We all love pleasant surprises - especially when they're as affordable as the Edifier e10 Exclaim.

Edifier is something of a Chinese success story. Emerging in 1996, it's rapidly become a darling of design-conscious digital audiophiles with a string of design awards and rave reviews from the media as well from ordinary customers.

When it comes to speakers at least, the words "boxy" or "squat" usually shamble into view, even though the actual sound that's produced is more than adequate. Edifier's M3200 speaker set falls between two stools, at least on the design front. The two satellites that'll be on permanent view resemble elegant flower vases and would stand out from the majority of speaker models at this price point.

Edifier was an unknown name to us until a box arrived from PC Nextday containing a set of M3200 speakers. They look rather strange because the two satellites are very tall and slender and have the appearance of a pair of vases