AVB
Sonix S-2000 Flat Panel Speakers
Where
did AVB
come from? Starting back in 1973 as Anko Electronic Company of Taiwan, they are
more commonly known today as American Anko Company based in Santa Fe Springs,
California. Most of AVB’s lineup includes gaming controllers like joysticks and
racing wheels. As of last fall, they introduced the Sonix S-2000 flat panel speaker.
This is a difficult to find setup because distribution isn’t wide spread just
yet. You can find the S-2000’s at retailers like Micro
Center and other resellers like Vanguard
and Advantage Computer Co. Thanks to AVB for supplying the evaluation set for
TargetPC’s review.
Description
Flat
panels are...well…flat. Having listened to the likes of Martin-Logan
and Magneplanar,
I could hardly be surprised at skinny speakers but actually removing these squashed
"boxes" from the packaging cemented the idea that this was going
to be a very different listening and setup experience. Of course, the satellites
aren’t really "boxes" because they measure only ½" thick. They
are very impressive sitting next to your monitor. At 10 inches tall and 4-1/2
inches wide, not taking into account the mandatory stands, these seem rather imposing
sitting around anything less than a 19 incher. 
Lest
we not forget the boomer box; the sub is an almost perfect cube with the port
facing front—different. Its small size catches you off guard once again because
it’s unusually heavy, about 9 pounds. Inside hides all the power supply circuitry,
amplifiers and the 5-1/4 inch woofer. The rear of the sub has all the wires and
plugs necessary for operation. The power plug is strangely short, about 4-1/2
feet. The other wires are much longer. The "puck" or "pickle"
remotely controls the power, sub volume, and overall volume. Inside
is a new Philips amplifier chip that I’m not familiar with at all—the OM8384J.
Surfing over to Philips
Electronics NA, yielded a big fat zero so
I have to assume that this chip is so new it’s not even in any manufacturer catalog
just yet. I usually prefer to read through the data sheet for all the internal
components to further gain insight as to the designer’s intent. It also lets me
know how much the PR department is "fiddling" with various specifications
(i.e. power output).
FYI, the satellites
are rated at 6 watts each and the sub at 20 watts for a total of 32 watts RMS.
The main power supply capacitor was a little small, just 6800uF @ 25V. This is
somewhat offset by the large AC transformer. Rated for 24VAC output @ 1.5 amps,
this multiplies out to 36 watts of input power. The entire system is spec’ed for
4 ohm operation, meaning that all three speakers have a 4 ohm impedance.
Some
Assembly Required
Normally, all
that one must do when setting up new speakers is rip open the box and place the
new equipment wherever it’s gonna be used; not so with the Sonix. You have to
put the stands together, otherwise you’ll have really "flat" speakers
as they will be facing flat on your tabletop. So, I grabbed the two pieces each
required to make them stand up and I pushed them together. A minute later, I squeezed
some more. A few minutes later I was huffing and puffing still pushing the stand
parts together. While they don’t have that re-assuring "snap" of other
plastic parts, I wanted to be able to fit slot-a into socket-b as it were. "It’s
a tight fit" is an understatement. Unless you can generate 50-100 lbs. of
force, you’re not gonna be able to completely assemble these jewels.
Specifications
