Unsurprisingly, you need to set your receiver's speaker options menu to 'small' for each of the five channels to make sure that the lower frequencies are sent to the sub, leaving the satellites to concentrate on the mid and upper frequencies.

The big woofer is perfectly capable of handling the bass from the speakers as well as the dedicated LFE channel encoded in 5.1 soundtracks. Placement is less critical, but don't put it to close to a wall unless you want to increase the bass reinforcement at the expense of some clarity.

Soundstage diva

When fed with a good high-definition surround track, like the Dolby True HD 5.1 mix on Vantage Point, clarity doesn't seem to be a problem.

The centre channel in particular has a very precise interpretation of speech and treble detail. Dialogue is projected well into the room and clearly enunciated without any sibilance. The terrorist bomb attack that replays throughout the film is brought to life in an exhilarating fashion. The balance errs toward the bright side of neutral, which means lots of great crunching effects, but doesn't go so far as to sound harsh at all, even with the volume up high.

Get the placement right and the front three speakers will gel perfectly to form a convincing front soundstage with all fine detail neatly picked out. If you forget to turn the subwoofer on this Quad system obviously sounds worryingly thin.

The little L-ite2 speakers aren't intended for full-range use – even though the 4in drivers manage a well-defined lower mid-band. But it's all part of the plan.

The sub is an extremely capable beast in it's own right – it's essentially a scaled down version of Quad's award-winning L-sub. It uses the same 300W amp in fact, and has no problem driving the sophisticated carbon weave woofer. It sounds tight and punchy and in keeping with the L-ite2 speakers.

Precise performance

I find it always takes a while to get a 5.1 sub/sat system completely in sync, but once you've got it, the L-ite2 package delivers a remarkably cohesive sound despite the mismatch in size between the cabinets. And, while movies are handled with a real precision and clarity that's important for hearing dialogue and surround effects, it can carry a tune as well.

This system relishes the detail and dynamic range of a decent Super Audio CD multichannel mix, like that on Beck's Sea Change album. The acoustic numbers come to life with the sound of fingers sliding along guitar strings and Beck's voice projected into the middle of the room.

Both bi-wiring and bi-amping these speakers will bring noticeable improvements, but they're not too hard to drive either and most modern receivers will have enough power to make them sing.

Modest winners

For really large home cinema rooms, a bigger, more bass-heavy system would be called for, but the Quad L-ite2 5.1 System will suit those with less grandiose plans. There's also the option of adding a pair of centre rear speakers to make it a 7.1 setup, of course.

For style, practicality and sound quality, these affordable speakers make a winning team.