A 2.1 speaker sound system is in our midst, how will it fare in a range of uses from movies to music to gaming? We take a look at ARCTIC Sound’s S362.

Product on Review: S362
Manufacturer and Sponsor: ARCTIC
Street Price: £59 (At time of review)

ARCTIC who were once known as Arctic Cooling have taken their passion into many varied markets in recent years stretching out to even producing remote controlled speed boats. ARCTIC Sound is ARCTIC’s audio segment dealing with many products from earphones to speakers and it is today that we will be taking a look at a 2.1 sound system named S362.

S362 is a 2.1 sound system designed to make watching movies, listening to movies and playing games even more enjoyable. Their price makes them quite an attractive product and we are hoping today that quality and performance does not suffer as a result. Join us as we review the ARCTIC S362’s.

ARCTIC Sound’s take on S362

Be mesmerized by the heart-thumping bass of the ARCTIC SOUND S362 when watching exhilarating movies, or when playing intense video games. This high-end system dramatically elevates your listening experience.

Technical Specifications

Limited Warranty
2 years
Dimensions (Packaging)
420 L x 290 W x 430 H
Subwoofer Dimensions (mm)
306 L x 380 W x 248 H
Satellite Dimensions (mm)
266 L x 100 W x 118 H
Subwoofer Impedance (ohm)
8
Satellite Impedance (ohm)
4
Subwoofer Output (W MAX)
50
Satellite Output (W RMS)
12
Item Number
SPASO-SP006-GBA01
UPC
0872767003750
Gross Weight
9.5 kg

Closer Look

Sadly the packaging had been riddled with courier stickers and labels so it would have been useless trying to illustrate how the packaging looks.

The S362 arrive in a large box and inside all items are well protected with polystyrene and wrapped in clear plastic covers. Inside are the satellites, sub-woofer and variety of cables for connectivity.

The Satellites are each 12W and are for the most part of plastic construction. The right side features controls for volume, bass and treble whilst the left has audio jacks for headphones/MP3 usage. The satellites are lightweight and easy to store or tuck away – the underside features rubber padding to prevent slipping on smooth surfaces.

Twin satellites – 12W each

The next item is the 50W sub-woofer. This is largely wooden and features a large 14mm high fidelity membrane to assist with immersive bass control. Both the satellites and sub-woofer have been designed to be aesthetically pleasing – looking great next to the PC or TV.

On the reverse of the sub-woofer are a variety of sockets that include Audio IN for the hooking up to the TV, PC, MP3 or other devices. The Audio OUT are for the twin satellites and the line controller socket takes a plug from the right sided satellite – this is 10-pin. It must be said – the cable for the line controller is rather short and so this restricts the distance the satellites can sit from the sub-woofer. The mains power switch is also found on the back panel here.

A large 50W sub-woofer for bassy tones

Connectivity through a variety of means

With the brief overview complete let’s test the ARCTIC S362’s and see how they fare in a variety of different scenarios.

Audio Performance – Movies, Music, Gaming

Whilst the technical specifications of the S362s aren’t exactly ground-breaking with a total of 75W RMS – the idea for this system is to accompany a media PC or even a TV itself. So to test the audio performance for the ARCTIC S362’s we will be reporting back on movies, general usage with TV and hooked up to a PC for gaming. I’ve had these speakers now for approximately 3 months+ and so my findings should be fairly conclusive.

Obviously the quality of audio from a consumer-level speaker is always going to be somewhat subjective; what may be near-perfect for one set of ears could be just a little off for another.

Movies

Having the S362s configured with a Full HD TV really does provide a more fulfilling experience. Over the standard audio from inbuilt speakers on the TV ARCTIC’s offerings significantly boost performance.

It’s immediately obvious that the sub-woofer with S362 provide a substantial bass resonance. During action movies the knob indicator was set to around 60% for best results – anything over this caused the bass to overpower everything else.

Even with treble control the S362s handled all aspects of movies from character dialogue, to music, action and explosions very well. Tones are not too tinny or too low either. Tones are crisp, clear and bass reproduction is fantastic, this system is actually a great accompaniment for any home theatre/TV setup.

Music

To test the music performance for each of our speaker systems I ran the following music tracks. The tracks tested offer a variety of different tones, treble and bass due to them being featured across a range of different genres.

3OH!3 – STARTRUKK (Feat. Katy Perry) *R’n’B*
Thriving Ivory – Angels on the moon *Pop/Rock*
Armin van Buuren ft Sharon den Adel – In and Out of Love *Dance*
Lacuna Coil – Trip the Darkness *Rock/Metal*

The S362s fared well during our music tests. Clarity, crispness and bass are all aspects that the this system score well with – for some genre’s (particularly dance) the bass had to be altered and reduced slightly. At low, mid and high there was no distortion whatsoever and considering the specifications of the bass and satellite speakers – the system in general handles music very well indeed.

Gaming

For the gaming section I played a variety of titles including The Walking Dead, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.

Sound is accurately reproduced via the satellites and bass. Explosions and projectiles create quite an atmosphere. Of the different scenarios I would say the S362’s are better suited to movies and music than gaming.

Conclusion

S362 are currently ARCTIC’s highest spec speaker system. Being 2.1 this speaker system isn’t designed for a huge, open room but rather the office, the living room or bedroom. They are ideal for setting up next to the TV or hooking up to the computer for enriching the experience.

We’ve been using the S362’s for some time now and we can confidently affirm that they are a brilliant accompaniment next to a HD TV. Combined with a decent TV and your favourite movie the experience is completely altered – the change from standard inbuilt speakers on a TV is quite radical indeed.

During testing the S362s performed great in a range of scenarios, showing that even though they have a small price-tag there haven’t been any cut-backs at all. Priced at around £59 the S362’s are great value for money and should be considered if you are wanting to spruce things up for home entertainment.

The only niggle I really found with this kit was the shortness of the cables, especially the line controller – this meant as a result the satellites and sub-woofer had to remain in close proximity and is a slight limitation.

All in all ARCTIC Sound’s S362s are a great product offering good build quality, great looks and even better value for money. If you want to enhance the home entertainment consider them.

Pros
+ Good build quality
+ Look sleek and professional
+ Great value for money
+ Good accompaniment for a TV/home theatre

Cons
– Short cable

Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

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