Teufel Impaq 3000 review

The speakers themselves feel well built and include the cables needed to connect them to the amplifier. Each satellite has two 80mm mid-range drivers as well as a 19mm tweeter for a fuller audio range. Both the front and rear pairs are vertically aligned and can either be wall-mounted or left free-standing, but the centre speaker is designed to lay flat beneath (or wall-mounted above) a screen. It has a convex shape to allow sound to radiate further around a room. A compact subwoofer completes the set, producing 150W of low-end rumble. This, along with 60W of power from each satellite, was more than enough to fill a medium-sized room with sound.

Surround sound effects were incredibly precise when playing our test footage, with no discernable gaps in the audio range. The opening scene of Casino Royale was suitably subtle, with speech sounding crisp through the centre speaker and not eclipsed by the subwoofer or other satellites. Booming bass notes from explosions and gunfire were powerful, but lacked any noticeable distortion even at high volume. We had to increase the bass tone slightly to get truly room-shaking bass, but in most cases the default settings were ideal for watching movies.

As a surround sound speaker system, the Impaq 3000 is fantastic; it has rich audio and impressive volume. Unfortunately the combined Blu-ray player and amplifier is more of a weak link. It lacks internet TV functionality and 3D support, but can’t be exchanged for an alternative player because it also powers the speakers.

There are sets from other manufacturers that have these extra features, for considerably less than the £619 price of the Impaq 3000 – check out the Panasonic SC-BTT775 kit for starters. If you have no intention of buying a 3D compatible TV, though, the system is still worthy of consideration for its audio qualities.