The Edifier e10 Exclaim is one of life’s nice surprises: a 2.0 speaker system that not only looks a lot more expensive than it is, but sounds it too.

The key to the Exclaim’s success appears to lie in its unusual design. The base at the bottom of each one contains a 76.2mm woofer and a matching bass radiator, while the silver column that rises from the front contains two 38mm high-frequency/mid-range tweeters and another 38mm radiator.

Because the silver columns are angled backwards, the sound is more or less aimed directly at your ears, enabling them to make the most of the two 8W and two 10W of power they have on tap, the amplifier for which is built into the left "active" speaker, with the right "passive" speaker connecting to it using the cable supplied.

As should be obvious by now, sound quality is where the Exclaim excels. It won’t be the loudest or most audiophile-friendly system you’ve heard, but it sounds better than you’d expect given its price. Movie dialogue, vocals and instruments are all rewarded with decent fidelity, while the bass is weighty without being thunderous or overbearing. Not bad for £70 / $99US / $120AU.