(I should note that I started the product testing for this piece before the bottom dropped out of the economy. So these items are markedly less “affordable” than they were earlier this year.)
There are an endless number of pretty good speakers for $100 or less. Then there are a few $400 systems from such companies as Bose that are somewhat disappointing – better than mainstream systems but not so much better that the extra expense seems worthwhile.
The past year, however, has seen the arrival of two alternatives to meet the needs of discerning listeners without being totally outrageous.
France’s Focal-JMLab has introduced the Focal XS system (above - $600), a sleek silver and black three-piece system (two satellite speakers and a subwoofer) that matches the styling of Apple’s current generation iMac computers and – just in case you didn’t get the idea – includes an iPod dock in the right-hand speaker. It has its own onboard audio circuitry, bypassing the noise of PC or Mac circuit boards, and plugs into your computer via USB.
California-based NuForce Inc. has produced its Icon component system, also USB-based. This one is a la carte – the Icon amplifier (below, right) is $250. You can use it with small bookshelf speakers of your own or with NuForce’s purpose-built S1 speakers (below, left -- $250 for the pair). That puts its price below Focal’s. But it does not have a subwoofer – and in my testing, the sound lacked depth without one. That adds about $100-$150, and NuForce also recommends an upgraded power supply ($45), bringing the total price up to nearly $700.
On the esthetics side, the edge goes to Focal XS, which is sleek and compact and complements most modern PCs and Macs. NuForce S1s have uncovered speaker cones (some will find that a high-tech look, some will see it as garish) and the speakers are large bookshelf-style designs that take up a lot of desktop real estate.
Sonically – which, after all, is the object of the exercise – it is an even battle. What you are paying for here is clear, accurate sound that reproduces a wide range of frequencies and does so at all volume levels.
Both systems deliver. Strings sound like strings. The twang of electric guitars and the punch of the drums are lifelike. You can hear vocalists who actually enunciate sound out their syllables. (A favorite test: in Bob Seger’s anthem “Like a Rock,” can you hear the emphasis he puts on the “k” in “rock”?) At low volumes, the clarity makes for a pleasing listening experience, and you also can crank up the volume to room-filling levels without distortion.
In reviewing audio components, I rely a lot on jazz recordings from Mapleshade and classical from Telarc -- both labels are known for their almost obsessive high fidelity engineering. These recordings have a you-are-in-the-room quality that is an acid test for good sound, and both speaker systems passed.
Which one sounded better depended entirely on the particular recording I was playing, in many cases on the specific track. If pressed, I would give the Focal XS a slight edge in clarity while NuForce had better sound staging (spatial placement of the music – you hear sounds coming from left, right, center, not some muddled mix).
As for added features, as noted the Focal XS has the iPod dock that allows you to sync with your computer as well as play from the iPod. However, it only has an iPod dock connector; there’s no auxiliary jack for other sources. It lacks a headphone jack, so users cannot benefit from the USB sound system when they want to listen privately. The Icon, in contrast, bristles with connection options: there’s a headphone jacks, plus in addition to the USB link to a computer, it will accept RCA inputs (to connect a stereo component) as well as an auxiliary jack (for music players). A large knob on the front lets you choose the input source.
All-in-all, the Focal XS is probably the better choice to set up next to your computer while the Icon is what you want if you need a multipurpose audio system.
Bear in mind that speakers of this caliber are a total waste of money if you do not have high-caliber audio sources to play. I converted a big batch of my CD collection to Apple’s “Lossless” format using iTunes. Microsoft also has a lossless format, and there is the free FLAC lossless format. All of these cut file size down to roughly 50% of a CD but preserve all audio information so the sound is identical to the CD. So a XS or Icon can show off a full frequency range. If you are using MP3 or like formats that compress files by discarding some data, however, that lost data can negate the speakers’ higher fidelity.
