Review: SteelSeries Arena 9 – impressive surround sound for gaming

If you’re an avid gamer and sit for hours and hours and game and watch movies, you might sometimes want to switch to a sound system. With the SteelSeries Arena 9, we might have come across the best PC speakers for gaming.

And even though you could use it for your home setup, you refrain from buying a system because speaker systems like that are often bulky and clunky and deliver sub-par sound quality.

But SteelSeries Arena 9 could be the sound system you need if you agree with the above. After testing the Arena 9 for a week, playing games, and watching videos, I am impressed.

Unboxing SteelSeries Arena 9

In the box, you find two front and two rear speakers, a center speaker, and a 6,5″ subwoofer for that sweet 5.1 surround sound setup.

The box also includes a Control Pod, a little remote device with an OLED screen that allows you to adjust volume, muting, 5.1 Upmix, headset toggling, LED controls, Bluetooth pairing, audio customization, and system functions. 

The front speakers on the SteelSeries Arena 9 are equipped with RGB lighting for that nerdy feel, and you can modify the colors and illumination in the SteelSeries GG software.

The entire setup is easy to install. Cables run from each speaker to the subwoofer that connects via USB-C to your PC. The rear speakers can be either corded or connected via Bluetooth.

SteelSeries Arena 9 offers great sound performance

To be honest, I don’t care that much about flashy colors. I value high-performing sound and deep bass for the immersive in-game experience. And a minimalistic design that doesn’t call for that much attention.

The SteelSeries Arena 9 delivers that. I tested the speakers in various situations with my PC. 

In single-player shooters, grenades, gunshots, and firefights sounded like thunder from my home-office setup – to the degree that I was worried that my neighbors might have been concerned about what the heck was happening next door. The immersive surround sound experience, Arena 9 delivers, is astonishing.

For music and YouTube video playback, you can modify the sound settings in the SteelSeries GG software: you can tune the bass and higher-pitch in the equalizer settings pretty quickly.

And on the Arena 9 subwoofer, you can control the amount of the downward-firing bass sound to your liking. 

Overkill for PC?

One could argue that the Arena 9 is an overkill for your home office. Do you really need it? The answer is probably “no”, but it would be a huge add-on to any gamer setup. 

Also, if you’re not keen on spending $549 for the Arena 9, SteelSeries has two other options available:

Arena 7 ($299) with two front speakers and a sub-woofer or SteelSeries Arena 3 ($129) with two smaller front speakers.