Overall, the sonic characteristic of AIVN's V-88 system is best described as analytical and aggressive. The metal cones really chop the details out, and they never once lost imaging as the film steps up into a channel-hopping miasma of sounds. The bit in reel one, when an unauthorised helicopter arrives at an airbase only to reveal itself as a disguised aggressor-bot thing - and duly proceeds to blow everything up - is monstrously entertaining.

The sheer attack and power these enclosures can create is immediately impressive. There's no shortage of taut, fast LFE. Once set, the subwoofer delivers a rigid bass substrate for the action. Those looking for a system seemingly born to belt out high-octane action movies need look no further.

The subwoofer stands on steel feet above the floor and is ported to the rear, with simple phono inputs and a phase control knob. There's nothing extra, though, like speaker inputs or pass-thru sockets. Crossover frequency and volume are selected via the natty six-button remote. You can mute the woofer or switch it off from the remote, too.

This sub has a 12in driver, driven by a 180W amplifier. The front drop bears a small display with two simple ladder indicators. In frequency mode you'll be looking at the crossover frequency as the blue lights go up; in volume mode, the higher up, the louder.

There are no mentions of any protection circuitry for the sub in the company-provided blurb. Although it really works well within its limits, you can sail past those limits and deep into distress sounds of overload all too easily. This may be due to the deep-breathing design sounding so good. It's too tempting to wick up.

This is impressive, as 180W isn't really offering much headroom compared to some mad-amp subs on the market. I suspect that this is the same amp used in the wireless sats but without the controls. However, for the price it is astonishing, and if you are not a hooligan and want genuine quality for your cash, then this sub is well worthy.

The system is also reasonable with multi-channel music. One of my stock trials is Boys II Men's Yesterday, which was delivered with an engaging 'sitting on the stage amongst them' ambience. The track requires realistic vocals to work and it's horribly easy to hear if something is amiss. While lacking some high-end subtlety, it's always entertaining.

Give 'em a try

This good-looking 7.1 array is well worth an audition. It looks gorgeous and if your budget is limited I would have no qualms pointing action-movie-loving buyers in their direction, or even the 5.1 equivalent.