PERFORMANCE

I started my critical listening with simple stereo playback. I ran though my playlist of reference recordings and was struck by these speakers' presence and detail. Some speakers can sound like they are veiled behind a curtain, while others sit in front of the curtain. These Dream speakers were way out in front -and indeed perilously close to my face.

I prefer speakers with a "soft" high end that might even sound dull to some listeners. These Dreams had a very clean and articulated sound, but one that was ultimately too bright for my taste. For example, on the 2007 reissue of Robert Plant's Now and Zen, Plant's vocals sound reasonably bluesy and mellow. The Dream Towers put Plant front and center in my listening room, and I could hear every nuance with crystalline clarity. His expressive voice, simply wonderful on this recording, had a good tonal quality during many passages when listened to at moderate levels. On the other hand, when I cranked the sound up and Plant started to push his dynamic range, the speakers tightened up and his tone became harder than it should have been.

Chris Blackwell's drums had pretty good punch, and the reverberation on the hard-hitting snare had a terrific sense of air. The crash cymbals are fairly pulled back in this recording, and they sounded surprisingly restrained on these speakers. The floor toms were rock- solid and the kick drum had a nicely rounded sound, courtesy of the Noble 10 sub.

Stereo imaging was good, with the speakers delivering a much bigger soundstage than one would expect from relatively small speakers. Early in the evaluation, I placed throw rugs in front of each tower, and this smoothed the sound somewhat but did not greatly affect their overall character. The sonic blend between the towers and the subwoofer was also pretty good, with enough overlap between the subwoofer's upper and the towers' lower bass response to provide smooth musical transitions.

I checked surround music playback with a wide variety of music and got results similar to my stereo evaluation. The Dream Tower system's tonal quality was consistently bright with good detail and air, although it showed some tightness on dynamic passages played at loud levels. For example, during Linkin Park's Reanimation, a real barn-burner of a surround mix, every detail in every channel was revealed, but the musical peaks sounded a little crispy, particularly in the surrounds. But, because of a shared timbral DNA between the center and surrounds, they provided a solid sense of immersion.

I also watched Ratatouille with the Dream Towers hooked up. Randy Thom, director of sound design at Skywalker Sound, received two Academy Award nominations (sound editing and sound mixing) for his team's work on this film, and the sound design is wonderfully detailed and filled with humor. The soundtrack is a sonic library of France: Some ambient sounds were recorded in Paris, and you can occasionally hear a bit of authentic French . When Rémy enters the Paris kitchen, human footsteps reverberate monstrously, ovens light with roaring flames, and Rémy's first soup bubbles deliciously. All of this was nicely reproduced by the system.

Dialogue coming from the center speaker had satisfactory intelligibility when listened to on-axis, but suffered some coloration at off-center seats. The orchestral score sounded up front and lively, with lots of inner detail, and the surrounds provided good fill to complete the sense of immersion. The Noble 10 subwoofer was loud enough, and it displayed sufficient extension. In my large room, it sounded a bit lethargic on action films with more demanding LFE tracks but would likely prove adequate for a small- or medium-size space.

BOTTOM LINE

Pure Acoustics' Dream Tower speakers system has a clean, crisp look, and the same can be said for its sound. For those who prefer their sonics hot 'n' crispy, this neat system will deliver it to your door. Throw in the company's Noble 10 subwoofer, and you'll be ready to feast.