Today we’re going to talk about the Eagle’s Arion 2.1 speaker system that came through our build center.   Normally we wont post a review thats been well covered across the web, however, when our own opinions differ greatly… we do.  Lets begin:

Freshly Unpacked Eagle Arion 2.1

The Eagle Arion 2.1 is a budget speaker system consisting of 2 front speakers and a subwoofer with a built in digital EQ & crossover.  We picked up the speakers from Newegg for $59.00.
Here are the specs directly from the Eagletech website:

-Total RMS Power: 35 Watts
–Satellites: 10 Watts RMS x 2 (into 4 ohms, @<=1% THD)
–Subwoofer: 15 Watts RMS x 2 (into 4 ohms, @<=1% THD)
-Total Peak Power: 70 Watts
-Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz
Drivers:
-Satellites: Dual 3-inch midrange and 1-inch tweeter with solid wood enclosure
-Subwoofer: 5.25”-inch driver with solid wood enclosure

Speaker Dimension:
-Satellites: 4.33” x 9.65” x 4.77”
-Subwoofer: 6.7” x 11.03” x 10.25”

PACKAGE CONTENT
-ET-AR504LR-BK speaker system
-Remote control with battery
-User manual
-3.5mm to RCA audio cable

The Arions came with everything listed above, and was packed in eco-friendly recycled cardboard formed inserts.  Its nice to see eco-friendly materials being used.  We’re pointing this out because you might be able to see in our photo’s that there was a fair amount of dust on the speakers right out of the box from the recycled material.  Wipes off easily.

Satellite rear view

The Arions are an attractive looking set of desktop speakers albeit a little on the large size at nearly 10inches in height.  Despite the physical dimensions the speakers and sub were not heavy in the slightest.   The weight actually tipped us off as to the quality of the drivers used in the speakers.   A larger and therefore heavier magnet will typically produce better sound.   More on sound quality later.  Each speaker has a color coded RCA connection wired directly to the speaker.  The length of the speaker cable we found to be  short at a meager 3 feet.   With only 3 foot speaker cables its obvious that the sub is designed to be placed on the desk.   Due to the speaker cable length, if you want to place the sub under your desk, its going to be right at your feet.  An extra couple of feet of cable would have made placing the sub in other locations under a desk possible.

The sub from behind

Lets talk about the sub/amp/crossover.  Looking at the back of the sub there are 2 inputs, 1 output, and a power switch.  Something to note is using the “CD” or line input will disable the RCA’s.

In's and Out's

We like the fact Eagle included both an 3.5mm (headphone) & RCA input.  Shown here is the 3.5mm speaker out to RCA cable that came with the Arion’s.  It is 3 feet in length, further limiting the sub placement issues.

The only power switch is a toggle on the back of the sub.  This is a negative as that you cannot turn the speakers off any other way.   Unless you want to leave these speakers on all the time, you absolutely must reach around to the back of the sub to turn them off.   Also take note that the front of the sub has a illuminated display that does not turns off unless you switch off the power.  This seems oddly short sighted considering that they made the effort to use eco-friendly packing materials but have no convenient way to power down the speakers when not in use.

Sub display

Above is an image of the front of the sub while turned off.   When its on, the whole display is illuminated in typical LED blue.  Running vertically from the base to the top of the display is a LEFT & RIGHT level meter.  Adjusting the balance (only available through the OS) we see the meter still reads the same.  Basically, its a Mono level meter that appears as though it is in stereo.  The display dims with each bass hit illustrating that this system could either benefit from a little more power, or some dedicated power to the display.

Near the bottom of the sub is a 5 button digital level adjustment for the whole system.  It’s difficult to see in our photo but the Arions adjustment buttons consists of MENU, UP, DOWN, MUTE, RESET.   Pressing MENU provides 3 choices treble, bass or volume.   What would have been nice is a simple volume control and a power switch on one of the speakers.

Arion Remote Control

Now lets look at the remote.  Seems like another good location for a power button, but it has none.   Its a simple IR (infrared) remote with controls for Volume + / -, Treble + / -, Bass + / -, Mute, and Reset.

Finally lets talk about what is really important:  sound quality.
Simply put: its mediocre.  Not bad, but rather disappointing.  For nearly sixty dollars we would expect more.  In fact we have seen better sound from some $30 systems.

Sound is a subjective thing so we can only give you our honest impressions.  We used multiple sources to test the sound of the Arions.  With the Computer we played CD’s ranging from Techno to Rock, Hip-hop to world music.  We also tested various movies, MP3’s and games.  We then ran a full range frequency response test using an oscilloscope.

Right out of the box the system is missing certain key frequencies both audibly and with the O-scope.   Best described the sound was muddy with piercing highs.  Adjusting the treble and bass on the sub we were able to somewhat balance the sound.  By somewhat we mean bass was muddy, highs were piercing, however it wasn’t just sound in a tin can with rumble.   We hit the reset on the remote and went into the OS controls where we were able to balance things much better, but the mid-low end of the system was definitely hollow something we could not correct with the EQ and bass was lacking the “deep bass” tones of the sub 40hz range.

Again, by its inferred design the sub is meant to be located on the desk.  So, we began to change the position of the sub itself.   Even with the sub in a “sweet spot” we found the sound was unbalanced between different sources.  When games sounded good, movies sounded strange, when movies sounded good, music was flat, etc.   We eventually found that placing the sub on desk will make this sub directional.  Meaning, the bass always hits from the left or right depending on placement.   If we put the sub next to the monitor on the right, low end bass sounds of the explosions came from the right and vice versa with the left.   Eventually we found we ended up with the best sound if the Sub was sideways, port facing us, and placed directly behind the monitor.   Having the sub in this position really defeats the purpose of all the display lights of the front of the sub because in this location they cannot be seen.   On a positive note having the sub behind the monitor did improve the effort involved with shutting off the power, but rendered the remote difficult to use as its IR and must be pointed directly at the front of the sub to work.  It was all a lot of reaching around the monitor that wouldn’t be necessary if there were volume and power controls on one of the speakers.

Eagle states on its site the frequency response of the Arion’s is 20hz-20khz.   Initially we found the range to be 50-12khz, although generally speakers need a significant “burn in” before they reach their full potential.   So with the permission of our client we were able to run a burn in of about 30hours and it did help the sound out.   After testing & burn-in we found the range to be closer 40hz – 12khz per the O-scope.   The sound quality did improve after burn in but never sounded truly great.

Our final verdict is: The Eagle Arion 2.1 speakers are just OK.   They are a large but physically attractive set of speakers with some definite design flaws.  We could have recommended the Arions if there was simple a volume control & power switch located on one of the speakers.  Ultimately they are better than a 2.0 solution, but for the money you can have better sound & convenience for less money.