Philips SoundSphere MCi900 and MCD900 audio systems early review

You might think those speakers in your living room sound pretty decent and look reasonably cool, and you're probably right. But Philips wants you to swap them for something that looks like it came down with the last spaceship from Alpha Centauri and sounds like the galaxy's imploding. Enter the SoundSphere MCi900 and MCD900 speaker systems.

The bug-eyed style isn't just to attract headlines: Philips claims there's some science behind it. The detached tweeter is designed to radiate sound in all direction and separate the high end from the bassy low end. Stylistically, this is an interesting look, but the idea of keeping bass and treble separate is something Philips also does on its TVs, with good effect.

There are two models available. The MCi900 is an Internet and home-network aware device that features Philips' home-audio Streamium system. It contains a 160GB hard drive to store all your favourite music, and can access a plethora of Internet radio stations. The MCD900 is a more simple device, and comes in a silver colour that's less classy than the MCi900's glossy titanium look.

In the confines of the busy hotel, here at Philips' annual launch in Barcelona, the SoundSphere speakers sounded very good indeed. We're not going to judge the systems based on our limited time hearing them, but suffice to say we were very impressed with the short demo we had. The cost is a major issue, however, with the MCi900 going for £875 and the MCD900 available at a slightly lower £700.

We've fired off a few photos of these unusual beasts, so have a flick through them and keep your eyes on CNET UK for a full review when the systems are released.