Altec Lansing ACS 48 2.1 Speakers

These speakers are the first valuable investment that I put into my computer. I do not have a whole lot of money, but I still wanted great sound from my computer because that is what I usually use it for.

Summary

These speakers are very cheap and compare with some of the best speakers on the market today, for anyone who does not want movie theatre sound from their computer, these are the speakers for you.

The Good

These speakers are very cheap compared to other ones of this quality, I was very surprised when I saw this price for something like this.

Although today you can buy all kinds of speakers with huge subwoofers and 60 million tweeters and centers and all kinds of junk that really just jacks the price up. I am kind of a sound expert because it is something I am picky about, and let me tell you, two high-powered speakers can fill up a room with more noise than 5 tweeters can. If you are an average computer user, or even demand better sound than the average, don't get roped into buying an expensive 5 speaker system. I know from experience because my friend spent 500 dollars on the Cambridge Sound Works DT5.1, and I guarantee, they are no better than these. Although the sub is more powerful, who cares about that anyway, besides most of the time, he will turn the sub to half its level because it shakes his desk.

Second, the distortion at high volumes is so low that I actually blew the speaker out without out even noticing any distortion. Which brings up another thing, I was able to get them replaced with ease. But anyway, most people just want to get speakers that can be turned up loud enough that they can really feel the music, and expensive speakers will definitely allow you to do this, but surprisingly, these cheaper speakers will allow this. I am very happy with my speakers and see no need for any kind of replacement, even though I have come into a large sum of money recently.

Finally, they are very well made and durable. I have repeatedly dropped the speakers, and they are not even dented and I notice no problems, as apposed to my old speakers that completely shattered when they fell off my monitor.

The Ugly

The only thing that I have been able to find wrong with these speakers is their usability, in order to turn the subwoofer off you have to get all the way to the back of them and turn a knob that you can't ever tell if it is on or not. The only way you can see if the subwoofer is on or not is by listening for it. Also the volume controls are very annoying and not aesthetically pleasing, but this is not a big deal anyway.

Specs

These are some specs for the Altec ACS48, but I am warning you, they can be very deceiving. Although these specs don't seem to compare well with other speakers, I guarantee, they are a clear understatement. The speakers perform much better than they may suggest.

One 3/4 inch high frequency tweeter
Drivers (subwoofer): One 6 inch long throw woofer
Satellite Power: 20 Watts per channel RMS at 0.8% THD
Subwoofer Power: 40 Watts at 0.8% THD
System Response: 35 Hz - 20 kHz
Input Impedance: >10k ohms
S/N Ratio: >65dB