What is this black truncated starfish doing in my room? It’s part of the Cambridge Soundworks’ "SurroundWorks 200" compact virtual surround system. Cambridge Soundworks must not to be confused with the UK Cambridge Audio. It’s an Andover (Massachusetts) based direct (they sold their first product online in 1994) and non-direct manufacturer, founded in 1988 by Henry Kloss -who also founded Advent, inter alia. It is now a division of Creative Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: CREAF) who is well known for its SoundBlaster, TravelSound, Zen portables, and other Webcams…
The SurroundWorks 200 is a bundle of the AVS600 DVD player/tuner, a single multi-drive speaker and a sub. It is made for those who hate wires, and have no space available to arrange five speakers and other big boxes loaded with electronics. It is part of the family of so-called “virtual surround” systems. Such systems simulate this type of sound through one or two front-channel speakers and the unavoidable sub-woofer.
The speaker is of very unusual style; three 2.78 inches (7 cm) speakers left, centre and right, designed in a concave shape that makes this set immediately recognisable -it's another Alien-inspired device. One single cable and you’re connected to the sub-woofer. The sub itself contains the amplifying system –that is, one 50 watt for each front, one 75 watt for the sub itself. The DVD comes with an AM/FM tuner.
This won't invade your space...
The whole set spares you space –I can well vision it in a bedroom- with the starfish speaker system measuring (WXHXD) 15X4.5X7 inches (38X11X18 cm), while the sub is 10X11X12.5 inches (25.4X28X32 cm), and the DVD/Tuner17X2.6X13.5 inches (43X6.6X34 cm). Such sizes, especially for the speaker, allow locating the set virtually anywhere. One can mount the speaker on a wall, the screws come in the box.
The front panel features your usual jacks for games or camera (still or not). Rear inputs comprise 3 S-video, 2 composite jacks, 1 coaxial, 1 digital audio, 1 component. The surroundWorks 200 decodes Dolby Digital and DTS. It plays DVD Audio but not SACD, as well as MP3. The tuner has nothing spectacular, and includes all regular presets (40 in total).
The practical aspect, which will make the targeted segment of consumers happy, is the ease of use and almost disappearance of all these ugly wires. One cable from speaker to sub, another one from the sub (amplifier part) to the DVD, and you’re done. An 8 years-old can cope with this (while I'm not so sure his dad can). The only trick is that you will have to move your sub around to obtain optimised effect. That’s all folks.
The outcome of all this is, according to all reviewers, quite satisfying, and it places the SurroundWorks 200 among the top of virtual surround systems –see “competition” below. It seems that with this piece of special work one can watch and listen to Gladiator or The Day After, maybe not like with a Meridian ensemble but…
The Cambridge SoundWorks "SurroundWorks 200"
MP3 are played as well and JPEG picture CDs can be read as slideshows, but there’s no WMA (Windows Media Audio) capability, which is odd considering that Cambridge Soundworks is part of Creative, the very manufacturer of the “Zen” portables that are Windows-minded machines.
So, if you want :
Then, this £550 ($1000) system is for you. There is competition in this world though, so you can try to make your mind by yourself: Denon S301, Niro 1.1 Pro II, Sony DAV-X1, KEF KIT100 Instant Theatre, Polk Audio SurroundBar, Yamaha YSP-1 Digital Sound Projector, Bose 3-2-1 Series II (Graphite), Pioneer HTP-3600… are all good contenders in the same region of pricing.
Specs (source: Cambridge Soundworks)
Dolby® Digital, DTS® and Dolby ProLogic® II surround decoding Efficient BASH amplifier provides 225 Watts of R.M.S. system power Foolproof single cable connection to AVS600 simplifies wiring AVS600 DVD tuner/preamplifier AVS600 DVD/tuner console with functionality for CD, VCD, DVD, DVD Audio, JPEG and MP3 playback, as well as digital AM/FM stereo tuner with 20AM/20FM presets Three additional inputs are provided for connection of auxiliary A/V sources such as a VCR, cable box, or satellite dish (2 rear panel, 1 front panel) Dimensions: Main Speaker: 4 3/8"H x 14 7/8W x 6 7/8"D - Bass Module: 11 1/8"H x 10"W x 12 15/16