A stylish and sonic bang for your buck
Written: Apr 24 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rich lows and crisp highs. Very stylish design. Great performance at a very reasonable price.
Cons: More wires to add to the tangle behind the PC. No headphone jack.
The Bottom Line: You can beat this system easily, but you'll spend over $100 to do it. For the price, these are fantastic speakers.
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| chadley25's Full Review: Altec Lansing ATP3W 2 Speakers |
Computer speakers have come as far along in the last 10 years as any other component in the typical PC, so when I stumbled across the ATP3 system, I figured it was about time to upgrade. I don't play games on my PC, nor do I routinely watch movies, but I do listen to MP3s, and occasionally some streaming video, and I have a deep appreciation for high-quality sound reproduction.
I bought this system strictly on impulse -- wasn't even looking for new speakers. I saw them on a clearance table at Office Max, of all places, for $29.00, and based on their incredibly stylish charcoal-black appearance and the Altec Lansing name, I picked them up.
The subwoofer is sufficiently large enough to do its job, and it's a welcome break from the unceremoniously-designed beige cube in which so many manufacturers house their subs. It's roughly the size of a large shoebox, but is accented with enough subtle curves to be about as aesthetically appealing as a subwoofer can practicably be.
The satellite speakers are stunning before they even pump out a single note of music. They stand about 10" tall, and the rounded base also serves as a housing for a 3" downward-firing midrange speaker. The grille of the speaker is raised to about 3/4" above the desk surface so the higher end of the sound spectrum can emerge, while the lower end (relatively speaking only) is absorbed to some degree by the desk and thus made part of the overall soundfield. Ingenious. The thin tower that rises from this base houses two 28mm (a bit over 1") drivers that do an exceptional job of reproducing crisp highs. So in this unassuming package, you get a total of seven individual speakers (the two drivers and one midrange in each satellite, plus the 6.5" sub).
The active speaker has a volume control knob and separate bass and treble controls. I found the inclusion of the bass level control on a satellite speaker to be a wonderful touch, as opposed to my old system, where the bass level was on the back of the subwoofer. Not remotely convenient, obviously.
I was surprised that there was no headphone jack on the satellite speaker (or indeed anywhere). It's not something I'd ever use myself, but for a person who needs to periodically go into headphone mode, the absence of a jack might be a deterrent.
If you have a black flat-panel monitor and a black wireless keyboard and mouse, these speakers really accentuate a very stylish, modern-looking desktop.
Sound reproduction is excellent. The ATP3 won't seriously compete with the high-end 5.1 or 7.1 systems, but it's not really expected to. Considering the price I paid, I couldn't be more pleased with these speakers. Had I paid twice the price, which is about the typical street price, I'd still be very satisfied. They simply sound terrific. There is a bit of distortion in the highest volume levels, but at those levels, it's uncomfortably loud anyway. For normal listening, though, these speakers do a fine job of smoothly rendering deep bass and sparkling crisp highs. I found that the midrange of the soundfield sometimes was lacking, but that can be remedied by adjusting the placement of the satellite speakers and tweaking the equalizer settings on Windows Media Player (or similar audio program).
Bottom line: If you can find these speakers for under $50, snap 'em up. They're worth every penny and look terrific sitting on a desk.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
chadley25
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Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 0 members
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