The first Dolby Digital 5.1 systems that were targeted to the Home Theater market were really expensive, way out of reach for the average consumer. However, it was not long after the introduction of DVDs in the spring of 97 that several inexpensive DD 5.1 system reached the market. With the introduction of the original Cambridge SoundWorks' Desktop Theater 5.1 the $300 price point was reached. There are now several other systems in the $300-400 range on the market and most of them with specs far more impressive than the now rather old Desktop Theater 5.1. These include, but are not limited to, the Altec Lansing ADA880, ADA885 and ADA890, the Boston Acoustics BA7500 that we will look at in this review, the Creative DTT2500 and DTT3500, the MidiLand S4-7100 Plus and S4-8200, the VideoLogic Digitheatre and DigiTheatreDTS and the Yamaha TSS-1. Even this list covers a fairly wide range of price and quality but one element these systems all have in common is the presence of a hardware Dolby Digital decoder. Sound quality and extras aside there are two obvious areas where these systems differ. That is not all of the systems have a real center channel and not all of the systems have the ability to accept a four channel (or greater) analog input for use with multi-channel gaming sound cards. If watching movies and listening to music is your only concern then that won't matter but if you also like to game then you will want a system that has a gaming mode, preferably accessible at no more than the touch of a button.

That's where the Boston Acoustics BA7500 comes into the picture. Featuring four SST (Slimline Speaker Technology) satellites that resemble (but are not) flat panel speakers, front and rear analog inputs, a COAX SPDIF input, a subwoofer and floor stands for the rear speakers the BA7500s is on paper set to compete with similar four channel input capable entries. The main competition in this area can be narrowed down to entries from Altec Lansing (ADA885 and ADA890), Creative Labs/Cambridge SoundWorks (DTT2500, DTT3500) and Yamaha (TSS-1). The MidiLand S4-7100 plus can be considered a competitor but it does not have separate rear channel inputs for the sound card so wires have to be juggled and at that can only be used for gaming with a 6 channel sound card.

In this review we will put the BA7500 through the paces to see how it performs for music, games and movies. We will also briefly compare it to several systems on paper and in the case of the DTT2500 and DTT3500 in actual real world performance. We will also compare the BA7500 to some 4.1 and 5.1 systems that don't have hardware Dolby Digital decoding built in using WinDVD and PowerDVD for software Dolby Digital decoding, including Boston Acoustics' own BA4800. This will be to see how software Dolby Digital decoding via WinDVD and PowerDVD with these types of systems compares to the option of purchasing the Boston Acoustic BA7500.

Abit SP50

Altec Lansing ACS 56

Altec Lansing ACS 54

Altec Lansing ADA880 Dolby Digital

Altec Lansing ATP3

Boston Acoustics BA4800

Boston Acoustics BA7500

Cambridge Soundworks FPS1000

Cambridge SoundWorks FPS2000 digital

Cambridge SoundWorks 2.1 Digital

Cambridge SoundWorks DeskTop Theater 5.1 DTT2500

Cambridge SoundWorks DeskTop Theater 5.1 DTT3500

Cambridge SoundWorks MegaWorks 510D

Diamond Audio Technology ProMedia 3205

Klipsch ProMedia 2.1

Klipsch ProMedia 4.1

Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Initial Review

Labtec APX 4620 Review

Labtec Edge-418 Flat Panel

Labtec's LCS-2514

Logitech SoundMan Xtrusio DSR-100

Logitech Z-560 Initial Review

MidiLand MLi-490

MidiLand S4-7100

MidiLand S4-7100 Plus

Monsoon MM-1000

Monsoon MM-2000

Philips MMS305 4.1 Initial Review

Polk Audio AMR-150

Polk Audio AMR-130

Videologic Sirocco

Videologic Sirocco Pro

Videologic DigiTheatre 5.1

VideoLogic DigiTheatre DTS

Videologic Sirocco Crossfire