Digital Trends

Boynq Sabre October 17th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Setup and Use

Setting up the Sabre is pretty easy. Remove it from its packaging and set the main unit on a table. Plug the power cord in, select and install the appropriate iPod dock connector, attach an iPod, power both up and hit play. It's that easy.

Manual controls for volume, bass and treble are unusual these days, what with most everything being fully digital (or digitally assisted). The old school knobs allow for pretty accurate corrections, though it's entirely a matter of preference and comfort.

The Sabre has a line-in port for connecting the speakers to a laptop, desktop or any other audio source that uses 1/8" audio cables. It also has a line-out jack for pushing audio to external speakers or to a TV. And as for pushing content to a TV, the Sabre has a built-in S-VIDEO port, allowing you to push video content from your 5G iPod to your TV set. If you have movies, TV shows or other videos on your 5G iPod, you can watch (and listen to) them on your TV.

The Sabre has a dock-connector plug on the back for connecting/syncing your iPod to your computer. You can use this feature with the iPod still docked on the Sabre.

The back of the Boynq Sabre

Sound Tests

One of the most endearing design features is the perpendicular placement of the two 3" speakers. Unfortunately, this design causes the sound to shoot away from the listener, leaving the sound waves to wander aimlessly before finally reaching one's ears. By then, the sound seems thin or flat. Rotating the Sabre left, right, forward and back produce different sounds with varying power and depth. On a positive note, the left-right orientation of the speakers has a very interesting effect on multi-channel music. One can pinpoint individual notes as they exit their respective speakers, making a stereo equivalent to surround sound.

Breakdown - Jack Johnson: This song sounded pretty good on the Sabre. Bass was acceptable, mids and highs were ok, so long as the treble control was turned up no higher than 20%. Any more than 20% treble and any less than 90% bass and the song sounds like it's coming through a tin can.

Breakdown - Jack Johnson: This song sounded pretty good on the Sabre. Bass was acceptable, mids and highs were ok, so long as the treble control was turned up no higher than 20%. Any more than 20% treble and any less than 90% bass and the song sounds like it's coming through a tin can.

Trynna Find a Way - Nelly Furtado: This song has a fun, sexy bass undertone that is almost entirely missed by the Sabre. With the bass cranked up to 100% and the treble set to roughly 20%, there's such a lack of critical bass that I had to check the song on another player to make sure there wasn't a problem with the file or iPod.

One thing is for sure - the Sabre can be turned up very, very loud and it handles well. It's other, more important areas where the Sabre shows its weaknesses, like bass and directionality of sound. When testing the Sabre, we noticed that there were intermittent pops from the power button and audio control knobs when they were used.

Conclusion

The Boynq Sabre is a futuristic-looking iPod speaker system that truly stands out in a crowd. While the looks get due praise, the overall output is hampered by the oddly placed speakers, both of which push music away from you at roughly 85 degree angles. The non-immersive sound waves seem to lack punch. There's also no remote control for the Sabre, a fact that was poorly regarded at Digital Trends.

At $129 USD, we'd expect a more substantial and hearty experience. The Sabre seems more appropriate for small spaces like dorms, studio apartments, office cubicles, etc.; wherever sound waves can take advantage of acoustically friendly walls. In short, it's not really something we'd enthusiastically recommend to friends or family.

Pros:

• Very unusual design
• Video/audio out for TVs
• Compatible with many iPods

Cons:

• Bass lacks punch
• Odd placement of speakers hampers music
• Occasional "pops" from control knobs