Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: StudioLAB DS-5.3 Speakers by EthanHunt

Model:	DS-5.3
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$700
Description:	floor standing speaker
Manufacturer URL:	StudioLAB
Model Picture:	View

Review by EthanHunt ( A ) on March 25, 2003 at 14:44:51
IP Address: 207.236.97.130

Add Your Review
for the DS-5.3

After finishing school, I finally upgraded from my 10 year old Sony mini-system to a full fledged (Budget) Hifi/Home Theatre. I was originally in the market for some bookshelves to tide me over until I could afford some decent floorstanders when Omer at Oz Enterprises (www.ozenterprises.net) offered to let me demo the StudioLAB 5.3s...I had never heard of studiolabs before but I was willing to give them a try and ended up purchasing them...
Exterior/Fit and Finish:
Nothing spectacular...standard speaker fare...black fake woodgrain finish over MDF...the cloth grille/screen frame isnt finished very well, the rest of the speaker is quite hefty and solid (3/4" MDF). They weigh quite a bit for their relatively small size. These are also rear ported with two ports per speaker. A single set of gold 5 way binding posts are at the bottom of the rear. I am of the sort that the speaker should sound good and not cost an arm and a leg. So if they have to cut corners a bit on the grill, so be it...I can always leave them off ;-)
Placement:
I have these on either side of an IKEA TV stand (akrobat) which is about 3-4 feet wide slightly toed in towards the center and about 1.5 feet away from the wall. I am not sure if they are shielded or not but my newer Sony direct view TV does not seem to be affected by the speakers.
Sound:
When I first got these for audition, they sounded quite good. They could play loud but not fatiguing due to the soft dome tweeter and they had adequate bass but it wasnt as low as I was used to from my Logitech THX certified 4.1 computer speakers. But then those had a dedicated sub. They were clear and the highs were well defined down at even low volumes (I live in an apartment). With orchestra music and film scores the soundstage was wide and each instrument was well defined. Horns and woodwinds which I had once found to be...grainy and rough came out smooth. Violins are exceptionally well represented particularly during stacatto passages. Cymbals, and bells have great resolution...
Jazz vocals and instruments were well defined and great "positioning" and made it feel like I was there...
For movies, they performed very well for the front soundstage (I dont have a center) Voices and soft/quiet sounds were very articulate. However, explosions were lacking a bit of extra kick but were definitely loud. The excellent soundstage for music is now used to provide an immersive movie environment, For example, in K19-the widowmaker, there were all these sounds coming from around you that made it feel like you were in the sub...
Recently, I've noticed that the bass has really opened up and playing some old school techno and "Bass head" music these past couple of days has made me realize just how low these speakers go. Orchestra drums are very articulate and have a good punch that was lacking when I first got them. This opening up may also be attributed to the fact that my speaker cables were also brand new DIY CAT5 plenum cables that had not been "burned" in as well. Explosions in movies have more kick now and I find myself turning down the volume so that I dont get kicked out of my apartment...
Listening to some pop/lounge music...I found that the DS5.3's were very articulate in the high's as well...I can hear the strands of the brushes hitting the cymbal(?) on the drums...
They are rated for 140W I believe into 4 ohms so you may want to check to make sure your amp can handle the lower impedance. My Onkyo doesnt seem to mind it even at high volumes (as high as I dare go).
Conclusions:
These are excellent speakers for the money. Anyone in the market for speakers who didnt think that they could get good quality floorstanders for under 1000 should really look into these. Particularly, those who find metal tweeters overly bright. They are great for both music and movies. I am nothing short of amazed at the performance of these speakers at this price. I highly encourage someone in the market for some music and movie speakers to audition these...
Also, I am told that you can get these (and the other studiolabs speakers) in custom finishes as they are currently being made by hand to order...
Future:
I am going to stick with my current setup for now but they are currently sitting on carpet and I am curious to see how much better they get if I spike them.

Product Weakness: not bi-wireable, low impedance may be a problem with some amps,
Product Strengths: Low fast tight bass, crisp clear highs, small footprint

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Onkyo 575x HT receiver
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Panasonic RP62/Sony CDP/Sony MD
Speakers:	StudioLABS DS5.3
Cables/Interconnects:	Audioquest Toslink/DIY braided CAT5 Spkr cables
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Orchestra/Movies/Movie Scores/Jazz/Pop/Techno
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1.5 month
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	not bi-wireable, low impedance may be a problem with some amps,
Product Strengths:	Low fast tight bass, crisp clear highs, small footprint