This TV speaker system may look strange, but Tony Williams likes what he hears

The term ‘sub/sat’ has gone into the audio lexicon to describe any speaker system combining a subwoofer with satellite speakers of limited frequency response, the idea being that one can have smaller, more easily overlooked ‘main speakers’, the bass being filled in by a larger box completely hidden away.

The Ferguson Hill FH009, made by an innovative British company founded a decade back by former aeronautical engineer Timothy Hill, breaks almost all the rules. The ‘main speakers’ are hardly unobtrusive, being single drivers, using neodymium magnets, mounted in the throat of relatively large acrylic horns which can be used on the stands supplied or wall mounted

Meanwhile the bass part of the system is a substantial enclosure, available in gloss black or white and designed to be used underneath a television set, the whole system being designed to improve the quality of sound available from TV.

As well as two 13cm bass drivers, with front-venting ports, there are four 32W channels of amplification – two for the bass, and one each for the horn speakers. The amplifier is a Class A/B design, unusual in a product of this kind, where digital amplification is the norm.

Two sets of stereo RCA sockets are provided on the rear panel, along with a stereo RCA phono outputs for a subwoofer, while the front panel has a 3.5mm stereo analogue input and a USB socket into which memory devices can be connected. A remote control handset is included in the package, as are connecting cables.

PERFORMANCE
Setting up the FH009 isn’t tricky: everything’s included, the speaker stands just screw together in seconds, and obviously all the component parts are designed to work with each other.

When I first heard the FH009, in a rather unforgiving meeting room, I was concerned with a certain ‘cuppy’ tonality on voices – in fact, just like you might expect biggish plastic horns to sound!

However, having lived with the system for a longer period, I can see the appeal, both in audio terms and as a visual statement. The FH009 certainly attracts a lot of attention from visitors: they can understand the thing under the TV is a speaker, because it looks like a speaker, but they find the horns much harder to fathom.

At least one commented ‘but all the sound is coming from the main speaker, so why do you need the horn things?’ – used with a television set, and a range of opera and concert discs as well as the excellent Sky Arts output, the FH009 gives the impression of the sound coming from the screen, albeit with much better quality and a larger, more precise soundstage than with the TV speakers alone.

Voices and instruments have a persuasively natural balance, the treble is involving while at the same time sweet and smooth, and there’s more than sufficient bass from the main unit, such that I doubt many users will be availing themselves of the subwoofer output.

The system will also go more than loud enough to satisfy armchair concertgoers who like their music at realistic levels with only a hardening of the sound when you push the set-up well beyond its limits to be recorded in the ‘against’ column. (Here it's worth remembering that Freeview, Freesat, cable and satellite services also deliver radio very well, while many TVs can now stream music stored on a local network)

One of the trade-offs for the svelte lines of the modern flatscreen television is the lack of space for speaker drivers and enclosures, meaning most LCD and plasma models sound worse than a good CRT television of the past. The Ferguson Hill FH009 goes a long way to redress that balance, and does so in some style.

Technical specifications
Price £796
Drive units Neodymium-magnet diaphragms in horn speakers, 2x13cm bass drivers in main unit
Power 4x32W, one amplifier per driver
Inputs Two line-in on RCA phonos, USB, 3.5mm stereo inputs
Outputs Speakers, stereo subwoofer (RCA phono)
Accessories supplied Remote handset, input/connecting cables, stands for horn speakers
Dimensions (WxHxD) Horn speaker unit 27x42x8cm (27x113x8cm on stand), amplifier/bass speaker unit 56x17x36cm