Kworld Dark Pyramid D15u+ Speaker Review

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Kworld Dark Pyramid D15u+ Speaker Review - eTeknix


Before I got this product for review I had never even heard of Kworld, a company that has been doing the rounds since 1999, they are one of those brand names that just doesn’t stick in your mind, if I have used or seen their products in the past, I don’t remember them. This is partly due to the fact they have been a OEM brand up until a few years ago, where they decided to make a push with their own branding with a goal to “become the leader of digital entertainment”, a pretty high goal if there ever was one, especially given that juggernauts of companies like Apple, Sony and Microsoft battling for control of the planet, even audio companies like Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser and Bang and Olufsen, with plenty more like them already well rooted in the industry.
With such a wide range of product already under their belt, covering everything from keyboard and mice combos, IPTV cards for PCs, gaming headsets and of course speakers, most of which I have to say actually look pretty decent, they clearly are trying to make a strong push into the market.
The set we’re looking at today are the D15u+ not the most creative name ever I’ll admit, but they are an entry-level set of USB powered desktop speakers, given their less than easy to remember name and their sub £30 price mark I was a little sceptical about these speakers, come and read the next few pages to find out how they got along in my tests.

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Lets start by taking a quick look at the packaging, the first thing you’ll notice is how awful the picture looks, a little bit of fading and some light damage is visible on the box, not that its Kworlds fault of course, it’s just a box at the end of the day. Along the front of the box we get our first glimpse of the D15u+ speakers, they don’t look too bad actually, especially give the price range, but the only thing that worries me at this point is how light the box is.



Spinning the box around we have a nice run down of if features, starting with the fact that this is a 2.1 speaker setup, with a wired remote (more about that in a moment) with the sub and speakers being powered by USB and the speakers a pyramid-shaped, ok so not exactly an extensive run down I know, but these are budget speakers and all the basics are there.

[siopao1984]

The first thing I realised when I took them out the box was how light the speakers were, this is rarely (if ever) a good sign when it comes to speakers, they are made of cheap plastics, with a less than perfect finish, but I must remind myself, these are budget speakers, the build quality and the materials used are not unlike everything else in this price range, so I’ll chalk that one down as “on par” with regards to rival brands.

The design of the speakers on the other hand actually looks pretty decent, while I’m fairly certain they are a copy of some speakers that are 10x the price I don’t see that as a bad thing, their pyramid shape also gives them an added bonus, which I’ll explain in the performance section.



The wired remote control keeps with the pyramid theme, only all the pyramids I know of don’t rotate in the middle of course. It also comes with a handy line in and a headphone socket on the remote, meaning you’re not fishing around the back of your sub every time you want to add a device.



Twisting the controller clockwise turns the speakers on, then controls volume beyond that, it does look pretty cool too which is always a bonus, it’s a refreshing change from the normal scroll wheel volume controls.

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The sub isn’t as stylish as its pyramid speakers buddies, it’s a bit of an ugly brute. The grill on the front just looks weird to me, but I was impressed to see a subwoofer this size with a set of USB powered speakers.



Round the back of the Sub-woofer we can see it comes with a master power switch, bass control and connections for both the speakers and the control, nothing particulate special here, but its functional and tidy, this much I can appreciate.

[siopao1984]

When it came to testing the Kworld speakers its safe to say I was sceptical about their performance, I really was expecting them so sound weak and lifeless, so imagine my surprise when these things started rocking out loud and clear! I found having the bass turned right up was the best option for these, not because I like thumping bass lines, but because it’s a USB powered sub, it’s not going to rattle the house down any time soon, it provided the best balance between the treble happy speakers and the low powered sub.

I decided to put them through some intensive tracks, a fine selection of Amon Amarth, a ferocious doom metal band, who thanks to their consistent train like chug are great for testing a speakers bass response, they held up to that test really well, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say they sound like a £100 set of Wharfdale speakers or anything, they don’t, but they definitely push a sound quality well above their price range and well above their “cheap” build quality.



Loading up some mid range heavy classic rock, Deep Purple, Steve Vai and a few others was great too, there is a song by Steve Vai called All About Eve, that has some really nice acoustic guitar tones on it, a lot of speakers cut out a lot of the tone to it, you should be able to hear a warm rattle from the strings on the frets of the guitar, but even my own speakers I’m using at the moment cut this out, I’m not saying which brand but safe to say they will be getting replaced! the Kworld speakers ring this tone out true and clear, so well done Kworld.

Performance was consistent throughout several more tests, gaming was spot on as was movies, plus the volume they can out put was astonishing, again astonishing for USB powered speakers, not astonishing for speakers in general, but its more than enough volume for desktop use.

The last plus point is the pyramid shape of the speakers, it causes the speakers to be angled perfectly towards your ears, these speakers lose so much of their tone beyond 6ft away and the sweet spot is about 4ft away, with the speakers aimed right at your head, which is again easy due to their design, of course this range and setup is perfect for desktop use, just don’t expect them to fit the job of a house party any time soon.

[siopao1984]

So there we have it, considering that before I started this review I don’t ever remember hearing the name Kworld, comes a set of unassuming budget speakers for the lower end of the pc audio market, not that being the lower end is a bad thing for a product of course, but not everyone needs a £100 set of 5.1 surround sound speakers for day to day PC use, not everyone has the money for such things either, sometimes a budget 2.1 systems is more that enough for many of us.

While the styling isn’t exactly to die for on the Kworld speakers, they could look a lot worse, I think its more to do with how cheap the speakers feel when you pick them up, but once they are tucked away on the back corners of your desk they really don’t look to bad, I just wouldn’t like to knock them off my desk a couple of times, I fear they might not survive anything other than a few light knocks, but at least the sub and the controller seem sturdy enough.

The thing I should really focus on is the sound quality, they may not be getting THX certification any time soon, but for your average user who plays the occasional game, listens to music while working and just needs to hear their Skype notifications while they are off making coffee, then you really can’t go wrong here, they sound great and they don’t cost the earth, the two main things you could want in a set of budget speakers.

I especially like that I can jack my phone or mp3 player straight into the wired controller, assuming of course that the speakers have already been connected to a USB socket for power, the ability to play back my portable music is convenient and while its only a little feature, every feature counts when your on a budget.

So many brands make budget range speakers, with everyone from Samsung to Logitech having a range of their own to cater for all budgets, so you’re not exactly spoilt for choice in the lower end of the market, but performance is a tough thing to attain when you don’t have a lot of money to spend on a speaker setup. While the build quality of the Kworld doesn’t feel fantastic and they’re not the best looking budget speakers around, they are some of the best sounding in this price range, making them well worth of our bang for buck award, not bad considering I was expecting them to be all but useless in my tests, well done Kworld.

[jamessmithh760]

The first thing I realised when I took them out the box was how light the speakers were, this is rarely (if ever) a good sign when it comes to speakers, they are made of cheap plastics, with a less than perfect finish, but I must remind myself, these are budget speakers, the build quality and the materials used are not unlike everything else in this price range, so I’ll chalk that one down as “on par” with regards to rival brands.

The design of the speakers on the other hand actually looks pretty decent, while I’m fairly certain they are a copy of some speakers that are 10x the price I don’t see that as a bad thing, their pyramid shape also gives them an added bonus, which I’ll explain in the performance section.



The wired remote control keeps with the pyramid theme, only all the pyramids I know of don’t rotate in the middle of course. It also comes with a handy line in and a headphone socket on the remote, meaning you’re not fishing around the back of your sub every time you want to add a device.



Twisting the controller clockwise turns the speakers on, then controls volume beyond that, it does look pretty cool too which is always a bonus, it’s a refreshing change from the normal scroll wheel volume controls.

I was a little sceptical about these speakers, come and read the next few pages to find out how they got along in my tests.