Date: 2004-09-21
Category: PC Peripherals
Author: by Rchiileea
ThermalTake CircleFire
5.25 bay speaker with db meter
Today we will be looking at another product in Thermaltake’s accessory line up the 5.25 bay CircleFire, What is that you may ask well to put it bluntly it is a multimedia speaker with db meter for one of your spare bays. Is it a gimmick or could it be useful?? Read on to find out
Part-1 Packaging
As you can see it comes in the same sort of packing as there coolers do, this isn’t bad and it provides adequate protection, lets open it up and take a closer look shall we.
Included in side was the main unit itself, instructions, sound jack lead, and signal cable for either connection to sound card or straight to the CDROM, also included was a blanking plate to pass the cables out. Lets take a closer look at the main unit itself
Taking a closer look at the rear will show you the Molex connector, the headphone jack and the signal cable plug. Also you will notice from the front of the unit it has 2 meters one either side, the centre is the speaker with a silver metal grill. This is were my doubts came in (what kind of sound is that going to produce ect due to its small size) lets take a look at the specs and then slot it in.
What are the Specs & Features?
P/N
A1994
Meter Colors
7 colors & color flash
LED
Blue LED x2
Volume Control
3 steps switch (High/Normal/Low)
Dimension
149 x 42 x 123mm
Speaker
Weight
310g (10.94oz)
RMS
2W
Lift Dail Display
-20 to +3dB
Frequency Response
310+/- 62kHz
Middle Dail Display
0~100%
Right Dail Display
-20 to +3dB
S/N Ratio
75 dB
Ok so were of to a good start Thermaltake are not trying to claim high wattages ect 2w rms this unit claims, so don’t get to exited about any bass frequencies.
Part-2 Fitting
Fitting was easy just slide the unit into one off you spare bays screw it up connect the power, signal cable to sound card and then run the headphone jack through the blanking plate, once you have connected all the cables its time to turn back on and power up.
Installation was a snitch and the unit started letting out sound as soon as windows started, there are 3 sound volume settings. Loud, normal and low. Also was a choice of 7 colors a flashing combo of them all I must admit the db meter looked well nice bouncing up and down to the music. Also the digital meters on the side look nice too. The sound was ok but it wouldn’t win any awards for bass, but we didn’t expect it to as doing so with a speaker this size would be stupid. But it suited the sound coming out of my main speakers.
Conclusion
Very strange this if I wouldn’t of left it in I may have had a different opinion as I was planning to take it out before I went to a Lan but didn’t have time to, which turned out to be the factor that changed my mind. How you ask? Well it all started when I wanted to watch one of the few DVD videos I took with me I used the CircleFire for the sound, within 20 minutes I had most of my row and the row with there backs faced to me around me watching the film too. Now this wouldn’t normally be possible due to the fact no one has speakers at a Lan but I did. So I would have to say yes it is a nice device and as the x speaker I think will be popular amongst Lan gamers, as well as a add-on to any speaker setup you have connected.
Pros
solid construction
db meters
Ideal for Lan meets
Fits well
Looks good
Cons
2w RMS
Reviewed by R.Bowser
Thanks to Flora at Thermaltake for supplying the CircleFire
