Why settle for a pair of measly speakers when you can have five?

The Banshee is a surround-sound speaker set that uses five speakers to create an effect that audio is coming from 180 degrees in front of you.

The Banshee connects to your audio device via a single audio-in jack. iPods don't connect using the dock; you use an audio cable that plugs into the iPod's headphone jack on one end and to the Banshee's audio-in jack on the other end. You can use the included (and separate) iPod stand, but it doesn't recharge your iPod.

Turn your audio device's volume down to about its midpoint before you connect it to the Banshee - when we connected our PowerBook G4 at full volume, the distortion from the Banshee was unbearable. You can turn the volume up on the Banshee's volume control without hearing any distortion, but there's no indicator to tell you when you've reach maximum volume, nor is there a visual cue to tell you if the Banshee is on or off.

Music from the Banshee sounded clear and crisp overall, but bass and low-end sounds lacked warmth. One peculiar effect the Banshee had was that on some songs, the vocals didn't sound as loud as they should have. The Banshee had an auditorium effect when we sat about six feet in front of it - a feeling we might have if we were at a live performance. Unfortunately, the surround-sound effect wasn't as evident when watching a movie.

The bottom line. The Banshee is no replacement for a true multichannel surround-sound speaker system, but it sounds as good - and, in some cases, better - than a lot of similarly priced stereo speakers.

COMPANY: 3DX Technologies
CONTACT: 312-474-6108, www.bansheeaudio.com
PRICE: $129
REQUIREMENTS: Any device with an audio-out or headphone jack
Small. Good audio clarity.
No true iPod dock. Varied audio results. Distortion at high volume levels.