The Bottom Line: If you';re considering a 4.1 speaker system without the cost and unreliability, the Altec Lansing AVS500 is worth a look. You won';t be disappointed.

If you happen to consider on a 4.1 speaker system for gaming, movie viewing and even for audio pleasure there are several choices that are offered in the market today. But many of the generic speaker systems tend to be unreliable and that they don?t really offer the strong bass and pleasing trebles that most people are looking for. But with certain speaker systems that offer just the right kind of bass and treble, they can be very expensive and most people can?t really spend such amount of money for just a speaker system. But with Altec Lansing?s AVS500 speaker system price less than $50, it?s ideal for those who are in a budget and want a decent speaker system for the money.

Hardware

The AVS500 4.1 speaker system comes with a subwoofer and 4 magnetically shielded satellite speakers, for placing the speakers near the video equipment. It also includes an AC adapter for plugging the subwoofer to the power outlet. It?s as simple as that along with the speaker manual.

Installing Procedure

The installation procedure is very easy and without a wired remote control, it?s even much easier than most of the 4.1 speaker systems that are offered in the market today. Plug the active satellite into the mouse port look alike port on the back of the subwoofer and plug the remaining speakers into the speaker output ports on the back of the subwoofer. Then insert the green plug into the green port of the subwoofer and the audio card in the ?Out 1? port. If your sound card happens to have an ?Out 2? port, connect the clear plugs into the ?Out 2? port of the sound card and the clear port into the subwoofer. Before turning the speakers on, plug the subwoofer power cord into the AC outlet (preferably Surge Suppressed). There you have it, your speaker system that you can finally enjoy. There, it only takes less than 10 minutes to do here.

Experience

Immediately after you turn on your speaker system and the multimedia application, you?ll really be expecting a much better audio quality than your old speaker system, particularly for those who are upgrading from a generic speaker system. This is particularly true for Altec Lansing speakers, because they?ve been offering reliable speaker systems to people who are looking to use their speakers for computer multimedia and beyond. At 28W, speakers offer 14W for the each the subwoofer and the 4 satellites, which is generally adequate for most computer gamers and audiophiles. The satellites are compact and it?s ideal for those who are looking for surround sound, without a space premium. To enhance the bass production of the subwoofer, it?s best placed on the floor near a corner of the wall or wall and table leg. The satellite placements would be best when placing on the desk for the 2 front satellites and the 2 surrounding satellites can be placed freely under the length of the cords. However for true 3D audio, Altec doesn?t offer tripod stands for the 2 surrounding satellites. What?s even worse is that the surround satellites can?t even be hanged on the wall, as it doesn?t have any loop that is designed to hang with the screws. Other than that, it?s basically all good as for a 4.1 speaker system. The audio production is excellent, but it could do a little better for the bass. However with the trebles, it doesn?t have a lot of distortion and it?s very clear. Since the bass is ideal for DVD movies, many people may not mind. But for some, they may complain that explosions may not have enough impact.

Final Recommendation

As for the speaker system, I would really recommend the speakers for those who are into computer games, MP3 audio and DVD movies who are also considering generic speaker systems. Believe me, generic speaker systems will cost you even more, because they fail to offer sufficient quality for many users. At about $50, it?s even better for most people since they can afford that kind of money for a quality speaker system. However for privacy purposes, the speaker system doesn?t offer a headphone jack. Combine it with a top quality sound card such as Sound Blaster Live! plus a DVD and/or CD Rewriter drive, you talk about having your very own entertainment studio for your computer.