Best Buys reviewed what appeared to be the same speaker system (although sans-subwoofer) in 2002. However Accusound tells us that the Eclipse ES-55 speakers have been upgraded since then, so perhaps we ought to refer this as a Mark II speaker system.

[ FOR A LARGER IMAGE CLICK ON THE PICTURE ]

Equipment
One thing that hasn't changed is the enclosure layout, with a most attractive swept-back appearance on the front floor-standing speakers, with curved sides so they look like they're going fast!  But while the speakers we reviewed were finished in piano gloss black, this set were in a gorgeous piano gloss iridescent silver. They stand 210 x 1050 x 390mm (WHD).

The driver layout remains the same, with the front speakers each having three 145mm drives and a 25mm soft dome tweeter. Speakers are wired in a 2.5 way configuration, with two large ones at the base of the cabinet providing bass only, while a similar driver at the top carries bass and midrange. The tweeter is actually below the bass/midrange driver, around 750mm from the floor with the speaker mounted on the supplied spikes.

The cabinets of these speakers are bass reflex loaded, with a pair of ports on the narrow spine at the rear. Accusound specifies a frequency response of 40 - 21,000Hz, a sensitivity of 89dB, power handling of up to 150 watts and an impedance of 8 ohms.

The centre speaker is physically beaut for sitting on the top of rear projection TVs and the like, because it's only 215mm deep and 175mm tall, although 585mm wide. It uses similar drivers, although there are only two of the larger ones. The bass reflex ports face forwards for convenient placement.

The surround speakers are smaller still, carrying one of the 145mm bass/midrange drivers plus the tweeter. Measuring 175 x 290 x 210 (WHD), they have wall mounting plates on the back.

The subwoofer is a tiny little thing, measuring just 297 x 325 x 357mm (WHD). It has a front mounted 200mm driver, with tuning provided by a 200mm passive radiator on the bottom. Legs around 25mm high hold this up off the floor. In addition to a line level input and an output for daisy chaining to other subwoofers, it carries automatic on/off circuitry and a continuously variable phase control for integrating the sub into the rest of the system. The internal amplifier delivers 150 watts.

Performance
The first thing we noticed was that the efficiency of these speakers has improved, up 2dB to 88dB on our measurement. That means you'll get more volume for your receiver's power.Yet they still seemed perfectly happy with plenty of power being poured in, so there were no undue limitations on output levels.

The strongest point of these speakers was the stereo and surround imaging. On stereo there was an exceptionally good three-dimensionality about the imaging, with sharp focus yet with depth and height, and a good sense of air, that was quite out of keeping with the modest price on this system. We suspect that the cabinet designs, with their narrow fronts and curved sides, have contributed to this.

On surround imaging the integration between the five speakers was excellent, thanks to the matching drivers.

We measured the in-room frequency response of the main speakers...twice. The first time was on the tweeter axis. Then we realised that the arrangement of the drivers in the main speakers was such as to put the bass/midrange driver on ear level, so we re-measured at 890mm from the ground rather than 750mm. It soon became clear that this driver placement wasn't just arbitrary, but for good reason. Measuring at that height delivered a considerably smoother frequency response than at tweeter height, smoothing a peak in the mid-treble.

On listening, the overall tone of these speakers was towards a powerful bass and somewhat forward treble, delivering a bright and dynamic performance. Through the stereo speakers vocals were rather recessed, although movie dialogue was clear and coherent from the centre channel.

The little subwoofer provided an effective performance - a strong one when you consider its size. It was a fitting companion to the surround and centre channels, although we would recommend that you leave the front speakers set to "large" in your receiver's set-up menu.

Conclusion
The Accusound Eclipse ES-55 surround speaker package provides an attractive dynamic performance in a set of beautifully made cabinets. For their budget price, they are well worth inspecting.