Altec Lansing ACS 295

Aaahh... There's nothing like settling down for a game of Mechwarrior and making the windows shake.

These speakers were purchased for me over a year ago, and if I had to purchase another set of speakers today I would not hesitate to go with this brand. Of course, there's no need for me to get another set, since these still sound the same as they did when they were new.

Before I got these speakers, I was using the speakers that came with my monitor. They sounded tinny and "off..." But I assumed that my games were supposed to sound like that. How was I supposed to know?

The set comes with two small desk speakers and a large subwoofer unit. After reading the extremely clear directions, I put the subwoofer on the shelf under my desk and hooked up the color-coded wires for the small speakers. Not knowing any better, I cranked up the subwoofer using the dial on the back of the unit and started playing a shoot-em-up game (with lots of bass).

After the ringing in my ears stopped, I realized my neighbor was knocking on the door. "What was that?" she asked. When I explained that I'd just hooked up these new speakers (and set the volume on high), she asked for the brand name. "I'll just say you gave them a very loud endorsement," she added with a grin.

The controls on the speakers are self-explanatory, although I do wish there was some way of telling how loud the volume is before you play something. The treble and bass controls on the main desk speaker do little to the quality of tone - you have to listen to a sustained note in order to hear a difference.

The subwoofer is the real star of this set, delivering a huge shock wave of you aren't careful. It provides 20 Watts of power per channel, and (despite my attempt to blow it out) has delivered unparalleled sound quality. The desk speakers also provide superb sound. In fact, I'm taken to listening to music on my computer rather than my stereo... The computer has better speakers now!