Kobian,the manufacturer of Mercury motherboards, TFT and other components recently launched the S220, a desktop speaker set and the IXA, a 5.1 home theatre system.

The S220 is an attractive and compact speaker set, with an audio output of 440 watts PMPO. That sounds unrealistic because it is. The RMS power of 2 watts RMS each more accurately portrays it. Good for use with your PC, notebook, MP3 or CD player. The volume controls and a headphone jack are on the front which makes connecting your devices easier. The sound quality uptill mid volume levels is good; after that it starts distorting. A little more depth and a little more bass would have helped.

IXA 640 Rs 2,400	Performance Coolness
Pros Good looks, compact Cons None Sold by Kobian, www.kobian.com	Specs 5.1 speaker system, powered subwoofer with volume and bass control, magnetically shielded, wall mountable Verdict

Coming to the IXA 640. It is the member of the IXA series, the lifestyle brand of Kobian and is targeted at music lovers. This 5.1 home theatre system comes with wall-mountable speakers and one subwoofer. They sport the regular black matte finish, but in an attractive design. The subwoofer however is very neat. All the controls (including volume, individual speaker adjustments, bass and treble) are handled using the supplied infrared control. The performance of the speakers is nothing extraordinary but OK for the price. Neither the subwoofer nor the satellite speaker could generate enough bass as what we have got from other speakers of their size in the past. When we played various songs belonging to different genres it performed pretty well but the sound felt muddy and bloated when we increased the bass. This is probably due to a smaller subwoofer driver. Overall, performance is just okay, but this little system won't suffice if you have a large room and is best suited for small or mid-sized rooms.

Mercury S220 Rs 350	Performance Coolness
Pros Control & jack in front Cons Too plain looking Sold by Kobian, www.kobian.com	Specs 440 watt PMPO, 2 x 2 Watt RMS, volume control and power button, 3.5mm audio out jack Verdict

Jayanta Ghosh