Customer Reviews

Altec Lansing 251 5.1 Speakers (6-Speaker, Black & Silver)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When coupled with a six-channel soundcard, these speakers sound good for games and movies. The imaging is decent, and the small 5.25" long-throw subwoofer puts out a good amount of bass for its size. For games and movies, I'd give these 4 stars for its performance at its price.

On the other hand, music does not fare as well with this system. The quality of audio reproduction is often the telling tale of a speaker's capabilities. This system's midrange is average at best, and does not provide good separation of instruments. The lack of a separate tweeter certainly doesn't help the higher frequencies come through, as evidenced by the manner in which the cymbals decay. Music doesn't really come to life, in my opinion. Only 2.5 stars for music.

This is an average system, but the surround sound at a low price is very appealing. Overall, it's a good deal if you can get them with no tax and free shipping.

For those of you saying that music doesn't sound that great on these, check out the official website. These speakers are clearly classified under PC Gaming. If you want a good, inexpensive pair of Altec Lansing music speakers, I recommend the ATP3, which you can find here on Amazon. They've got a subwoofer and two satellites. I've also seen them with 4 satellites.

These were the first PC speakers I ever bought and I was kinda nervous since I've numerous speakers at work and they always sound pretty pathetic. I was so ecstatic over my purchase. For half the price of a stereo system, I got better, louder, clearer sound and could play my MP3's without the hassle of burning them first. Altec Lansing is a great company.

these are the best speakers that i have ever gotten! they sound great and i can use them for virtually all devices. it's like i have a great home stereo system that i can actually afford. i would definitely buy from altec lansing again. i also would recommend it to anyone who is looking for great quality speakers at an affordable price.

I purchased these speakers about 5 months ago off of ebay, and I love them. I really don't understand the negative reviews here about them. In response to them sounding different with different kinds of music, I would guess that the reviewer was listening to mp3's, and they are going to sound different depending on the quality of the download. I'm continually amazed how much bass this thing can put out. It's only a 5 1/4" woofer rated at 20 watts rms, but it sounds much better then that. It has great frequency response and sounds great. I will agree that the speakers could use separate tweeters and midranges, but hey, you can get them for under one hundred bucks. I mainly use these speakers for music and I'm very happy with their music reproduction, but where they really come alive is with movies. The sound reproduction for movies is near theatre quality! Another added bonus is the speakers have a setting for 2 channel sound cards as well as 5.1 sound cards. This means you can get sound out of all the speakers even without a 5.1 card. You can even hook these up to your portable CD player and all the speakers will work. Do these speakers sound as good as top of the line Logitech or Klipsch speakers, of course not, but they also are 3 or 4 times less then those speakers. For the money, these are the best you can buy. I would highly recommend them.

I just got these speakers today after only waiting a DAY! Now thats what i call speed. Okay to the speakers, they have to be the best speakers ive ever owned. If your a gamer or watch movies on your computer these are a must have! And you cant beat the price, 70 bucks!
If you where pondering wether to get this or not you defenitly should. Best speakers u can get, that are under $100.

First, I have to say that I do not own these speakers -- not yet. However, I've spent hours auditioning computer speakers in various stores, and I am just amazed at how good these sound compared to almost all of the others, especially those that cost over 4 times more! Also, I spent all of my time auditioning with *music* and not with games, and the music on these was just leaps and bounds above the rest. It is my view that you should buy speakers based on the way various types of music sound, and the games/home theater will be good as well. The kicker for me is in the bass -- no bass is supposed to sound boomy, and these have a nice, tight/accurate bass on music. Almost all of the others -- Logitech, Creative Labs, and even Klipsch -- sounded too boomy, even after several adjustments/placement/etc. And I personally like very crisp highs/mids, and the satellites did a nice job there as well. So, bottom line:

Good = overall sound (especially the tight bass), reasonable size

Bad = styling, low power

Unfortunately, since I haven't owned these, I cannot comment on the build quality or how easy it is to blow them. But for the money, I was just shocked at how good they sounded. Only other speaker that came close IMHO is the Bose (and generally I am not a Bose fan), but it's only a 2.1-channel system. Lastly, the only reason I haven't bought these yet is because I still have an old pair of Advent 2-channel computer speakers that still rivals most of the sub/sat systems I've listened to. But if I must have multi-channel in the near future, this one will be at the top of my list.

The Altec 251s are a very good deal for the money. The satellites sound acceptable for games, and the sub-woofer is surprisingly good sounding. I was expecting thump thump boom boom, and I am surprised to hear some well controlled bass (in a small room). Corner placement of the sub definitely helps. The built-in headphone jack works okay though it is not a high fidelity amp and you can hear some noise and distoration at louder volumes. Now the but... I have a pair of older Altec Lansing studio monitors here (10" woofers, and silk dome tweeters) and a pair of large cabinet Electro Voices for the rear. Couple that with a 100 watt per channel receiver and you realize that there is just no way that little plastic box speakers can put out the power, or pure smooth sound of full range speakers. Mind you the 251's don't sound bad or anything, but they sound like little speakers. No fault to them, they are. Fortunately in a small room, playing 3-D games, they are adequate, if not down right awesome sounding at times. As some have noted the rear speaker cords are on the short side. Plan accordingly. At higher volume levels the system distorts, but in a small room (12x10 or so) they play loud enough that you should be satisfied. The mid-bass is more or less missing, and the mid-range is weak at times, but I suspect this is true of most inexpensive computer speakers. What these do have going for them is a a good balance of features, sound, 5.1 convience, and a great price for what you get.

These specific speakers I was recommended from a personal reference; someone who happens to be an audiophile too. I knew Altec Lansing was a high quality brand, so I imagined the speakers to be a bit more expensive. Not so.

For seventy dollars you're getting a great deal. The sound is great, and the sub is absolutely outstanding. Very satisfied.

These speakers are terrific! they are very easy to install, because the speaker jacks are not only color coded, but only certain speakers fit into certain jacks. The sound is great, but i warn you!!! i spent 3 hours trying to get a "cracking, blowing" sound when they played bass, but i found out that all you have to do is turn down the computer volume, and turn up the speaker volume on the speakers themselves, and this solved the problem. they are terrific speakers for the price, and i would suggest them to all my friends! my only complaint is that you can't completely turn the subwoofer off, but it's not a big problem. other than that, A++++. Oh, just fyi, these speakers sounded much better than the equal value creative speakers. If you don't believe me, just go to any best buy and try them out yourselves! A++

My ears are quite sensitive, so the audible hum the speakers produce when on but not playing music is extremely annoying. I can ignore the noise of the computer fans, but I cannot tune the hum out for some reason--perhaps subconsciously I just don't expect them from speakers, plus the noise is pretty harsh.

The noise also submerges some of the finer details when playing music, especially at low volumes. It doesn't matter too much, since the detail level isn't high at all.

I agree that these speakers are good for people who don't care much about music quality. The bass is strong, though, so if you like bass-heavy music and don't mind the hum and poor midrange/high-end, get these.