Whereas we once put up with a cheap and nasty set of stereo speakers, there are very few nowadays who would do so. The norm is now a pair of satellites and a subwoofer as we try to extract reasonable sound quality from our PCs.

The gaggle of Jazz products we received are certainly a cut above the "norm" in many ways. For a start, the J-9902 and Rave 5.1 amplified speaker systems are a true 5.1 setup with five independent satellites, front left and right, rear left and right, the front centre speaker and the ".1" channel is the subwoofer. The only physical difference between the two systems' speakers themselves is the rear I/O connectors and the form of surround sound decoder, which we will get to in a moment.

The sub is compact and quite a lot is crammed into its small and attractive cabinet including a 6.5in driver, the power supply and six amplifier channels; 20 watts for the sub and 5 watts for each of the satellites for a total of 45 watts. However, at these power levels you are pushing around 10 percent THD so the actual "usable" power is substantially less. Even so, we found that both the 9902 and 9912 could produce quite a loud volume and, for a small computer room, would be more than adequate. We also, unfairly I might add, tried the speakers out in my lounge room hooked up to my DVD player. The volume level was adequate for my tastes at the maximum "usable" setting but, to be fair, my own setup includes a 500 watt, 5-channel Technics amplifier and a 140 watt powered sub. So, obviously, I like my movies loud.

Front controls are identical on both subs and includes a large master volume control, front balance, power switch, mic volume and attendant jack, and independent volume controls for the centre, surround and bass. The rear inputs of the 9902 and Rave sub are the only instance where the features differ. The 9902 and Rave have five RCA outputs, one to each of the satellites, and a mic output jack, the 9902 has three 3.5mm jacks for the centre/sub, front left/right and rear left/right inputs, whereas the Rave has a single proprietary 9-pin DIN input jack. The Rave did however ship with a small fly lead that converts the DIN jack to three 3.5mm input jacks. The reason the Rave has opted for the single DIN input is that it simplifies the connection to the supplied 6-channel sound card, which has an identical output jack and a single connection cable.

The satellites' enclosures are small and light, each with a single 3in full-range driver. We were, however, surprised with the sound quality of the system, it was quite good given the specs and the relatively low cost. We had a set of VideoLogic DigiTheatre 5.1 surround sound speakers in the Lab, which we previously reviewed back in December 1999, and given the similar speaker configuration we decided to compare the Jazz speakers to the VideoLogic. To be blunt, we found we preferred the sound quality of the Jazz when compared to the DigiTheatre under the wide variety of listening conditions we tested. The satellites have a surprisingly good range and only really lack at the high end, but they do manage to stretch higher than the more mellow DigiTheatre satellites. Of course they do not produce any bass punch given their small driver size but this is where the sub steps in. As is the case with most of these smaller speaker systems, the sub is designed to compensate for the lack of low end in satellites and should, in this case, be called a woofer rather than a "sub" woofer. It does provide a good bass punch, on par with the DigiTheatre's sub but given the 20 watts of power and 6.5in driver size, you cannot really expect the ground to shake as it would (and does) with a true high-powered sub. Claimed frequency response is 47Hz to 20kHz and again these seem to be a tad optimistic.

Hiss from the amps during the quite passages was noticeable, particularly at high volume levels, but then it was only marginally worse than the DigiTheatre in this regard. Both Jazz speaker systems include a surround sound decoder--the 9902 a small decoder box denoted DE-003 and the Rave, a 6-channel PCI sound card. The DE-003 is powered by a small external plug pack, which does keep the size of the decoder cabinet quite small (148mm wide, 42mm high and 200mm deep), so it would even sit unobtrusively in your lounge room entertainment unit. The DE-003 decodes Dolby Prologic sources and will even simulate surround sound from stereo sources with five modes--Stadium, Hall, Stage, Live and Disco settings. You can further tweak the Prologic and Surround mode setups by adjusting the delay between the front and surround speakers between 15ms and 30ms for the former, and 15ms to 50ms for the latter.

All the settings, including master volume, can be adjusted from either the DE-003's front panel controls or the supplied remote control for the true couch potato. The decoder's display is large and colourful with a tasteful, and highly visible, yellow and orange colour scheme. There is a pair of stereo inputs at the rear, one RCA and the other a 3.5mm jack. The decoder also has two sets of outputs, a proprietary 9-pin DIN or three 3.5mm jacks that, with the provided cables, connect the unit to the 9902 sub's inputs. We found the DE-003 very easy to use, particularly with the remote control, and even in Prologic or Surround modes, the extraneous noise was minimal. The Rave, as previously mentioned, includes a 6-channel sound card based on the ForteMedia FM801-AS chipset. The PCI card has a very small form factor and quite a low component count and, internal connectors, while not extensive, are certainly adequate with CD, Video, PC speaker and TAD inputs. External connectors include a joystick/midi port, mic, line-in, stereo out and the proprietary 9-pin DIN 5.1 output.

As a sound card, the FM801 is quite good but to be fair, we found the VideoLogic SonicFury to be a touch better. The latter had superior hardware midi, whereas the FM801's instruments were quite weak, but then this is all academic, as one would certainly opt for the excellent Yamaha XG software synth provided with the FM801. Other bundled software included WinDVD, which while not our favourite software DVD player, nevertheless performed the task adequately. We played "The Matrix" DVD to test out the card's Dolby Digital decoding prowess and found we could not fault it. During the battle scene with the platoon of soldiers, for example, the location of the ejected bullet casings were easily discerned between the rear left and right speakers. In essence, locating the individual sound sources on the "sound stage" was not a problem. For games players, the card boasts Aureal's A3D and Creative's EAX and, although we did not have a chance to explore the limits of the card's compatibility, it nevertheless appears to position sounds quite well through the front and rear speakers in Unreal for example.

Jazz also manufactures an optional external decoder, the DE-005, with exactly the same form factor as the DE-003 but, in addition to Dolby Prologic, the DE-005 also includes Dolby Digital and DTS decoders. The DE-005 will connect to either of the speaker systems and, as far as layout and functionality is concerned, is very similar to the DE-003. The front panel display is a bright red with a large digital volume level display and, ignoring the extra decoding functionally for the moment, where the DE-005 features depart from the DE-003, is the addition of a pair of digital inputs, both optical and coaxial, at the rear. I compared the Dolby Digital performance of the DE-005 at home on my DVD player where I compared the audio quality of the DE-005 Dolby Digital decoder with the DVD player's own internal Dolby Digital decoder. The results were virtually indistinguishable. An added bonus, however, was the DE-005's ability to tweak the delay time between the front and rear speakers for a more realistic surround sound experience.

Jazz have produced a pair of surprisingly well-built speaker systems in the J-9902 and Rave, with sound quality better than you would expect for the price. If you're in the market for a 5.1 speaker system, we certainly recommend you give them a listen.

Jazz 9902, Rave 5.1 and DE-005
Price: J-9902 AU$389; Rave 5.1 AU$599; DE-005 AU$549.
Distributor: Magnafield
Ph: 02 9778 4100; Fax: 1300 369 385
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