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DB Dynamics Vega Mini

The price (and value!) are right

By Michael Jones

December 2002

DB Dynamics Vega Mini Theatre System. $1099

Price and value are two concepts that are often confused, as much with hi-fi as with other aspects of life. Often people think that a low price offers value (and a high price doesn’t) when it ain’t necessarily so.

For example, I once bought two shirts, one of which cost double the price that I paid for the other. Yet that more expensive shirt lasted six times as long as the cheaper shirt, therefore offering much better value, even though it was more expensive.

Sometimes very affordable products do offer great value. The DB Dynamics Vega and Polaris speakers previously reviewed by AudioEnz are examples, offering higher performance than expected at their price points.

Here’s another example of great value from a DB Dynamics speaker: the Vega Mini Theatre System. Like most sub-sat home theatre speaker systems, it comprises four satellite speakers, one centre speaker and a powered subwoofer.

The big difference between the Vega and other speaker packages is the price: it’s only $1099 complete!

So the Vega system has a low price. But does it offer good value? We’ll examine that shortly.

DB Dynamics importer Pete Tilsley explained the thinking behind the Vega Mini Theatre System as thus. There are a lot of “home theatre in a box” systems available, which have all the electronics and speakers for $1500-2000. The trouble is, most of these systems don’t sound very good. But there’s a big price gap between these systems and a seperates-based home theatre

The Mini Vega Theatre System is designed to fill that gap, allowing a separates-based system, which sounds much better than the all-in-one systems, at a more affordable price.

Indeed, I’ve seen one retailer offering a complete system including the Vegas for $2000.

Unlike the tinny little speakers that come with the all-in-one packages, the Vega speakers are a decent size, being 215mm high by 135mm wide. This means that they can include a 120mm woofer, giving a decent chance of producing some lower midrange (voice area) before handing over to the sub.

The four satellite speakers include one woofer and a tweeter, while the centre speaker includes two woofers with a tweet in-between. Both come with a mounting bracket, so the speakers can easily be hung on the wall.

The speakers are finished in a grey woodgrain plastic with a dark grey cover over the drive units. Lift the cover and you’d swear that the speakers were named Vegas rather then Vega. The front of the speaker is silver, with shiney chrome around each drive unit. To top it off, he tweeter is gold-coloured!

The sub is a bit more discrete than the satellites, being completely finished in the grey woodgrain. The back contains the expected plethora of connections and controls normally found on a powered subwoofer.

One unusual aspect with the Vega sub is that it has two line level inputs, and expects both to be connected for the sub to operate properly. The Vega system comes with a 4m long single to double cable (for between the single subwoofer output on an AV receiver and the double inputs on the sub).

The satellite speakers have a rated sensitivity of 86dB, which is a bit lower than average these days. But they seemed easy to drive from my Denon 2801.

Earlier I asked if the Vega Mini Theatre System offers good value, or if it’s just low priced. By “value” I mean that the Vega systems needs to offer great performance for the money?

So does it? In a word, “yes”.

The Vega Mini Theatre System offers a big step up from the speakers found in the all-in-one systems, with considerably more naturalness, body, dynamics and bass grunt than any all-in-one system I’ve come across.

Compared to sub-sat systems costing several hundred dollars more, the Vega does fall down, as you’d expect. Spend two grand and you’re likely to buy a speaker system that sounds clearer and more informative, and without the hyperactive tweeter that's found in the Vega.

But let’s not get carried away, as spending more money will usually get you better sound. The key here is what the Vega Mini Theatre system does offer, at the price point.

The Vega has a solid, approachable sound with plenty of get up and go, and plenty of bass kick for movies.

And there’s no doubt to me that the Vega offers both a low price and high value. The Vega system enables a real home theatre system to be assembled for around the price of an all-in-one.

And that is a very good thing.

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