Pump It Louder
Pros:
Amasing subwoofer, long input cord, portable(with a few strings)
Cons:
sub self destructs, downright bad satelites.
The Bottom Line:
Cheap thrills for home entertainment. Don't be too loud for a long time.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Since I had already blown one of my three sets of Altec-Lansing / Dell A215's we were getting annoyed with the fact that I play music too loud sometimes. So after about a month of looking we found a $40 set of 2.1 Philips speakers at Wal-Mart. We looked at another set of 2.0 Philips, but we were worried they wouldn't last (they were also $20 more than these.)
After only 10 minutes of debate in the case of Philips vs. Logitech, we bought these with a 10% discount. Even with it they only came out to $55. When we got them home we noticed how big the subwoofer was. After that I took it to my room and tried to find a place for them. Thankfully the input cable with in-line volume control is about 10 feet long. this way I can have the Sub under my bed and connect it to either my TV, radio, cd player, or mp3 player on the other side of my room. The bad thing is, the volume control is only allowed to stay in the middle of the room because it's in the exact MIDDLE of the entire cable...why is it like that???
Anyway, they are very powerful and I like the fact that it is possible to turn the sub completely down. The only problem with this is that the satellites were not designed to have any bass of their own. If you turn the sub to 0 and try to watch TV, it will be the tinniest sound ever heard. To remedy this, I replaced the OEM Philips satellites and connected the Sattelites from the two remaining sets of A215 I had. Thankfully, they have bass. Lots of it when connected to the sub.
The Light on it is a strong blue color that ties the whole thing together. Unfortunately, It's amasingly bright at night when it's the only light in the room that's on. This makes my bed look like it has blue neons under it. which look nice, but when the smallest amount of light keeps you awake, not so much.
When you turn all volume controls to the maximum, the OEM satelites begin to distort badly, but the sub continues to thump without missing a beat. If A215's are connedted to it, they look as if they are about to pop out of their housings, but sound fine at max. Extremely funny to watch and hear. The fine print about that, it will blow the A215's.
Since I go to my firend's houses many times a week, I pack the system into my "backpack" (a 2005 Bug-Out Gear military spec pack) and leave. It's not that heavy ,but then again, it is in no way a feather.
I found out how long it takes to make the rubber surround for the subwoofer to crack, what luck, and amazingly Ayr by Flo' Rida killed it in half an hour. It still worked, but there were about 12 cracks in it. So it was off to walmart again.
When it worked, it was amazing, unfirtunately, it gives too much power to the sub and kills it if forced to its limits for extended periods of time. I knew that would happen, but it was a question of why.
My two cents to give to Philips, design better satelites and give these a sub that handles the watts better. Then, sell them for about $5 more.
