3DsoundSurge Reviews: Boston Acoustics BA7800 - Page 1 of 6


	Mark Muschett puts Boston Acoustics' BA7800 to the test

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Boston Acoustics BA7800 Condensed Review

Published: February 6, 2003 - Mark Muschett
Last Updated: February 6, 2003

Reviewer PC:

Mark
- Windows XP, ME and 98
- PIII 733
- 256MB PC100 ram
- ATI Radeon All in Wonder 8500
- For sound card testing I used the Audigy, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, ESI Waveterminal 192X and Analog Devices SoundMax SPX. All my testing was done in on an Intel 815 motherboard (D815EPEA2)

Specs available on the Product overview page

A more detailed review is also available

Introduction

Boston Acoustics has always been a name associated with quality, a quality that has been apparent in their early multimedia speaker line including the now venerable BA4800 4.1 speaker system. Many people have called on Boston Acoustics to update their retail multimedia line to keep pace with the advances made by competitors such as Klipsch, Cambridge SoundWorks, Logitech, Altec Lansing and Monsoon. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be listening or at least reacting. That is they have released a new product – the BA7800 4.1 system – but it’s only available from Gateway. It’s also not been that long since Gateway has even offered the system separately from a full PC purchase. Before that, the only way to get it separately was to find one for private sale; people were taking advantage of the interest in the product and purchasing the BA7800 with their Gateway systems for the explicit purpose of reselling it on services such as E-bay. Thanks to long-time 3Dss reader Wood Powell, that’s just how I have the unit used in this review. That is, Wood purchased it on E-bay and lent it to me for the purpose of the review. The price of this unit has been impossible to pin down. When I originally started testing the system it was in the $250 range. When the review text was being drafted in November/December the price from Gateway was $200. In February 2003 as this review goes to press the Gateway price has been lowered again to $150. However for some context, Gateway is also selling the Logitech Z-560 for $150 and that system carries a list price of $200.

The Boston Acoustics’ BA7800 bears a striking similarity to the satellites and subwoofer that Boston Acoustics uses in their Kenwood-partnered Unity 5.1 system (that comes with a custom amp/DVD player from Kenwood). The BA7800, as per typical multimedia systems, has an integrated amplifier. Unlike the Unity system, it does not use a real center satellite. We don’t know if the front satellites and subwoofer actually do use the same drivers (the subwoofer amplifier is clearly rated as being more powerful on the Unity system). The subwoofer cabinet size does not appear to be the same and the rear satellites, unlike with the Unity system, use a single driver design. Regardless, it’s safe to assume that Boston Acoustics would have at least borrowed liberally from the Unity system in delivering the BA7800. So lets look in depth at the BA7800 and how it compares to other 4.1 systems at the upper end of the multimedia bracket.

So on to detailed overview