Gateway KAS-303 and KAS-203 same as HSU Ventriloquist VT-12? (1 Viewer)

Are the Gateway KAS-303 and KAS-203 the same speakers as the HSU Research VT-12?

If so, the reviews on them were not good.

KAS-303 only got 7 out of 10 and KAS-203 only got 5 out of 10.

I think the KAS-203 is the same as VT-12 but missing the rear center. The KAS-303 seems to be the same exact speakers.

Any comments?

They use the same housings, but are different. It is stated somewhere on Hsu's forum.

Dude,

Looks like you are on to something. I was pretty excited about buying the ventriloquist system for a client until I read the Gateway reviews. I'm going to e-mail Hsu Research about this and try to get some answers. Thanks for the information....

Dude,

Chester

Dudes,

I suspect HSU offered a limited version of their technology to a mass-market chain like Gateway in order to pay for the research and development on the Ventriloquist system. That's why their system is so cheap on their website. This is my educated guess. I don't like, however, that they seemingly sacrificed sound quality and overall performance in order to do it. Like I said, I'm going to email them to ask what is better about the Ventriloquist VT-12 system. What a bummer dudes.

Dudes,

Chester

Its a gateway system comeon. What do the reviewers excepct. A company that makes computers... they expect to make a halfway decent htib????

I wouldn't expect Gateway to make a good HTIB, but I would expect Hsu Research to. They make great speakers and the Ventriloquist VT-12 has gotten good reviews.

This is the response I got from Sasha at Hsu Research:

Grayson,

Thanks for asking. Gateway used to have an earlier version of our
Ventriloquist, which CNET used during the tests. As of now, I'm not
sure if they have started to ship the same exact Ventriloquist we are
shipping.

7 out of 10? That sounds awful to me! A close read will show that
most of Steve Guttenburg’s complaints were related to the
electronics. Steve did complained that the Ventriloquist had a lower
mid-bass hole. That's the exact problem the Ventriloquist is designed
to fix, and it fixes it! The only way it would have a hole is if the
amplifier couldn't power the center channel well.

There was some priase:
"The massive iceberg avalanches rumbled and quaked with a
vengeance--we almost jumped out of our seats. The subwoofer speaks
with enough authority to fill even 400-square-foot rooms with deep,
deep bass.

”Our audition was going so well that we decided to pummel the 303
with the Extreme edition of the Terminator 2 DVD, and the little kit
took it in stride. Arnold's shenanigans and the resulting explosions
sounded like they were coming from a much larger system. In this
disc's commentary track, the voices of director James Cameron and
screenwriter William Wisher are in the left and right channels, and
the placement was a great test of the Ventriloquist's ability to
"throw" midrange to the tiny left- and right-front satellites. The
voices were far more full-bodied and natural than they are on most
wee sats."

Despite Steve’s “dings” to the electronics, I've been told that the
KAS-303 is currently Gateways biggest selling home theater system.


Sasha