TechCast Reviews

21st August 2008

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Logic3 appear to be going from strength to strength with products such as the i-Station speaker dock range for the iPod.  This time round however, we’re looking at something a little bit different to anything I’ve reviewed before.  It’s something that I wasn’t quite prepared for when it arrived.  It’s immense and sheer weight are just the foundations of what this thing can do.  It will shake and rattle your bones to dust if you dare challenge it.  This is something special, something unique, and it’s something that should come with a warning sign to stand back when it’s being used as it was designed to be used.  To raise the roof and to invite the police around for a cuppa.

The Logic3 SoundStage 5.1 is a monstrosity of a speaker system.  When you first get it out of the box, you realise what a huge and ugly black box this ‘thing’ is.  The majority of people who I’ve exposed to this speaker system also agree.  However, opinions have been swayed as soon as a movie, game or music track starts playing.  The Logic3 design department must have gone mad whe they came up with this 13 driver speaker system and not one, but two subwoofers.  Count all them cones up and you arrive at 15!  All of these speakers combine to deliver a 5.1 surround sound experience that eliminates the need for separate speakers or miles of cabling.  Get the cinematic experience without breaking the bank.

Encased in a wooden cabinet is the 15 drivers and amplifier, featuring equaliser settings, a radio tuner and the SRS 3D surround chip.  The SoundStage comes with a removable speaker grille, a wise design decision, because who wouldn’t want to show off the 15 speaker cones that sits just beneath the soft grille.  For guests and visitors to your lovely home, you most definitely want to have the speaker grille off and the volume up not just so you and everyone else can see how incredible the sound is but also how incredible the thing looks when you’ve got all of the speaker cones vibrating.

The remote supplied with the SoundStage gives you complete control over equaliser and input settings.  There are profiles for you to choose from ranging from Jazz to Hall should you wish to emulate the echo of a grand chapel in your living room.  Thankfully, a reset button is within easy reach so you can return everything back to normal in the event that you end up messing up the settings completely, a very possible scenario during the first play.

I’m no audiophile, but I’ve listened to enough sets of speakers to know what makes a good sound and what doesn’t.  You’ll be relieved to hear that behind all that bulk, there is substance.  If you’re a fan of bass and low frequency subwoofers, then the SoundStage is a match made in heaven with not one but two subwoofer’s, you can get a decent chest thumping beat similar to the experience you receive in the cinema.  It definitely adds to the excitement during action scenes.

For those who are more interested in the listening experience rather than raising the roof, you’ll be glad to hear that the SoundStage can do that too.  A bit of experimentation with the settings and you’ll be able to fine tune the listening experience to your liking, whether it be classical or 60′s rock.

At the rear, you’ll find two optical, two coaxial and an analogue RCA or composite connection for feeding in audio from a range of equipment.  I tested the SoundStage with high definition movies through my MacBook Pro, DVD’s, normal TV programming, my iPod and Xbox 360.  All delivered phenomenal results.

The SoundStage won’t win any awards or praise for its black box design, but who cares when you can get amazing sound without the need for a mile of cabling or complicated setup.  At £200 it’s an affordable home cinema solution that caters to nearly every need.  The only problem is, finding somewhere or something to put this speaker on that won’t be shaken apart.  A set of metal brackets come with the unit for wall mounting, although at 18kg, you’ll want to make sure your walls can take the weight and the vibrations before getting the hammer out.

The SoundStage really is just that.  It’s so big that it could be used as a stage for next year’s V festival but it’s also got substance to back it up with great sound quality, flexible connectivity and ground shaking sound for when you need it.