Appearence

I must say that from the start, I was highly impressed with this set of speakers, especially when put them comparison with my last set. As I opened the box, I found all of the cables grouped very neatly, and in a logical sense. Everything in the whole box was separately wrapped with it’s own plastic, and was sealed airtight. The satellites were the first to come out, and while they looked substantially larger then I had imaged, they were very balanced and solid. Both looked identical, with nothing more separating the 2 then a marking on the back identifying which was left and which was right. Both came with clothed covers, which attached securely at 6 different points on the speaker’s face. When removing the speaker covers, I found both the 1” Mylar tweeter as well as the 3” midrange speaker to be very tightly snug, Neither looked to be comprised cheaply. The satellite itself appeared a little more boxy then I’d hoped for it to look, but as with any other new purchase, I was willing to bury looks to the bottom of the importance list when it comes to complaints.

The subwoofer was a very sleek looking unit. I’d heard tons of comments about its power and sound, so I studied it very carefully. Just as with the satellites, its face cover came off after some prying. This revealed its not-so-intimidating 6.5” woofer. Like the satellites, it also looked to be comprised of high quality material, and seemed very secure, neither giving nor taking much pressure applied gently with my fingers. It’s ported on its rear side, which has been known to create more “thump” in a subwoofer. The subwoofer box, although smooth and sleek looking, appeared much larger then I originally thought it would have been. It was presumably rather heavy, which means that it must be sporting alot of internals, which usually translates into more overall power. The remote seemed a little goofy to me, especially since it consisted of only 3 buttons! It’s stand/holder was very smoothly designed, and looked ten times better then I thought it would. It also sat firmly in place, which kept it from sliding all over when pushing any of the control’s 3 buttons. While the overall makeup of this whole setup looked to be somewhat promising, I was a little weary as to if a 6.5” woofer would be able to push all of this wonderful bass I’d heard endless comments about.

Instruction Manual

As with most manuals now days, little focus is put on the instructions, and more in the construction of the product. I guess the old saying “actions speak louder then words” starts to come into play. The instructions were minimal, telling nothing more then specs, connections, use of controls (very brief), and a troubleshooting section. A small colored insert/card is included for a quick connection set-up, and then some slightly more detailed instructions are given in the manual, which are printed in black and white. I suppose that for a set of computer speakers, you wouldn’t expect award-winning instructions, but I was thinking that a little more depth would have been helpful.

Wired Remote

When preparing to order this set of speakers, I was very strongly against having a remote at all. I’ve always liked the traditional knobs on the speaker’s right satellite. While I thought this would really aggravate me, it very quickly passed, and over a little time, I very quickly grew attached to it! As briefly touched on above, the remote consisted of a whopping 3 buttons. One for power, and then one for both up and down volume. There also is an LED light above the Power button, which evidently lights up with the power is being supplied to both the subwoofer and satellites. As given away by the heading, this remote is indeed wired. Oddly enough, most people are viewing this factor as a negative. However, no one seems to think exactly how hard it would be to aim a wire-free remote at a subwoofer that it usually hidden under a desk. Yes, it looks a little tacky seeing a wire running out the top of the remote, but it’s nice because of it’s easy use anywhere within the length of the wire, no matter where it’s placed, or which way it is facing. The stand is very sturdy, and seems to be made of either high-grade aluminum, or even possibly steel. It sits where it’s placed, and doesn’t slide around. It even looks sleek in design, and very quickly makes up for the corny looking wire coming out of the top of the remote.

Rear Sub panel

When I first looked at the rear side of the subwoofer box, I must admit that I was very surprised to what I had discovered. I was expecting the 2 outputs for the satellites, as well as one for the remote. However, it came as a great surprise to find that there were actually 2 inputs (one labeled “Main”, and one labeled “Aux”). Granted that the speakers were marketed as “Multimedia speakers”, everyone knows that most are planing to use these as computer speakers, especially with the satellites being both magnetically shielded (which allows for use around a computer or TV screen without causing distortion via lines of magnetic flux). This extra input allowed for me to plug in my CD player as well, so that I would be able to listen to both CDs and MP3s without constantly changing out wires (I have an older laptop without CD-ROM). I didn’t see any switchboard between the 2 inputs, so I accurately assumed that both sources could be played simultaneously. Also located on the rear sub was the subwoofer control dial. In default, this dial is set to about ˝ power. While it is rather inconvenient having the dial on the rear of the sub, do keep in the mind that you at least have one, unlike most of Altec Lansing’s other offered models.

Sound

Then of course, we have the section that everyone wants to know...how they sound! Even though this might be a little too obsessively meticulous, I found it to be extremely nice that turning the power on/off made NO pop or crackle sounds that you normally get. Even when turned off and on at high volumes, no sound was omitted. The annoying “humming” noise, which was present with the ATP3 model, was no longer even audible. Indeed, Altec Lansing has already made some great improvements from its step-down model, and I hadn’t even started listening to any music yet!

When I first plugged them up to my computer, I immediately noticed that a little magic was need via Winamp’s equalizer. When the equalizer wasn’t turned on, MP3’s appeared to have a very plain sound, with minimal highs and slightly better mid-range. However, after properly tuning them to the “rock” presetting in Winamp, I found the sound to be much more beautiful and crisp. My first impression of it’s sound was somewhat mixed, with an uneven blend of highs, mids and lows. Some tweaking and tuning was needed, but would that really be enough to pull off the sound I was looking for?

Volume Handling and Analyzing

It was then time for some volume testing and analyzing. At low volumes, bass continues to rumble from below, while the satellites apparently struggled to pinch out highs, but did well with mids. I was expecting very similar results with volume changes, but surprisingly found otherwise. As the volume got increasingly louder, the sound got crisper, clearer, and MUCH more full. I continued to up the volume, and took note of any changes. Power handling was superb, with VERY minimal distortion at the highest volumes. Because of its deafening power, I didn’t even see a need to test max power, because it was almost too loud for me (and I LOVE loud music/sound effects). Even at it’s highest levels, it continued to push forth enduringly, with no drops in power, or in quality of sound reproduction. At these volumes, treble highs and mids had become predominantly clear while the bass continued to punch out all of its deep lows. I stood corrected by my first opinion of the skimpy looking 6.5” woofer. It was pushing bass frequencies that were equivalent to some 8-10” woofers I’d heard before.

When testing and toying with the subwoofers output level, I found that it could pump out enough bass for just about anyone. Most of my testing was done around the ˝ bass, although it can clearly pump out at full bass. Even at very high volumes, full bass continued to be somewhat crisp and "boomy", but did start to get sloppy when songs recorded with TONS of bass are played. However, I found that at ˝ bass, even some of the heaviest bass-recorded music posed no challenge to its excellent and tight style of sound reproduction and rumbling.

CD sound reproduction

When playing music through a portable Panasonic CD player, I found the sound to be even clearer and crisp then the MP3s on the computer had posed. Oddly enough, even though the CD player had no equalizer, it’s sound was exceptionally clear and clean, reaching what sounded like optimal sound for both highs and mids. However, for the first time, lows had surprisingly been outdone by mids and highs. As with the computer MP3s, I again found it nearly impossible to reach max volume without blowing my eardrums. At those volume levels, I once again found the sound to be distinctly divided between satellites and sub, and little distortion was noted through the mids and highs. The sub again continued to push the sound smoothly and cleanly.

Overview

No matter what your source is, rather is be Computer, CD player, Playstation 2, etc, the 621 seems to be a very tight and crisp unit, delivering extremely clean mids and highs, as well as tight bass. Although lacking slightly when operated under low volumes, any upper volume range seems to have an extraordinary blend of mids, highs and lows. Predetermined by your choice of subwoofer level adjustment, Bass can dominate just about any sound you’re looking to push, making it a first for Altec Lansing. At an MSRP of $150, you can most likely find one online for right around $100-110 shipped, or if your fortunate enough to have a Circuit City, pick one up there for around $120 or so. While its price tag appears to be seemingly high for a set of computer speakers, it is by far the best set of 2.1 setups I’ve ever heard. Unless you move up to a 4.1 or 5.1 computer speaker setup, you’ll have a tough time finding a higher RMS then 143 watts, or a mind-blowing peak of 200 watts. If you’re able to cough up the dough, I highly suggest picking up a set! If you’re not after the ear-shattering power or bass output, check out their step-down model, the Altec Lansing ATP3. As for me, well, I can tell you that as long as these speakers are pushing, I’ll be backing them up 100%!


Recommended:
Yes