The Genius SW-G2.1 1250:
This is what the SW-G2.1 3000 is banking on, the subwoofer. You can see the thick MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) Genius used for this subwoofer. Inside there is a 6.5″ drive unit with a reflex port that helps produce the deep, rich bass that you will want while gaming, watching movies and listening to music. It comes with rubber feet to help keep it in place, which is helpful if you decide to put this on your desk or another surface other than carpet. The feet will also help keep the vibration and rattling sound to a minimum if it is on a hard surface.
The individual control box is nice looking with the high gloss finish on the front, along with the gold accent in the middle. On the front, you will have the volume and bass knobs, as well as the easily accessible headset and microphone jacks. On the back of the control box, you will find all the connections for your two satellite speakers and the incoming connections from the device of your choosing. You will also notice the microphone connection in the top right for all the people who have stand alone microphones. The bottom of the controller comes with rubber feet, which is also to help keep it from sliding around and scratching your surface, especially if you move it a lot.
The satellite speakers have a great look to them with the high gloss gold and black paint job. The 15 watt, 3″ metal cones hopefully will live up to the hype and produce full mid-range and well-balanced sound. On the back, each speaker is marked left and right, as well as their jack being color coordinated with the control box, so it makes it difficult not to install them correctly.
Installing:
When powered on, the LED will light up giving you reassurance that the speakers are indeed on. We guess the sound coming from the speakers is not good enough? Oh well, we happen to like the LED, so it is just a little added bonus for us, but for some it may be a nuisance. Installing a headset is very easy, you will just need to plug in your jack for the headset and if it came with a microphone, you can plug that one in as well.
Installing everything is very easy, because if you can match red with red and white with white, you are good to go. If not, you can also match the “Left” and “Right” markings on the speakers and the back of the control box. And if not again…you can put the speakers back in the box and stare at the wall instead.
Sound Tests:
For our sound testing, we hooked our Genius SW-G2.1 3000 GX speaker system up to our HT Omega Striker 7.1 sound card. We will be testing the SW-G2.1 3000 with several genres of music: rap, country and classical. We will also be watching a movie, Rambo, as well as playing Bad Company 2 to round out the testing.
To start our testing, we headed straight for the subwoofer and turned on our, albeit small, rap collection to test it out. Once we started the rap music, we heard the true beauty of the subwoofer. It was very deep and rich sounding at all levels that we put it on with the control box. The speakers produced crisp, clear, and balanced vocals from the singers in the low and mid ranges. When we started with the country music portion of our testing, we were testing how the satellite speakers reproduced the vocals and guitar sounds. Of course, the bass was as deep and rich as ever, but we went after the speakers more on this test. The speakers portrayed clear, crisp vocals when they hit their highs and lows during the song. The guitars sounded great and were crisp sounding with no distortion when hitting the high notes. To bring it all together, we listened to some classical music to get to hear the best of everything from the orchestra. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture brings in all the elements with the strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments. The subwoofer sounded great when the basses hit, with a very deep bass sound, while the brass and strings came through crystal clear in the speakers without any distortion at all in the mid to low ranges.
Moving on to our movie watching test with Rambo, the 2009 version, which we feel covers most everything you will see in movies. It has a lot of quiet to normal dialog with action scenes, explosions and surround sound. However, with the 2.1 speakers we are not expecting much from that perspective as this is not a true surround sound setup. Getting into the movie, we experienced the normal conversations with great clarity overall in the low to mid ranges. We could hear everything they were saying as though we were there with them. During gun battles, the speakers portrayed the action as well as possible for a 2.1 system. We cannot hold it against the speakers, as they were not made for true surround sound. Once we finished with the other tests, we got to move on to the most anticipated part of the testing, the .50 Cal final battle scene. When Rambo mans the .50 Cal gun on the back of the truck, we got our wall-rattling good sounds. The .50 Cal sounds amazing with the subwoofer, and the solid bass it provides will make it an enjoyable scene for every guy. The satellite speakers did a good job with the .50 Cal and AK-47 fire, the grenade explosions and the bullet sounds. The speakers kept everything distinct from each other making it all crystal clear.
For our last test, we move on to the game, Bad Company 2, to test out the SW-G2.1 3000 system. Once we got into the thick of the action, we started to miss our surround sound in a hurry. We could hear people perfectly, but as to where they were, we could only guess a general direction, left or right. These speakers are 2.1 and makes it tough for FPS genre of gaming. It did make us miss the speaker that is normally behind you in true surround sound. The game sounds great with the gun fire and guys yelling. It was distinct and crisp. With this outcome, we decided to toss in one more game to get a better idea about the speakers. We started up the racing game Grid to see how well this speaker system performed with that. We found out that the speakers performed very well in this game and sounded great. The crashes were nice and crisp, with the engines roaring and creating the deep bass we all love. Grid let the speakers be what they were made to be, a great sounding 2.1 system usable with most games.
Conclusion:
Overall, the Genius SW-G2.1 3000 is a very good system. As we mentioned above, the mid and low ranges are distinct and crisp. The color scheme looks great with the gold and black mix on the speakers and control box. The speaker system was very easy to hook up as it took us longer to think about where to put everything than to actually connect it. The control box was a nice addition to the system and was easy to use to control the volume and the bass. Having the option to plug-in a headset on the front was another great idea from Genius, saving you the hassle of unplugging speaker wires and plugging in your headset direct to the sound card.
With a suggested MSRP of $129.99, the SW-G2.1 3000 are good performers but a little high for 2.1 speakers. With the price getting this high you could really get a more acceptable surround sound system or a nice set of surround sound headphones. Just know going in that these have a premium on them, and if you are a gamer who does not play FPS games and need the surround sound, these speakers will do a great job!
The Genius SW-G2.1 3000 receives the TechREACTION.net Gold Silicon Award!
You can purchase the at various online retailers, including Amazon! For more information on the Genius SW-G2.1 3000 GX and other products from Genius, please visit their website.
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