Features & Specifications
The Philips amBX Premium Kit includes a pair of satellite speakers that have lights on top, a wall washer light, two fans, a subwoofer, and a wrist rumbler. The system connects to the PC via a USB cable and gets audio signals from a standard 3.5mm patch cable between the subwoofer and the PC.

Setup & Use
Installation of the system is straightforward and only differs from a normal 2.1 speaker system in the installation of fans. My test system included drivers for Windows XP only, but software is available on the amBX website for Windows Vista.

The other piece of the puzzle for a working amBX system is an amBX compatible video game. Many new video games ship with amBX compatibility like WoW, Crysis, Call of Duty 4 and more. I tested the system with one of my favorite PC shooter, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The game doesn't ship with amBX capability built-in, but a custom mod is available for the game that can be downloaded from the amBX website to enable the effects.

The sound quality from the Philips amBX Premium Kit speakers is decent and bass form the sub is good. Where the system really shines is the fans and lighting effects it adds to games. When you spawn as a Strogg and plummet to the ground in a drop pod the fans kick in and wind whips around your face.

Jump into GDF flying vehicles and the fans again kick in to give the effect that you are really flying. At the same time, the wall washer light (designed to go behind your display) and the lights atop the satellite speakers glow the same colors as the game background.

If you are flying with the sun behind you the lights glow orange-red, if you are in snow the lights are blue-white color, shoot the Strogg rail gun and the plasma trail's orange glow is mimicked in the lights of the amBX system.

While the fans and lights are doing their thing, the wrist rumbler vibrates in time with game events like fired shots and explosions. The rumbler was the main source of issues I had with the system. Vibration effects were very intense, even on their lowest settings. To me effects like vibration should be beneficial to the game setting; you shouldn’t be pulled out of the game mentally each time the vibration activates. Sound from the wrist rumbler was also very loud, again even at the lowest settings possible. The wrist rumbler is also too thick, putting my hands at an uncomfortable angle that is not ideal for long gaming sessions. A better option would be a vibration device that connects to the chair like the Buttkicker Gamer device.

Those gripes aside, the effects that the Philips amBX Premium Kit adds to the game are very cool and something that the gamer who has everything might want to seriously consider adding to their gaming machine.