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Blue Sky EXO Stereo Monitoring System
At first, it seemed wrong to me—the notion of splitting my precious signal between a subwoofer and a pair of satellite speakers. “Whaddaya mean, only one subwoofer? I got a stereo signal! And look at those little tiny satellite speakers—how can this thing reproduce low mids?” And then I suspended my disbelief and took a listen ... OK ... not too bad ... heck, maybe even pretty good. Well, because low frequencies are such long waves, and hence omnidirectional in terms of propagation, I guess you don’t really need two subwoofers for a stereo signal. And wow—manufacturers seem to have managed to find a crossover point that works just fine between that eight-inch woofer and those tiny little three-inch woofers ... or are they midrange drivers? OK—I admit it, I’m 100% sold on 2.1 monitor systems—got two of ‘em in my studio, both with six-inch woofers and great tweeters in the satellites, one with a 10-inch sub, the other with a really incredible 12-inch sub. I mix exclusively on these two systems, so I know from 2.1 monitoring. When I was offered an opportunity to review the Blue Sky EXO system, I jumped at it—I wanted to hear whether this $399 system could even begin to compete with my $1,600 and $3,200 systems.
The Package
The system ships with four pieces—the subwoofer, two satellite speakers, and a remote control unit, which also serves as the port through which your signal finds its way to the speakers. The sub is roughly a cube, 12 inches square face-on, and 12.5 inches deep. It includes four conical plastic feet, which optionally isolate it from the plane on which it sits. Its back panel features binding posts for the connection to the satellite speakers, a multi-pin connector to receive the plug from the remote control, a power switch, fuse holder, and a power cord. The box is sealed, which surprised me. Most manufacturers exploit porting to enhance the low end. If it can be avoided, the bass is much more honest without porting, so I was pleased with this discovery. The LF driver is eight inches in diameter with a paper cone, a vented motor, and a foam surround. The box is video shielded, which is nice because this system is marketed specifically for use with computer systems. The 25-pound sub features a frequency response that remains plus or minus 6 dB from 35 Hz to 140 Hz in an anechoic chamber, and 20 Hz to 200 Hz in a typical room. The box also contains the sub’s 90-watt amp and the satellites’ 35-watt amps.
The satellite speakers (also video shielded) are eight inches tall, five inches wide, and five inches deep, each weighing three pounds. The LF driver in each is a three-inch cast frame unit, featuring Blue Sky’s unorthodox signature hemispherical anodized aluminum cone. The motor structure utilizes a neodymium magnet. A one-inch fabric neodymium HF driver provides the system’s high end, with a crossover point of 2.2 kHz. The crossover point between subwoofer and satellites is 140 Hz, and Blue Sky publishes frequency response for the satellite speakers as plus or minus 3 dB from 140 Hz to 20 kHz, hence accomplishing an overall response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with the entire system in play. The satellite speakers also feature a ¼-inch x 20-inch insert in the rear, which accommodates BT Technologies BT-33 brackets or Omnimount type 10 series brackets as well. This is very welcome and makes mounting the speakers substantially easier.
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