The hi-fi market is changing fast. So fast, in fact, that we often run out of superlatives when it comes to describing price-to-performance ratios. Today’s ‘good hi-fi’ can be considered mediocre tomorrow. However, there are a few products that the AV MAX technical team cherishes.
Sonodyne’s Sonus home-theatre set-up, reviewed here, is one such impressive package. Despite being the company’s flagship, Sonodyne has been able to maintain its final MRP below the mark! Scepticism is a passion of any reviewer, so when I received the price of this speaker package, I figured that there must be a catch somewhere … its performance for instance.
TECHNOLOGY
The tall fronts of this package have an elaborate driver array. While these 3-way speakers may look imposing to some, they are well-finished, making them a welcome inclusion in any living room. The top of the speakers are covered with black acrylic, as are the sides of the center channel. One needs to be careful with this material, however, as it requires frequent cleaning and is prone to scratches. Even though the speakers are front ported, it is advisable to keep some breathing space around them. The surrounds are of the dipole type, and thus need careful placing; keeping them at the sides of the listening position is preferable to keeping them behind.
The sub provided with this system is slightly different; it has 2 8” drivers instead of a single 10”. This proves to be a better design, as 8” woofers are faster than 10” ones. Also technically, 2 smaller driver a re better than a single large one, especially in the budget league, since good quality large woofers are expensive; inexpensive large drivers are usually lower quality. Also this woofer design allows for a more slender speaker design.
PERFORMANCE
I configured the fronts as large and the two-channel test. The fronts were positioned to fire straight ahead, and the dipole surrounds were p[laced next to the listening position at a height.

To conduct some preliminary tests, I played pink noise in both the speakers. The right speaker gave some spurious noise, while the left one played clean sound. On probing some more I found that the noise was in the 2.5 ~ 3.5 kHz band; this is obviously a tweeter defect which can be rectified.The speakers one the whole have a balanced tonality. Although the depth was unusually profound and definite, the male vocals moved considerably forward on one of the tracks we played, while the rest of the band remained at the correct depth. The bass section was quite clean, though slightly short on resolution at lower volume levels. Some bass resonance was heard on a few cello tracks, but the other bass and percussion instruments sounded quite flat and fast.
The imaging was elaborate and detailed. The mids were well-defined and resolved, while the highs glowed during loud playback. On feeding the speaker with medium-high to high power, they performed well. They were unable to produce full-bodied sound on lower intensities, but they never sounded offensive, brash, cold or brittle.
On playing multi-channel material, a balanced blend of direct and diffused sounds that were delivered by the surrounds was instantly audible. The center presented good clarity for the mids, while the sub emitted phenomenal amounts of bass with decent speed, without ever sounding jarring or spitting air through the port. However, the blue LED on the sub if disturbingly bright; you just might be tempted to cover the LED with black tape! According to Sonodyne the Roarr 2815 sub is meant for large rooms. If your room is small, you could save a substantial amount of money by buying its younger brother, the Roar 1810. Alternatively, the Sonus 2605 towers also churn out great bass.
CONCLUSION
After taking one look at the build quality of this product via-a-vis its price, this Sonodyne home theatre speaker package will not require any recommendations. You’ll be further impressed when you feed the speakers with some music or movie soundtrack. This package actually demolishes the price barrier, as well as the performance barrier for its price, at least as far as the Indian hi-fi market is concerned.
MEHUL MEPANI