CES 2011: Corsair launches speakers, cases, coolers and more

CES 2011: Whereas most companies will launch one or two new products at this year's CES show, Corsair has gone new-product crazy for CES 2011, launching a new range of gaming speakers as well as new cases, coolers, and announcing its first SATA 6Gbps SSD.

The speakers are the headline act though, with the Corsair SP2500 topping the range with a price tag to match. This 2.1 set is set to go on sale for upwards of £200, but Corsair looks to have done plenty to justify the price. Six separate amplifiers, two for each satellite and two for the sub-woofer, allow for some serious noise levels with the set rated at 232W of output.

Digital signal processor-based crossovers also mean that audio is split between the tweeters, mid-range speakers and sub-woofer precisely, and the levels at which this is done can even be adjusted via an integrated 1.8in LCD-equipped control panel.

This also means that adjusting equaliser settings, or switching the bass output from the sub to the satellites can all be accomplished without having to quit your game, or go reaching around under your desk. We've been impresed thus far by Corsair's demonstrations of the SP2500, and are looking forward to giving the set a full review once we're back in the UK.

For those of less extravagant means, Corsair also announced it's mid-range speaker set, the SP2200. Rated at 46W output, this is a more conventional set of 2.1 speakers, with few of the fancy trappings of the SP2500 and a more down to earth price tag to match.

Also fresh out of the factory was a new low-cost liquid-cooling unit, the Hydro H60, featuring a redesigned contact plate and cooling loop, and a smaller version of Corsair's Obsidian case, dubbed the 650D. With a much simplified internal layout from the original 800D it looks to be a great looking case with some attractive features. We'll have to wait until April this year to find out for sure.

Finally, Corsair also confirmed it's first SATA 6Gbps SSD, to be based around the Marvell 9174 dual-core ARM drive controller currently used in the Crucial C300 line of SSDs. Dubbed the Performance 3 Series, Corsair has been very aggressive with its custom firmware and the quoted speeds of 480MB/sec read and 320MB/sec write are certainly encouraging. We were told the drive won't be shipping with Intel 25nm NAND though, at least at first, so prices may well be high.

Looking forward to the new lineup from Corsair? Let us know in the forums.