Pavo XPL-786 Home Theatre System

Pavo’s speakers look cheap. The seven satellites are very lightweight and cloth-covered – instantly giving away their lack of audio prowess.

Pavo’s speakers look cheap. The seven satellites are very lightweight and cloth-covered – instantly giving away their lack of audio prowess. They’re also identical so there’s no high-powered centre speaker which others support.

The subwoofer, a cloth-covered and wooden-cased contraption, is refreshingly small considering the number of larger units that aren’t all that powerful. Everything plugs into a central controller that provides a master volume as well as separate channel volumes.

Turning them up to their loudest is far from deafening but easily fills a small room. They instantly proved they were pretty poor music performers. The treble-rich intro of Bjork’s Play Dead was reproduced with an obvious lack of midrange and a total absence of bass.

The thumping intro of Army of Me was dealt with surprisingly well by the sub. But that’s all. The satellites displayed a severe lack of fidelity and lyrics were very indistinct. The sub is left to round off the gaping hole in the sound all on its own.

Cranking up the volume sees the sound distort, but without ugly rattles in the casings. It turns what it’s playing into a smeared, indistinct, molasses of noise, rather than a fearsome yet crisp racket. Movie and game playback felt less torturous.

One can appreciate the rear channels of the surround sound more without the annoyance of the grim, audio hole. At this price they’re cheap 7.1s but there are better 5.1 options. If you’re truly desperate for 7.1 audio and don’t listen to music, they’re good value.