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More than just a Bluetooth speaker
If you were to tell us three years ago that Razer was going to make a Bluetooth speaker, we would have been interested, but now that we’re inundated with Bluetooth speakers everywhere, it’s pretty hard to get excited. But while Razer’s Leviathan sound system is far from perfect, it’s also more than just a pair of Bluetooth speakers.
Technically speaking, the Leviathan is in the “sound bar” family of Bluetooth speakers. The sound bar here features two 2.5-inch full-range drivers and two .74-inch tweeters. Spec-wise, the sound bar has a total power output of 30 watts, an impedance of eight ohms, and a frequency response rate between 180Hz and 20KHz. Weighing 4.4 pounds and measuring 19.5 inches wide, the sound bar is small enough to be tucked under your monitor or placed underneath your HDTV. Its black chassis is sexy to boot, though it would have been sexier if the Razer logo on the front was also an LED that would be able to light up with the company’s signature green color, but alas, that’s a small quibble.
Razer is also touting the Leviathan as a 5.1 setup, and the extra kick comes by way of a passive 5.1-pound matte-black subwoofer, which has a 5.25-inch downward-firing subwoofer with a 30-watt output. The subwoofer features an impedance of eight ohms and a frequency response rate between 20Hz and 180Hz.
Setup was relatively painless and took less than 10 minutes. In addition to the sound bar and subwoofer, inside the box you’ll find an optical cable, 3.5mm auxiliary cable, power adapter, subwoofer-to-sound bar connector, and two pairs of detachable feet that allow you to adjust the tilt angle of the sound bar to either 0, 15, or 18 degrees. Some may be happy to hear that the back of the sound bar also has room for wall-mount screws.
All in all, there are several ways to get music out of this box. The Leviathan supports Bluetooth 4.0, and there’s even a spot on the top-right of the sound bar that allows you to tap your phone and pair it via NFC. Bluetooth here should allow you to move your phone 30 feet from the sound bar, which is plenty. If you want to replace your crappy HDTV speakers with Razer’s sound bar, you can switch over to the Leviathan’s optical mode. Finally, there’s auxiliary mode if you want to hook up the speakers up to your PC’s mobo or sound card. In terms of audio inputs, the Leviathan supports all modern mainstream solutions.
In terms of features, the Leviathan supports Dolby Digital Surround, but we didn’t really notice much of a difference when we toggled it on and off. The same thing can be said with the Leviathan’s different presets, which includes movie, music, and game modes.
For the most part, the Leviathan really accentuates whatever bass it can pick up, which has become a popular trend for which you can thank Beats Audio. No joke, the Leviathan has a ton of volume firepower at max volume and we thought we were experiencing a minor earthquake when we cranked it all the way up. It’s that thunderous. While the audio still manages to sound clean at higher volumes, we do wish there were a way to crank down the subwoofer, as it can sound a bit too intense at times. Finally, if you’re expecting a true, all-encompassing 5.1 setup from these speakers, you’re going to be disappointed. Razer marketing talk aside, all of these drivers are still coming directly in front of you, so it would be unfair to expect musical magic here. Still, all in all, the Razer Leviathan never sounded distorted or unclean, and sounded great overall.
As much as we like Razer’s Leviathan, it’s certainly not without faults. It’s a little annoying that there is no volume indicator on the device; heaven forbid that you forget you had the speakers on blast the last time you turned them on. Speaking of turning them on, you’ll have to do that a lot, considering the Leviathan shuts off after 20 minutes of being idle. While this might allow you to cut down on your power bill, having the option to disable this feature would be greatly appreciated as it can be annoying to try and watch TV from across the room, and then be bothered with having to walk back across the room to wake up the box. And on that note, yes, you’re going to have to manually press down on the Leviathan’s power button since it has no remote control. This isn’t that big of a deal if you’re using them as PC speakers right in front of your monitor, but it can be grating if you’ve got them set up for your HTPC across the room. Finally, another very small gripe we had with the sound bar is that it doesn’t have a built-in battery pack and needs to be tethered to a wall. It would be cool if there were at least a little battery pack inside so you could take it on camping trips or something. We hope Razer makes a second-gen Leviathan and corrects some of these quirks.
Still, for under 200 bones, the Leviathan is fairly priced, sounds much better than your cheapo 2.1 hand-me-down speakers, and supports a variety of devices and audio inputs.
$197, www.razerzone.com
More...
If you were to tell us three years ago that Razer was going to make a Bluetooth speaker, we would have been interested, but now that we’re inundated with Bluetooth speakers everywhere, it’s pretty hard to get excited. But while Razer’s Leviathan sound system is far from perfect, it’s also more than just a pair of Bluetooth speakers.
Razer is also touting the Leviathan as a 5.1 setup, and the extra kick comes by way of a passive 5.1-pound matte-black subwoofer, which has a 5.25-inch downward-firing subwoofer with a 30-watt output. The subwoofer features an impedance of eight ohms and a frequency response rate between 20Hz and 180Hz.
Setup was relatively painless and took less than 10 minutes. In addition to the sound bar and subwoofer, inside the box you’ll find an optical cable, 3.5mm auxiliary cable, power adapter, subwoofer-to-sound bar connector, and two pairs of detachable feet that allow you to adjust the tilt angle of the sound bar to either 0, 15, or 18 degrees. Some may be happy to hear that the back of the sound bar also has room for wall-mount screws.
All in all, there are several ways to get music out of this box. The Leviathan supports Bluetooth 4.0, and there’s even a spot on the top-right of the sound bar that allows you to tap your phone and pair it via NFC. Bluetooth here should allow you to move your phone 30 feet from the sound bar, which is plenty. If you want to replace your crappy HDTV speakers with Razer’s sound bar, you can switch over to the Leviathan’s optical mode. Finally, there’s auxiliary mode if you want to hook up the speakers up to your PC’s mobo or sound card. In terms of audio inputs, the Leviathan supports all modern mainstream solutions.
In terms of features, the Leviathan supports Dolby Digital Surround, but we didn’t really notice much of a difference when we toggled it on and off. The same thing can be said with the Leviathan’s different presets, which includes movie, music, and game modes.
For the most part, the Leviathan really accentuates whatever bass it can pick up, which has become a popular trend for which you can thank Beats Audio. No joke, the Leviathan has a ton of volume firepower at max volume and we thought we were experiencing a minor earthquake when we cranked it all the way up. It’s that thunderous. While the audio still manages to sound clean at higher volumes, we do wish there were a way to crank down the subwoofer, as it can sound a bit too intense at times. Finally, if you’re expecting a true, all-encompassing 5.1 setup from these speakers, you’re going to be disappointed. Razer marketing talk aside, all of these drivers are still coming directly in front of you, so it would be unfair to expect musical magic here. Still, all in all, the Razer Leviathan never sounded distorted or unclean, and sounded great overall.
Still, for under 200 bones, the Leviathan is fairly priced, sounds much better than your cheapo 2.1 hand-me-down speakers, and supports a variety of devices and audio inputs.
$197, www.razerzone.com
More...