SoundMax A2116 is one of the two new 2.1 Channel speakers that has just been released to market. The product is beautifully designed with decent-quality sound, suitable for almost all kinds of music and it supports listening to music from USB/memory stick. Soundmax A2116 is not just for the people who use computers, it can be used in combination with other recreational devices such as DVD, TV or home game console.

  In terms of design, SoundMax A2116, like other 2.1 Channel speakers systems, includes a cubic sub speaker and two tower-like satellite speakers and is made from magnet-proof MDF wood. The whole bodies of the sub speaker and two satellite speakers are covered with an elegant wooden brown decal. Although it looks simple, SoundMax A2116 still has its own feature in design. One such example is the design of the sub speaker, which looks strong thanks to the bare diaphragm, being completely opposite with the two elegant satellite speakers using a thin piece of material to protect the contrast color with wooden brown and cover the surface. Users can also choose to detach this cover on the satellite speakers easily to increase the firm look for the whole system.

  To create a system of speakers that has a total power of 60W (RMS), SoundMax A2116 uses two satellite speakers with the power of 15W, equipped with two conic speakers sized 2.5” each and a 30W sub speaker with a bass-reflex design and one speaker has a diameter of 5”. The sonic circuit, voltage transformer and communication gateway are all put on the subwoofer so the sub speaker is pretty heavy. However, thanks to this design, the work of connecting everything together is more simple.

  As mentioned, SoundMax A2116 is compatible with almost all recreational devices as well as home computers thanks to the sonic entrance RCA. Besides, SoundMax A2116 helps to play music directly from memory stick SD or USB with maximum capacity of 16GB. Together with the control system using the buttons to adjust the volume, bass, treble, there is a small remote control going together with the speaker, which helps to turn on/off the power and perform almost all functions of playing music from USB/memory stick SD.

  From actual contact, Test Lab realizes the work of installing and connecting the speaker is very simple. Because the sonic system is integrated on the sub speaker, users do not have to make it clear which is the left or right speaker. The sonic signal cable integrated on each separate speaker is pretty much for the layout of the speakers at the sides of big-screen TV.

Soundmax A2116 is also designed to use AC directly with the power button at the back of the sub speaker and the buttons that adjust the volume, bass, treble, and the memory stick slot, USB port to the right. Generally, the buttons used to adjust the volume are appropriately laid out. The power button is not in a very good position, but with the function to turn on/off from the attached remote control, users can activate the speaker from the integrated power button with just once.

  At default, when listening to music from RCA, if users want to listen to music from memory stick or USB, they have to choose the compatible source on the remote or use the “Mode” function button on the body of the sub speaker. Soundmax A2116 will automatically play music from the chosen source if users turn off the speaker from the remote. Soundmax assists popular music file format such as MP3, WMA or WAV when users want to listen to music from memory stick/USB. Note that this brand doesn’t integrate the function to move quickly to a folder that contains music in the memory stick/USB like some products which PC World used to experience, instead, you can use the function button Next or Prev to find the song you want to listen, or you can pick a random song using the number buttons on the remote. Besides, when listening from memory stick/USB, the speaker has the function to “memorize” and repeat the last song.
Soundmax A2116 has a rather tempting-quality sound right when you first use it. However, to have the most objective judgement, Test Lab still decided to run this speaker with all kinds of music with the total amout of time of more than 10 hours. After that time, Test Lab connected Soundmax A2116 with the computer through RCA and started to listen to some CD-quality sources of music (16 bit/44KHz) with Foobar 2000 software version 1.0.3, which is commonly used.

  Since the speaker is equipped with function buttons that help to adjust the volume, bass and treble independently, Test Lab decided to test them with the setting of 50% the maximum volume and 50% bass/treble. With this average setting, Soundmax A2116 can easily “submerge” a testing area of nearly 40m2 in music. The bass notes were very impressive: full, strong and not harsh when playing dynamic songs as well as tracks that are strong in bass like THX – Jurassic Lunch (Major Bass), 1-2-3-4-5-6 Bass or THX – Sound Bass. However, with this setting, the treble notes somehow lack the featuring clarity, and the midrange notes are less smooth than when you lock the treble button on the body of the speaker.

  With the setting that maximizes the strength of treble notes, clarity on Soundmax A2116 will be improved significantly even when you listen at an average volume. Also with this setting, recordings of type vocal or concert are somehow smoother. Even piano concert albums that used to be considered “difficult” like Melody of the night by Shijin or Yiruma & Piano CD1 are performed successfully by Soundmax A2116. However, after many experiments, Test Lab realizes sometimes the midrange of these speakers is not completely elegant, it seems like the box of the speaker is separated by some thick fabrics in the front – especially when you listen to the recording Avemaria in the album Audiophile Reference I Classical Music.

In general, Soundmax A2116 has a decent-quality sound and is good enough for the price of this product. Although it belongs to the 2.1 Channel, Soundmax A2116 is rather successful in recreating the sonic space, so it is appropriate for recreational need for music and game.