Review: Expressionist BASS Speakers from Altec Lansing
3:46 pm, February 3rd, 2009, Lonnie Lazar
Not long ago, I reviewed Altec Lansing’s expressionist CLASSIC PC speakers and found them great value for the money. After listening to them for a while beyond the publication of that review, I still loved the sound quality from those $80 speakers but found myself wishing for a little more oomph on the bottom end.
Well, I should have known Altec had already thought of that. Ingeniously engineered into the small-footprint housing of their Expressionist BASS computer speakers, powerful 4″ (100mm) long-throw subwoofers deliver all the lows that are typically missing from the little speakers you find sitting on desks all over the world.
Of course, you could spend lots of money on high-fidelity audio components for a computer set-up, which in many cases would include a separate subwoofer that sits at your feet or hides somewhere nearby, effectively dispersing the low frequency signals you need to get a truly rich audio experience on the computer. Altec Lansing has managed to put that all together for you in a pair of attractive desktop cones that are super easy to hook up and sound great without breaking the bank.
Twin 1 ½” drivers deliver mid and high frequencies so vocals and details come through with the clarity you expect from the company’s long history as a quality speaker manufacturer, and the sub-drivers in each speaker really do provide that punch-in-the-head color you want from your online gameplay, movie watching and YouTube browsing. They also have an auxiliary input for conveniently connecting portable CD, DVD, and MP3 players.
To get the most out of these speakers I had to play around with the EQ in my iTunes app to correct for their increased bass response, but once I got everything balanced the way I wanted it, I found I could actually listen to all sounds from my computer at a lower overall volume than previously and now, two weeks into using them, I find I actually mute the computer volume quite a bit less than I used to, and I work with music on in the background more as well.
For $130, Altec Lansing Expressionist Bass computer speakers could help you come to love computer audio.
Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Hardware, Media, Music, Reviews | Comment on this article
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They look like Daleks.
JJ, on February 3rd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Good to see a review of these. I’ve been interested in them since seeing them appear on the Apple store. Seems like a really clever idea for pc speakers to put the subs in the speakers themselves.
martin, on February 4th, 2009 at 12:06 am
While I think it is technically very interesting, the damn things look like black cones. Not very sexy.
Chris Peterson, on February 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
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Hardware News - Linksammlung « meinekleineApfelkiste.de, on February 9th, 2009 at 6:12 am
“the damn things look like black cones. Not very sexy.”
I suppose it is sexy if you are a conehead. Bad, I know.
I am trying to figure out what decent speakers to get for my Macintosh Imac.
At the Apple store, I saw Bose for $399 (a ridiculous price) and Creative Labs HD50 which sounded somewhat tinny. The latter was not in stock in the Apple Store. I bought the HD50i (with itouch dock) from Buy.com. They came in a box that was beat-up and clearly opened before. The technology of the wiring looked antiquated – PS2 ?????!!
jean, on April 4th, 2009 at 4:38 pm