Teufel Audio Concept C 500 THX PC Speakers

This week I've been spending some quality time with the Teafuel Concept C 500 THX PC Speakers, but these are not just any PC speakers, the biggest clue to that would be the THX logo stuck on the front of them, for those of you who aren't familiar with what THX is and what they do, its a lot more than just a made up industry buzz word or marketing invented feature. THX certification means that any system that can wear its logo has undergone scrutiny from the industry professionals at THX to ensure the system meets the highest audio standards possible for audio reproduction "A deep understanding of the film making process and surround sound is at the very heart of every THX Certified 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1 speaker system. Engineered with design characteristics of professional studio speakers, THX recreates the tonal balance of the film-makers final mix in your living room. The result? Action sequences are impactful, and dialogue-driven moments are natural and engaging" - thx.com So with that in mind, who are Teufel? Well that can't be explained better than by Teufel them selves; "Teufel is Europe's #1 direct seller of loudspeaker systems. The company was founded in 1980 in Berlin and was met with phenomenal early success in the German specialty market for loudspeakers. Over the years, Teufel has developed and produced a large number of high-quality audio products. Our portfolio includes home cinema sound systems and multimedia and PC systems, along with various iPod products marketed under the iTeufel name. In 1996 Teufel became the first German company to bring THX-certified loudspeakers to the market. The THX audio standard for home cinema systems is known to be extremely stringent. Today, Teufel offers the world's largest selection of THX-certified loudspeakers. Our products are only available via direct order, guaranteeing high quality at a low price." So with all the history lessons out of the way, lets start by taking a look at what these speakers have to offer. It's at this point in the review I normally start with taking a look at the packaging, but since Teufel don't ship to retail, there was no shiny box covered in marketing slogans, which is why I'm not going to publish a picture of a cardboard box that's undergone a journey half way across Europe to reach me. What I can do is take a first look at how the speakers system. 2 x Satellite Speaker CG 80 FCR 1 x Subwoofer CD 500 SW The speakers look nothing short of stunning, once mounted on the stands the speakers stand about 1ft tall with the gigantic sub that is anything but discreet, this really is a system for showing off as far as looks go, it doesn't matter where you put this in your setup, people are going to notice it. The entire system is so incredibly heavy it takes two people to move the sub-woofer alone with any level of safety, while it may not carry across in the pictures, this sub woofer is huge clocking in at 50.7 x 21 x 47.5 cm and a weighty 12.9kg, this thing is a heavy weight sub by every definition. Fitted with two 165 mm bass speakers and as you may have already figured, built to the highest level of precision and quality you could expect within this price range. Around the back you have the Mic. Out socket for calibration, although this wasn't included with the package, you also have your standard AUX line in, this is your main connection for audio devices and with the correct cables (again not provided) you can hook up just about anything to this input, from your console, line out from your stereo, tv, computer, its fairly straight forward and requires little more than attaching the cable to get this thing setup. On the back we also have the Remote Control input for the hard wired remote, which I will take a closer look at in a moment, plus high quality connection points for your speaker cables, the cables are not included in this setup, which I found rather annoying given the set costs a whopping £450, some standard bell wire wouldn't have been the end of the earth, but with such a high specification system you would be right to invest in some a few meters of quality cable, which shouldn't set you back more than £20 for a good length to suit your needs, fortunately I already have some quality speaker wire to hand. Everything around the back is where it should be, with a convenient voltage converter switch, power supply input (this cable was included thankfully) and the whopping great heat sink on the left hand side, although this system really didn't get that warm when using, which I'll take as a good sign that its not wasting a lot of energy. The only gripe I have with this sub is that standby button on the front, it sticks out about 1inch and feels stupidly cheap, I fear that one day this thing will get caught on your jeans as you walk past and it will snap off, then you'll be left with a £450 system that you can't turn on, thanks to a cheap bit of plastic that in my opinion is poorly designed, given the smooth design of the rest of the system I can't figure out why this sticks out as it does. The speakers look just as fantastic as the sub-woofer, with the capability to have them free standing, wall mounted or fixed on their stands in a horizontal or vertical setup, meaning you should find a setup that suits your requirements for how you want them setup, personally I went for vertical mounting on the stands, I just found this more aesthetically pleasing when they are placed on my desk. The included stands are cast out of thick heavy metal, which I'll take as a good thing given the specification of these speakers is enough to make the house shake, good to know then that everything in the house except the speakers will be moving around when I listen to some music. The speakers come fitted with gold plated screw points for your cables, all fitted nicely into a recess on the back so not get in the way of any speaker stands or all mounts you may be using. No matter how you choose to mount them, the speakers look nothing short of fantastic, which is good news given their premium price tag. The system comes with a wired remote that allows you to adjust the volume and bass levels, this again is built to a superb standard, and includes another microphone input and a headphone socket on the front, for those times when a gigantic 2.1 speaker system is a little much and you want to enjoy your audio in privacy. The volume wheels have what I like to call "an expensive feeling click" to them, a nice little tactile response of a good quality piece of technology, OK that isn't really a big deal, but it makes turning the volume up feel that little bit special. The volume and bass dials are also back lit with stunning blue LED's, very handy to know where the volume is set on a system like this, firing up your music without a clear warning of being set to maximum volume could not only damage your system but also destroy a large amount of your hearing. While these speakers clearly have a big win for style the thing that really matters is performance, you can have the fanciest most expensive looking speakers in the world, but if they don't have a sound that matches up to the price, then what is the point? Speakers are all about audio, be that from gaming, music or movies, people want to enjoy their favourite media as best they can, so without any hesitation after setting up these speakers I fired up some of my all time favourite albums and a few special selections that I know can catch some speakers out as far as audio reproduction is concerened. The first thing I noticed about these speakers was their power, I'm not talking just loud either, while yes they can push volumes that would make you deaf that's not really what high quality speakers are all about, I mean the amount of sound that they create is astounding, filling the room with the highs and lows of even the most demanding albums I threw at the system. The lowest tuned and ferociously paced guitar riffs are reproduced as close to live as you could imagine, especially when I played back some Super Audio CD (SACD) and Mp3HD formats and LinearPCM (via some live music dvds) through them, the quality was mind blowing. Everything from the warm tones of 70's prog rock up to the frightening bass frequencies of dub-step we're ran through this system, in summery, perfect audio reproduction. Performance in movies was fantastic, just not as good as movies, being used to a full 5.1 setup for movies I really started to miss that centre speaker, just watch your bass settings on the wired remote or you may end up washing out any dialogue. The real winner here though was gaming, especially on titles like Battlefield 3, which anyone who has played BF3 will know if full of amazing sound effects and constant explosions, I was stunned and if I'm honest a little frightened by the level of detail and the force of the explosions that were being reproduced, in fact anyone who lives within a 500yrd radius of me likely though so too. So over all a very competent piece of audio equipment, perfect for PC gamer who wants that cinematic wow factor at their desk or for the digital audiophile who desires rich detail to their music at home, but this set of speakers does just blow you away, it blows away the competition too, these are easily the best sounding PC speakers I have ever heard. That being said, there are a couple of downsides to this system, the first one is of course price, while they do cost around £450 you can't really put a price on quality like this, can you? this is a serious piece of equipment and isn't aimed at day to day users just looking to listen to music on YouTube, for someone on the market for high end speakers for their PC £450 likely isn't going to sound like a bad deal, to everyone else, its expensive. The next issue I had with this system is size, the sub woofer takes up as much floorspace and is taller than my PC chassis, this system seems designed (size wise) for people who have an office or desk space designed like an Ikea showroom, with plenty of floor space and of course a room big enough to justify such a powerful speaker system. So aside from size and price, there wasn't a thing wrong with these speakers, they may be big, but the sound they produce is even bigger, they may be expensive, but the quality of the audio soon justify every penny of it, which is why I have no trouble in awarding the Teufel C500 THX PC speakers our editors choice award.