Date: August 9th, 2002.
Article by: Nathan Glentworth (Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: Altec Lansing
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COMPANY PROFILE AND GOALS

Altec Lansing's early technological developments in acoustical and electronic components have earned a place of prominence in sound reproduction few companies can match. The predominance of Altec's name over the years in sports stadiums, arenas, theatres, airports, auditoriums, churches, amusement parks and more recently on desktops within homes and at the workplace attest to this fact. Altec Lansing speaker systems have formed the backbone of the sound systems in such world renowned places as The United Nations Building, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Disneyland and Disneyworld, New York's Lincoln Philharmonic Center and the Schubert Theatre, MGM's Grand Hotel, The Singapore National Stadium, and The Sydney Opera House, to name a few. Today Altec Lansing speakers appear in myriad environments, addressing the wide array of needs for quality audio among diverse professional business people, musicians, families, students, music connoisseurs and gaming aficionados within their respective milieus.

Altec Lansing Technologies, Inc. is the industry leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and support of advanced audio solutions for PCs and related technologies. The company strives to provide outstanding performance and value to leading computer manufacturers, resellers and end users. Altec Lansing is the marketshare leader in the PC speaker system category providing high performance multimedia products for the computer OEM, reseller, distributor and retail marketplace. Altec Lansing employs over 1500 people in facilities throughout the United States, Asia/Pacific and Europe. Altec Lansing's ISO9002 and SA8000 certified manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China, supplies speaker components, micro speaker assemblies and complete audio solutions to partners worldwide.

Altec Lansing is a leading manufacturer and marketer of high quality computer and home entertainment sound systems, and a line of headsets, headphones, and microphones for personal digital media. Our mission is to create and sell industry leading products and services that enable our customers to experience a unique, memorable and high quality audio solution. In the end sound has little to do with watts or decibels or digital technology. It's about the listening experience, those precious moments when the heart is touched or the spirit transformed. The promise of the Altec Lansing brand is that our sound artisans will continue the legacy of blending art with science to stir the soul.

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

Beautiful crisp music whether classical or death metal, immersive gaming, good looks and POWER!! These were all characteristics of computing that I was missing until I was introduced to these compact, yet amazing sounding speakers. Upon the opening of the box, you will be introduced to a stylish set of speakers just like any other brand. But that is where the similarity ends.

Now let's take a look as to what this small yet effective speaker system can bring to your workspace.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

What does the Altec Lansing 221 system bring?

-50 Watts of Total System Power
-25 Watts RMS
-Compact Subwoofer (BOOM!!!)
-Built-In Controls
-Headphone Jack
-Total Connectivity
-Quality Stereo
-Distinctive, All-Decor Styling
-Color-Coded Cables
-Shielded Satellites

PRODUCT COMPOSITION & SETUP

So Nathan, you like this speaker system, SHOW US WHY!!!....

Well, for one, great looks!! This is a VERY stylish and compact system. And LOUD, I'm not kidding!! These things are amazing!! And the treble frequencies are sooo crisp and clear.

All controls are located on the right satellite speaker and allows for easy access to volume control, headphone hookup or just the simple powering up of the system. Now, you think this would be rather elementary, but, it just seems to baffle some speaker manufacturers that most people put the subwoofers under their desks in most environments and don't want to be bending over to turn the sound system on. To all speaker manufacturers that have not adopted this frame of thinking, PUT THE DAMN SWITCHES ON THE SATELLITES LIKE ALTEC DOES!!!!!

Included with the satellites is this compact, yet very powerful ported 4 inch long throw subwoofer. I found it handles the punch bass quite well, but the very low bass frequency kicks were not handled well. This is due to the small subwoofer and not really due to the construction of the sub. Another noted feature in which I find a great addition is an added subwoofer volume control to adjust the bass to the particular song, or in some cases, to turn it off altogether, especially if the roommate is sleeping SSSHHHHHHH!!!!!! =D