Labs

This low-cost surround set earned itself a Best Buy award in Labs, Shopper 232, so we were keen to retest it against the new arrivals. Its controls seem simplistic by today's standards, with only subwoofer and overall volume levels and no control over the balance of the satellites. An upmix button is included, creating a pleasing pseudo-surround effect from stereo sources. There's no auxiliary input for connecting an MP3 player, but we don't see much point in this feature, as the same MP3 collection probably also resides on the connected PC's hard disk.

Sound quality is stunning for the price. There was a richness and vitality to music that we rarely hear from PC speakers. Clarity and detail was on a par with Logitech's X-230 stereo set, but bass was a bit deeper. However, Logitech's G51 surround system exhibited even deeper, tighter bass and slightly more focused high frequencies. Still, if the G51 is out of your budget, the X-540 is an excellent alternative.