Customer Reviews on Amazon.com

1. 58 of 67 people found this review helpful

   By TropicalMinnesota on Amazon.com 8 July, 2009

   Good, basic speakers

   Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)

   These speakers will never make my computer sound like my expensive stereo with Bose surround sound, but for the money they work great. I especially like that they do not require a separate power source but can run off the USB port on my notebook. I didn't expect that they also need to be connected through the headset jack. This cable sticks out on the front of my computer and gets in my way. Not a huge problem and one that desktop users won't have, but I thought the USB would be the only attachment I needed.
2. 18 of 19 people found this review helpful

   By Jesse S on Amazon.com 25 November, 2009

   Big bang for the buck

   For under $20, amazing sound. I read the many reviews here before buying, and a few people complained of low volume, not enough adjustability, static and/or distortion. I just hooked mine up and am blown away by how good these sound. Listening to chamber music at good volume, the strings and piano come through with nice clear treble and mid-range, and with more bass than I would have expected from speakers the size of soda cans. I don't have any of the problems that some reviewers mentioned. Even at full volume, which is considerable, there is almost no distortion. No, they may not be "audiophile" quality, but if you're an audiophile, why are you buying $20 speakers? For the rest of us non-audiophiles who just want decent sound, you can't beat these with a stick. I'm going to buy a few more for Christmas giving.
3. 10 of 10 people found this review helpful

   By Ed on Amazon.com 6 October, 2010

   Great TV Speakers

   Bought a 22" Vizio for the kitchen. The speakers are extremely small and do not project too well as the TV is ultra slim. The TV does have a USB port for upgrades. I plugged this into the headphone jack and hooked up to the USB port. What a difference! Major improvement in the sound, in fact, it's just hard to believe the difference. They turn off with the TV and the TV volume controls the speakers....just great! So....I just ordered a second pair to hook up to the 20" in the den. I was not sure if the TV USB would power these as it is specially designated for a laptop, anyway, they work fine. I like the fact that you can place them further apart to get a better two channel sound.
   
   Hope this is of some help if you were considering these for something else than a laptop.
   Ed
4. 9 of 9 people found this review helpful

   By Juan Trevino on Amazon.com 16 December, 2009

   Awesome Price for Awesome Sound

   I bought these speakers because I wanted mini laptop speakers that were powered by a USB connection. Well these babies cost me 15 bucks so I figured they would be OK. When I hooked them up I was blown away by the quality of the sound. The highs are very impressive and the bass of course does not rattle the room but it does put out a full sound that makes these speakers a no-brainer if you want mini speakers. They are not the smallest of the pack but the reason is that Altec Lansing maxed the bass by making the box in the shape of a Bazooka type sub-woofer and even has port holes on the back, this design was very well thought out. I covered the holes on the back to compare the sound and it was a very noticeable difference. The only con i see is that they are to big to carry in your PC case but if you can deal with that I highly recommend them, especially for the price.
5. 6 of 6 people found this review helpful

   By Raymond T. Payne on Amazon.com 27 July, 2009

   Amazing little speakers

   These speakers are just amazing.I hooked them up to my HP Pavillion desktop in less than 2 minutes. I wanted to test them so I logged onto my netflix and put on a movie. All I can say is "WOW" Do not let their size deceive you, for little speskers they pack a BIG punch. My wife was in our bedroom watching TV she ask me to turn the volume down and that's about 30 feet away for our desktop. Very stylish & unique design. Well worth the cost and them some. These were perfect for me. I have a very good 23" monitor, It would be a great monitor, but has weak speakers. I'm not a Gamer & I don't listen to music, but I watch movies, utube & all the news stations. This was a perfect solution. Thanks Altec Lansing for a beautifully design product.
6. 8 of 9 people found this review helpful

   By Mo on Amazon.com 30 December, 2009

   Best USB powered speaker I've found - period.

   I'm a small/travel speaker nut of sorts owning many systems from the only available in China Edifier systems, to small disc speakers, to the Bose MusicMonitors. My current travel speaker of choice is the Bose MusicMonitor which is overpriced at the retail of $400 but it is the best small speakers bar none.
   
   However, these deserve 5 stars for two simple reasons.
   
   1. They are by far, the best of the breed for USB powered speakers. There're no batteries or AC adapter required. It is absolutely UNFAIR to rate these speakers in comparison to other AC powered speakers since they are in different categories. I ran it off at full volume off my tiny 2 lbs laptop on battery power. Nothing else is quite like it terms of sound quality and volume.
   
   Music is quite listenable, though not high fidelity. (Even the Bose MusicMonitor at $400 are not high fidelity.)
   
   2. They are $20. Even AC powered $20 speakers would be hard pressed to be a whole lot better.
   
   Other than the slightly large size, these are perfect laptop presentation speakers - more than adequate to fill a small room for a dozen people
   
   Given what they are, definitely deserve 5 stars.
7. 3 of 3 people found this review helpful

   By Douglas Figueredo on Amazon.com 24 June, 2009

   USB for power is fantastic - 4.5 stars really.

   Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)

   These are actually great little speakers. About the size of soda can, they look pretty stylish and are rather well constructed given the price point. Very easy to set up, you don't need instructions (there aren't any, anyway - the booklet just has the usual info about being careful with electricity in about five languages). Plug it into your USB port for electricity and the male jack into your audio source. Click it on and that's it. The sound is better than average for this price point and has reasonable clarity, fullness and power - the design probably helps here by giving a nicely sized echo chamber behind the speaker. Don't expect them to compete to higher price speakers or a stereo system, but they'll surely be better than your laptop speakers. I wouldn't travel with these, as I think there are flatter designs that would be better for that. But they'll look nice on your desk if you don't have a stereo nearby.
8. 5 of 6 people found this review helpful

   By Santeria on Amazon.com 15 July, 2009

   Visually Good

   Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)

   Altec Lansing speakers usually fit a specific design of purpose. These speakers are powered by USB and connect to the PC audio out.So, they are , it would seem, designed to replace those previously atrocious general speakers that PCs and laptops have had for ages. In testing the response of the speakers the obvious missing component is a sub-woofer; clearly a set of music speakers is not the main purpose.Even down to 75% of total load, these speakers do not perform at their best with most music. If you use the music at low volumes it does work, but it kind of defeats the purpose of speakers, so one would expect someone would use headphones instead. However, where this set of speakers Excels immensely is for general speech radio/audio playback; these speakers give clear and dulcet tones through what sounds like great speakers. Used for low music( background) or very good speech playback, these speakers are excellent.
9. 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

   By A. Young on Amazon.com 31 January, 2012

   Did wonders for my flatscreen TV's "tin can audio" problem

   I recently purchased a Sharp LC26SV490U 26-Inch 1080p LCD TV - Black , which has a wonderful picture but just passable sound (as most lower-priced flatscreens do). Since I'm working with limited shelf space around the TV, I decided to give these compact little Altec speakers a try -- I figured for only $11, they were worth a shot. And I'm very pleased with said shot: they've done wonders for the sound quality on the TV. The sound is much more even now at all levels, and I had to turn the speaker volume up to full to get any distortion (to avoid having to play with the volume on the actual speakers, I just set their volume to one high-ish level and have continued to use the remote to adjust the volume on the TV itself). The speakers also plug right into the TV's USB port, which is nice because then they power off when I turn off the set.
   
   If you're looking for a surround-sound, bass-drowning listening experience then you'll probably want something more intense than these, but if you're just looking to improve the sound quality on your TV or computer, then I highly recommend these.
10. 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

    By Peggy Morgan on Amazon.com 18 January, 2012

    Love these speakers

    This is my second set of these speakers; the other set is on a different computer. I tried speakers from a retail location first, and they were very noise and produced a lot of static. Decided to go back to the "old faithfuls" and they're just perfect.