Teufel Theater 200 review

The first thing to strike us about the Theater 200 was its enormity. At 60cm tall, the subwoofer will probably need to double up as an occasional table or plant stand to justify the space it requires. As such, it’s a shame that its design is a little stuffy. The satellites are no less imposing, with the front pair standing 44cm tall. Finding a home for the bulky centre speaker will probably require a rethink of the TV furniture layout.

The surround speakers are a dipole design, with two sets of mid-range and high-frequency drivers per speaker, pointing in opposite directions. These are designed to be wall-mounted so that each satellite fires left and right, bouncing the sound off walls to create a more dispersed surround effect.

This clouds the directionality of surround effects for anyone sitting in the optimal listening position, but improves it for people sitting outside the sweet spot. If the surround speakers aren’t to be wall mounted, it’s possible to deactivate one side to make them behave like conventional speakers.

The front satellites’ designs are unusual too, with slightly recessed tweeters to counteract the fact that higher-frequency sounds travel faster, thus keeping sounds tightly in phase as they reach the listener. The centre speaker’s metal arch aligns the high- and mid-frequency drivers vertically to keep the sound rooted to the centre of the screen without increasing the speaker’s bulk even further.

We had high expectations of such large, expensive speakers, but the Theater 200 managed to exceed them. Blu-ray soundtracks were almost overwhelmingly impressive, with sparkling clarity, authoritative dialogue and thunderous bass effects. Surround sounds flew around the room with unnerving realism, and action sequences were genuinely terrifying. Music was balanced, detailed and lively, and the subwoofer integrated seamlessly with the satellites.

These speakers need lots of space, a 1080p projector and a lack of any neighbours to do them justice. However, even at this high price they’re excellent value considering the quality on offer.