Altec Lansing ACS 48 2.1 Speakers

I can honestly say that I am thoroughly displeased, not only with the ACS48's themselves but with Altec. I am currently on my second set of ACS48's. My buddy blew up my first set when a song started with a hard bass hit. The volume was only up about halfway also. Needless to say I was kind of upset at my friend. He blew the Left Satellite speaker. We proceeded to take the speaker apart and found that this speaker has a huge magnet for bass effects but has a cheap 3" paper cone that really cannot produce great highs, let alone great bass without distortion or complete thrashing of the entire cone.
I called Altec and told them what happened After I sent back the speakers with my receipt to the company, I was sent another set of 48's. They said these were their best selling speakers and they have had no problems with them. Cough, Cough, BS. So, I received my new set about 2 months ago, and was very pleased with them for about a week until I received a couple of mp3's from a friend that he had ripped himself. I knew the quality of the song was great. 128 k/s at 44100. Yes, I know that only CD's have true CD sound but it's really close anyway. The sound really was not that great. The speakers could not hold their clarity above about 50% volume. The bass distorted and so did the satellites as there was way too much bass for these speakers. I was going to install bass blockers in them BUT, OOOOPPPSSS. Another hard hit of bass at half volume did my Left Speaker in again.
I called Altec and they said, oh too bad, your warranty is up and by the way, you can't replace just one speaker, you have to buy a whole new set or refurbished set. Now, don't get me wrong, I admit I blew up the speaker and knew that they could not handle real volume under real pressure. I don't expect something for free, which I already got once. The fact that upset me is that I have to replace the whole system!
My little brother said his system rocked. He plays all kinds of rave music and I know how hard his bass hits are. He says that he has turned them all the way up with the hardest hits and has yet to blow them up. His neighbors hate him because of these speakers. So I will be buy them after I tie a rope to my Altec's and use them for a boat anchor. Want to know what they are? Cambridge Microworks! I've read great reviews about these speakers and they say that they out perform Bose's $600 speakers for $149.95 at hifi.com. It's said that these speakers sound better than most home systems.
I hope this helps anyone that is a true music lover!