VOX VX-W888

The world is going wireless, there is no doubt about that. We have been eyeing a few wireless devices for Multimedia entertainment, wanting to cover more and broaden the choices. The biggies have already started adding wireless transmitters, headphones etc. to their line up, but we at Tech2, like digging for more newer brands. Today we have a Singapore brand that is gaining popularity in India now - VOX. The product we have here is a wireless audio transmitter called VX-W888, something you can use to plug in surround speakers , or multi room speakers without the need for wires. Just how well it can do these things is up to us to check…

Design and Features
The package contains the transmitter, receiver and accessories which includes a power adapter, manual and a set of 3 cables for input to sender, and output from receiver to speakers. Aesthetically speaking, the product could have done better, though currently too its not too stark in appearance. It looks rather ‘ITish’ or ’techie’ and not like luxury home designs available these days. I feel a black exterior would improve things greatly. This is due to its aluminum chassis for both the sender and receiver unit. The Sender is about half the size of the receiver unit, though form and shape wise they are identical, with a central vertical grille.

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There is an on/off slider switch on the sender unit, along with an EP in for audio input. Besides there is a volume knob DC power input. The receiver has its power cord attached to the bottom panel, while the connection on the side are for left and right speaker out. This receiver is actually an amplifier, thus making this product useful for powering surround speakers. All we have to do is connect the speakers to the receiver unit, and our sender will be connected to our AV receiver’s analog surround outputs. The output power is 15 watts to 4 ohm speakers. The transmission frequency is 2.4 GHz, and it uses FSK( Frequency Shift Keying) technology. The receiver has a Scan button on the back panel, which is useful to isolate and recognize incoming signals. It has upto 16 channels from 2.4 GHz - 2.48 GHz

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Performance
We plugged in the sender to our Harman Kardon AV receiver via the supplied RCA cables, and used the receiver to power a Pair of JBL surround speakers in our test lab. We put on a few movie DVDs and concentrated on surround sound. The sound was completely transferred no doubt, and i must say the connection was quite simple except for one annoyance - the receiver too has to be powered. Thus if you have your surround speakers tucked away on wall panels at the back of the hall, make sure there is an outlet in the wall to plug the receiver into, for electrical power. This a problem with all wireless products, not just this brand’s model.

We moved on to using the system for straight up stereo speakers, because i wanted to check the frequency response and details of the wireless transmission. Thus we connected to our HTPC and sent audio wirelessly to a pair of Tannoy bookshelf speakers. The sound quality was suitable enough for multimedia application like movies and MP3 listening, as these compressed formats do not have much detail in the sound anyways .

On playing uncompressed music, there is slight loss at the high frequency, but this is not audible straight up. For me, I had to strain and try and focus clearly on the highs of familiar tracks in my The Police CD, which is where we could see slight hollowness.

Conclusion
At Rs. 3,990 I feel the VX-W888 scores well, as the price is reasonable. The sound is satisfactory for modern Multimedia applications, and can be definitely used to wirelessly connect surround speakers in a 5.1 setup. I only did not like the appearance. There are more expensive options available in the market for wireless audio transmitters, but for those on a budget, this VOX makes a good buy.