Philips DSS 350

The Philips DSS 350 speakers caught my eye on the shelf because of the price at which this store was selling them, and to this day I can't figure out why they would sell these speakers so cheap. I purchased them for $50, which is a steal considering the retail price is somewhere in the $120 to $130 range. As I opened up the box, I was convinced that they were not a used set that had been returned to the store for whatever reason.

Even though Philips calls these USB speakers, they work just great when plugged into any sound card via standard 1/8" stereo audio cables.

I plugged the USB cable into my computer, turned it on, and Windows 2000 detected them right away and installed a "Philips USB Audio Device" driver. They have worked great ever since. I'm listening to some Depeche Mode right now as I write this opinion, as a matter of fact.

As for the sound quality, I am very impressed. The high frequencies are very crisp and clear, and it takes a lot of volume to distort them. The bass is very good, but I strongly recommend attaching a subwoofer, as the speakers alone have a frequency response down to only 60 Hz. You simply miss too much of the bass when watching movies and playing games with the speakers alone. The midrange is also very good, clear, and not overpowering, as some speakers can tend to be.

If you plug them in through USB, you will not get any CD audio, which is a slight drawback, but if most of your music is on MP3's, then this may not be a problem. Also, to plug in a subwoofer, you need to convert a standard 1/8" stereo plug into what they call a "sub-mini" stereo audio plug. Just go to Radio Shack and ask for one. One other slightly annoying thing is the volume controls on the speaker do nothing unless the speakers are plugged in through a USB port. However, if you plug your subwoofer into your sound card and then plug these speakers into the subwoofer, you can use the subwoofer's volume control to manage the speakers. This may be a viable workaround for some people.

The CD you get with the speakers has a free game on it and some other goodies, but none of those things worked, as I am using Windows 2000 Professional. Having said that, though, let me also say that I don't miss being able to use that extra stuff, because I don't really need it or particularly want it.

If you want to use them through USB, I strongly recommend using an operating system that handles USB devices (of any kind) with ease like Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows 2000. Even though they say the speakers will work fine on Windows 95 OSR 2 and higher and the original Windows 98, USB support and functionality was less-than-stellar in those operating systems.

Either way you use them, through USB or through the computer's sound card, these speakers sound excellent. As for the somewhat unimpressive bass frequency response, that is really not an issue, as you will always get better bass with an added subwoofer, no matter what speakers you use. The bass that the speakers alone produce, however, is very good, and doesn't force a sacrifice of some performance in the midrange and higher levels.

Even if I paid much more for these speakers, I wouldn't have regretted it at all, and I would pay $130 for them in a heartbeat.