Digital Trends

Zvox 315 Sound System

November 1st, 2004 | by Yongki Go

Introduction

Ever wish that your TV was equipped with speakers that do not sound muddy and congested? Or perhaps you wished your boombox had speakers that didn't sound so boomy? Wish no more, because the ZVOX 315 is a one-box audio console that is designed exactly to address these very issues. The premise of its design is simple: to improve the sound by replacing the function of the unsatisfying speaker systems in an easy and low-cost manner. Many electronics manufacturers put very little emphasis on good speakers. Some expensive TVs or computers often include only rudimentary speaker systems, which could be detrimental to the enjoyment of the systems.

Simplicity and low cost are the key designs of the ZVOX 315. Of course, you can always improve the sound from your TV or computers by adding a receiver and a set of nice speakers. But that might be more complicated and involve a higher cost than what you would be willing to spend. Therefore, the ZVOX 315 with a $200 dollar price tag definitely provides a very attractive solution. Now, let's see if it truly delivers.

Look and Features 

The appearance of ZVOX 315 is very low key. It is basically just a plain matte-gray box with a speaker grill on the front. The controls, connectors and the subwoofer port are on the back. If you have a dark gray TV, you can put the ZVOX 315 under (if your TV is 20" or smaller) or on top of it relatively inconspicuously. It is another story if your TV has a silver finish, like many televisions today. But ZVOX informed us that a silver finish version of the ZVOX 315 is underway and might be available by the time this review is published.

The front of the ZVOX 315 has a very simplistic design

Rear look of ZVOX 315

The ZVOX 315 has three 3.25" front drivers and a 5.25" subwoofer driver in a band pass design. The ZVOX 315 has its own built-in amplifier which can be adjusted separately for the front drivers and for the subwoofer.

Two mini-jack stereo inputs are provided on the rear panel. Signals from these two inputs are mixed in the console. One of these inputs can also function as subwoofer output, so you can add an external subwoofer if you feel the bass from the ZVOX 315 is not adequate.

Besides the on-off rocker, there are three controls on the rear panel labeled Main Volume, Phase Cue, and Subwoofer Level. As the name implies, Main Volume is to adjust the overall amplification level of the console, while the Subwoofer Level control is meant for adjusting the bass response. Phase Cue is ZVOX's proprietary patent-pending technology to create a large soundstage from the single-enclosure speaker configuration by adjusting the mixed proportion between in-phase and out-of-phase signals.

The rear of the ZVOX 315 features the inputs and the subwoofer port

The ZVOX 315 is supposed to be connected to variable outputs of your component (television, portable CD player, Apple iPod), such as the headphone or preamp outputs. That way you can use the volume control in your component to control the volume. Mini-jack to mini-jack and mini-jack to stereo RCA cables are provided to make the necessary connection from your component to the ZVOX console.