided with PowerDVD 2.5 to let you experience Dolby Digital AC3 sound over 4 channels (but you sound card should be recent). But it’s a shame Logitech doesn’t provide the kit with the latest version 3.0 of PowerDVD that offers much more features.        

Xtrusio DSR100 Environmental EQ Wheels (click to enlarge)

Sound Quality

   Because the most important thing with such a product is the quality of the sound delivered, we have passed the Logitech XTrusio DSR100 under the grill. So we tested the kit with various Audio CDs, DVDs, MP3, MIDI files, Games, and more. During our tests we were very impressed by the power of the basses and the good medium and high pitched sounds reproduced by the satellites. Comparing to our previous Microsoft DSS80 sound system, the Logitech XTrusio DSR 100 clearly delivers a superior more vivid sound. I know comparing speakers is totally subjective but I found the Logitech XTrusio DSR100 to deliver a life like sound with deep bass that’ll really shake your guts. In fact basses are so intense that it’s advised to let the 100Hz wheel set to the minimum unless you like the nightmare of every mom & dads: the ‘boom, boom’ sound, which your neighbors will surely dislike, too. When using the sound system with games that are compliant with 3D sound positioning technologies like the Creative Environmental Audio, I appreciated the clear 4 ways separation the kit offers and I was propel in the heart of the action. Games tested were MotoRacer 2, Microsoft Starlancer, Microsoft Mech Commander 2, Microsoft Mech Warrior 4, No One Lives Forever and more.

   During our extensive tests the kit didn’t manage to sustain a crisp and clear sound when we drove it into a corner by pushing the volume over 65%. Indeed with very high volume, you’ll hear a saturated sound that quickly becomes inaudible.