They sound a lot better than the rest
Written: May 11 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: overall good quality, great value, USB-software controls
Cons: Weak in the deeper range of notes, chance of driver conflicts
The Bottom Line: The bottom line is that these speakers are very good, and close to being the very best.
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| zeshaun's Full Review: Altec Lansing ADA 305 2 Speakers |
Well, these speakers have been out on the market for quite a while now. I know this, because I bought these same speakers the very day they were in the stores. Had been hearing great things about them, and wanted to find out myself. I have to say, I wasn't disappointed. The ADA 305 speakers are very good. The satellites are small and the cords are long enough that you can move them around if you like. In fact, I tend to place them around my TV instead of the computer itself, for those DVD movies that just require great sound quality.
The subwoofer definitely packs a punch. I turned up the volume to about 50% of the max, and ran the Ultimate Subwoofer Sound Test audio file that I got with it. Even without putting the subwoofer face-down to the floor, it was enough to set the walls in my house shaking 3 rooms away. My only complaint about the subwoofer is that while it certainly packs quite a bit of power, notes in the deeper bass ranges don't come out all too clear sometimes. While I'm not sure, I think it could have to do with the fact that the subwoofer, unlike the satellites, has a cabinet made of wood. It certainly makes it a lot lighter than it would ordinarily be.
The USB interface allows you to actually fine-tune the sound coming out of the speakers through a handy software interface, and actually eliminates the necessity for a sound card, if you're willing to forego one. The sound quality from the satellites is quite crisp and clear, and if desired, can emit that sound at a very high volume as well.
The biggest problem I had with the ADA 305 was one driver conflict after another. I had personally hand-built this system, and it seemed like the speakers were out to pick a fight with the entire thing. There was hardly a single component in my system that the speaker's USB interface didn't cause problems with. I had to repeatedly update the software drivers from Altec Lansing, and also had to replace drivers for my video card, my sound card, the MPEG-2 decoder card, my network card, and even the printer (used USB also). It was a good two weeks before I had everything working well together. Everytime since then, I end up having to reinstall the speaker's software drivers each time I swap a component, like it has to get used to them all over again.
Despite the software conflicts, these speakers are still pretty damn awesome. I think that despite the driver conflicts and the minor garbling of the really deep notes, these speakers are among the best that I've seen out there. Not only do they offer overall great sound quality, but the USB interface (once you get it working) makes fooling around with your speakers' settings very easy and even fun, and they don't look too radical, unlike some speaker designs. Also, the Altec Lansing ADA 305 supports the Dolby 5.1 standard, without the need for extra speakers (such as, say, the Cambridge Soundworks set which has a subwoofer and 4 satellites). The fact remains that for the price paid, these speakers are rather awesome.
One last note: The Altec Lansing ADA 305 speakers, when provided by Dell, are labelled as Altec Lansing ADA 495 speakers.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
zeshaun
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Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Born 1981.
Joined Epinions.com 2001.
Damn, that was a short 20 years.
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