Customer Reviews

Altec Lansing 121i 2.1 Powered Speaker System

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First off, they have diffrent name then on my box- mine are Bx3. Everything looks the same though. These speakers CRANK! Crystal clear on all notes, ballsy base for audio and games. UT2004 is a blast to play now, Doom3 + reserection becomes more intense with these speakers. All around, beats the hell outas my creative labs set. For the price (24.88 at walmart) they sure as hell give you more for your buck. the plug and play also is great! works with PSP using an adapter jack

I really enjoy listening to these speakers. They have a well balanced sound. I can connect them right to my ipod or laptop. They sound great with any kind of music, games, or movies. I love the fact that they have volume, bass and tone controls all on the front of the base box. Can't beat the price either! I would recommend these speakers to anyone that likes high quality sound but can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars on an expensive speaker system that probably won't sound any better.

I recently purchased these speakers from a local walmart for about $20.00 and I am impressed with the quality of sound that these produce. Altec lansing has always been my brand of choice and has served me well. I play games, watch movies, and listen to music with these speakers and the sound is excellent. they can be very loud and at the higher of volumes, does start shaking things. I tried.i would absolutely recommend these to anyone who wants quality sound.

Altec Lansing used to be a high end brand. My understanding is that they sold out quite some time ago and that the Altec Lansing name has been passed around a few times since. For me that means that I shouldn't buy Altec Lansing based on name only. Unfortunately, I bought these because my other computer speakers are Altec Lansing and I thought that these might be good as well. There are certainly some good Altec Lansing products out there, but warning lights should have gone off in my head when the other reviewer said he had the exact same speakers but branded as "BX3" speakers...

Problems:
-Highs and voices are "lispy".
-All sound is muffled. If you're looking for that 1950's AM car radio sound, here it is! (Yes I played with the knobs and tried to get better sound)
-really cheap satellite speakers. I was truly surprised by how light these satellites are. I took the grill off and all there is is a 2 inch paper speaker. I honestly think I've had desktop computers with better speakers built in!
-off button is on the back of the woofer.

Pros:
-the subwoofer really isn't bad. If the satellite speakers would have been decent, this could have been a nice setup.
-adequate volume with some punch. You're not going to blow off the roof, but it's not bad at all.
-controls work well and are right there on the front of the unit (unfortunately there is no magic "make 'em sound good" button...). :)

Bottom line:
I don't understand how these speakers got such good ratings. I guess it wasn't too long ago that no computer speakers came with woofers. Back then you didn't expect the punch you can even get with this small setup. That could pleasantly surprise you. Unfortunately, the rest of the sound is the pits! I don't expect miracles, but I don't expect to pay $33 for what I would call a $15 flea market "deal". Especially since this price is so close to the low end Logitech 3 speaker sets. My brother in law has a Logitech x-230 and I think I'll return these for a set of those.

After seeing what a cheap speaker is in there, I don't think I got a bad unit. I think it's a cheap set riding on the name of Altec Lansing.

edit June 5th 2009: I replaced the two satellite speakers with a different brand (my brother in law's woofer died in a set), and I'm really happy now. The woofer doesn't give tons of thump, but it gives the perfect amount of bass for general listening.

These speakers meet my need since they are for a guest room computer. They are not as good as the Altec Lansing Model ACS45 that I bought 7 years ago. Noticeable hiss at high volume. Bass response OK. Light weight speakers.

This sound system is small but EXCELLENT value. These are really well balanced and provide great bass for such cheap speakers. To test them out if they were good value, I purchased two other 2.1 sound systems for about 45 or 50 dollars each and one was too little bass and the other had a weird kind of bass where it sounded like it wasn't a clear bass. These are great and I recommend them.

Terrible, ok maybe not terrible but these are bad.
Not only is the sound bad but the wiring is flimsy, and for me caused sporadic sound. So I've had to play with the wires when the subwoofer cuts out. Really disappointed in them even for the $34 I spent.

Wires are too short...could not get the desired separation of the sattelites. Sounds good enough though.

I bought these for my office b/c I took the $100 Altec's that I bought a few years ago home.

They do not compare to the $100 set but neither does the price. A fair deal for the money.

I purchased these speakers without noticing that they do not offer the same features as the Altec Lansing 120i I have at work. This set does not have a headphone jack and the volume and tone controls are on the subwoofer instead of the speakers. This makes no sense to me since most people put their subs under their desks.

These 2 shortcomings made me return the set immediately, but it may not be a big deal for you. I still really like the 120i speakers and suggest them to anyone looking for really inexpensive, small speakers (they do not have a sub).