Tascam VL-S21 2.1-Channel Speaker System

Posted 06/16/2005 at 10:54am | by

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Budget speakers that can hang with the big boys

When Tascam contacted us about reviewing its $100 VL-S21 2.1-channel speaker system, we wondered if anyone at the company had read our reviews of cheap speakers lately. We stifled a chuckle and said, “Bring ‘em on!” And, boy, are we glad we didn’t dismiss these speakers out of hand.

The VL-S21s are marketed as inexpensive studio monitors, which means they’re designed to be flat across the entire frequency spectrum. But Tascam claims the VL-S21s are also suitable for computers and MP3 players.

Tascam uses a flat-panel NXT transducer sandwiched in a 1-inch-thick steel panel for each satellite. A 5.25-inch subwoofer—housed in a standard medium-density fiberboard cabinet with three amps—handles bass duty. On paper, the amps look wimpy, sending a mere five watts RMS (0.06 percent THD) to each of the satellites and 15 watts RMS (0.3 percent THD) to the sub. In our tests, however, the sats got plenty loud, even with the puny amps. Apparently, the NXT transducers in each satellite don’t require much power. The subwoofer moved a surprising amount of air, too.

We do have some minor gripes with the VL-S21s. The volume control is inconveniently located on the back of the subwoofer, and there is no headphone jack. Bummer. With our Audigy 2 set to its default output of 79 percent, we were able to turn up the amp to nearly max without experiencing any distortion. After setting the amp to about three-quarters volume, we used the soundcard’s software volume control for further adjustments.

For music testing, we’ve been using the woofer-rattling bass drum track in Paul Thorn’s “Fabio & Liberace” (from Ain’t Love Strange) as something of an acid test for musical bass response. To our surprise, the lightly powered subwoofer delivered tight, clean bass. Next, we cued up Steely Dan’s “Josie” (from Aja) to see how the satellites handle high frequencies—paying close attention to the crystalline chime. The speakers deliver a very wide sound field, with excellent stereo imaging.

In our punishing games tests, the VL-S21s’ bass response proved to be a little light in the loafers. The satellites gave us a tingly feeling in Half-Life 2, serving up everything from character dialog to machine-gun fire with crispy flair. The stomping footsteps of Striders and the reverberating thud of exploding grenades and heavier ordnance lacked just a little bottom. Cranking up the lower frequencies in Creative’s software EQ helped some, but wasn’t the whole answer. If we were evaluating these speakers solely on their musical performance, they’d rate a Kick Ass award, but they sit just shy of that when it comes to games. —Michael Brown

+ Flat panel: Vibrant speakers with an amazingly low price tag.
- Flat-footed: Just shy of Kick Ass bass response for games.

Month Reviewed: June 2005
Verdict: 9
URL: www.tascam.com