Unlike our Software Reviews, setup of speakers is pretty generic. You figure out which lead from your speakers plugs into which plug in your soundcard, put the correct speakers where they belong in your room, and fire it up. No drivers or software issues involved in most cases. I received my speakers from Klipsch, nicely packed, and with a reasonably good instruction and explanation sheet. Some light wire routing in back and we were ready to rock!

Be prepared, if you have never had a 4-speaker system before, there are some pitfalls. There is alot of cable included with most 4 speaker systems. While many users may not want or need the excess cabling, it is there to provide the length needed to move the speakers far enough from the PC or TV so you can get good Surround separation. Don't unwind the cable fully if you don't spread the speakers out in your room. You will end up with a cable-monster dangling behind your PC desk that will return to eat you at a later date!

For users still using an older 2-channel soundcard: UPGRADE NOW YOU MANIACS! (You have no idea what you are missing!) However, if you do decide to go with the Promedias or another 4 speaker setup on a 2-channel soundcard; you will need a Y-adapter to allow you to plug both the front & rear speaker leads into your single output jack. Such adapters are available at most electronics and audio/video stores. When using an adapter, Do not select a 4 speaker mode on your DVD software player! Y-adapters let the front channels be mirrored on the rear speakers, instead of sending different sounds to the rear like a 4 channel PCI soundcard would do. In true 4-speaker mode, some sounds are deleted from the front channels to play only on the rears! If you select 4-speaker mode on a 2 channel soundcard with a Y-adapter, those rear sounds will be LOST! So select 2-channel Stereo or one of the 2-speaker downmix options such as A3D mode for Aureal soundcards. But listen, if you are going to pay 100-400 for a good 4.1 speakerset, then drop 40 more on an OEM 4 channel PCI soundcard! It MATTERS!!!

Unpacking, a quick run-through on the included instructions and sticking the rubber feet on the speakers to protect the desktop, then about 30 minutes stringing and plugging in leads; and we were set. A nice touch is the small-end 110v wall plug. Some speakers use a large transformer style wall-plug which can be very space demanding on a power strip. The Promedia's transformer is inside the subwoofer housing, so no space problems. Provided cable length of the Promedias is 10 feet each for the front speakers, and 16 feet for the rears. Adequate for a small room, but extensions might be needed for users who use a TV-OUT PC as a home entertainment center in a family room. Tall stands for the rear speakers are not included, so they must be purchased separately or you must find a place to put the rear speakers to get them near ear level.

More cable would be nice for those with larger rooms, as would including tall rear speaker stands, and maybe a Y-adapter in the box for the users with older soundcards... but setup of the Promedias was straightforward and simple. They were safely packed, nice instructions, and cables easy to identify. Just what you expect from a top company!

Note:
These are 4.1 speakers(4 speakers plus a subwoofer). They are not a Digital Surround system. Nor do they have provision to be connected to a Digital amplifier. For Digital Surround, you need a soundcard that can decode and send a special digital signal through an SP/DIF or similar output plug, then a Digital amp to decode and feed that signal to your speakers, then you will need a surround speaker system with at least 6 different speaker channels.