If you are still using the speakers that shipped with your PC, you don’t know what you are missing until you try the Altec Lansing VS2421. Altec Lansing’s latest 2.1 stereo speaker system, the VS2421, is a marvelous mid-sized pair of speakers that are definitely a step above average.
The speakers have a mostly black plastic exterior with subtle hints of red but even with such a simple design the VS2421 looks remarkably good. We can almost imagine how good the speakers would look next to a beautiful black LCD monitor. Design-wise, the VS2421 looks pretty much like an average set of speakers. The wires were long enough so that we could place the subwoofer on the floor and the two satellite speakers on my desk. In terms of size, the two 2.5in satellite speakers are compact so they don’t take up a lot of space on the desk. One nifty feature of the speakers is that you have the option of mounting them on a wall using the small catches on their back.
The subwoofer is rather slim, measuring only 5.4in in diameter, and fitted easily under our desk. Bass control is located on the subwoofer itself, so every time we wanted to crank up the bass we had to bend down under the desk to tweak it. However, all the other controls such as volume, treble and power can be found on the wired remote control, which you can put up on your desk and within easy reach. The remote control unit also houses an auxiliary jack for you to hook up an MP3 player, an iPod or a CD player. Additionally, there’s a headphone jack if the situation calls for you to keep the noise level down as well as a microphone, which should come in handy for VoIP calls.
In terms of performance, we was impressed with the rich audio quality of the speakers. When listening to Dashboard by the band Modest Mouse, we could hear how crystal clear the vocals were and loved how the deep the bass resounded from the drums and bass guitar. Even with the speakers turned up at higher volumes, there was no instance of bass distortion or the treble sounding raspy. When we played Call of Duty 4, we was blown away by the amazing sound effects emitted by the speakers. As we set off some explosives in the game, the subwoofer kicked in and delivered some great bass effects that shook my desk. The sound of warplanes approaching for a bombing run was faithfully reproduced by the speakers as it managed to handle the low rumbling sound of the plane engines as they passed by.
The Altec Lansing VS2421 sounds really great for a 2.1 speaker system. It performed well regardless of the kind of music, movie or game that we played on our PC. The bass from the subwoofer sounded strong and deep, and the treble effects were crystal clear. Looks like Altec Lansing has a winner on its hands with the VS2421. If you are looking for a mid-range speaker that is easy to set up and provides good quality sounds, you should definitely check out the VS2421.
Pros : Great sounding bass and treble; wall mount option; wired remote control.
Cons : Bass control difficult to reach.
ALTEC LANSING VS2421
(Altec Lansing)
2.1-channel PC speakers
OUTPUT POWER : 28 watts (RMS)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE : 180Hz to 20kHz
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO : 80dB
Popularity: 21% [?]
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