Customer Reviews

Altec Lansing VS4121 2.1 Computer Speaker System, 3 piece

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

... the Altec Lansing VS4121 2.1 Speaker System provides a remarkable return on a relatively meager investment. As I write this, I am listening to a 1930s recording of Django Reinhardt and hearing every note and nuance of the music; as well as every cough, click, and pop on the antique recording. A $99 investment is providing a vastly improved computing and listening experience while at my desk.

The speaker system comes in a light and compact packing box. The included instructions are rendered completely superfluous by simple and intuitive design - just stick the green wire in the green hole and the tan wire in the tan hole, then turn 'em on and enjoy. Connection to a computer, MP3 player, or the like is via the standard 1/8 inch jack. Additionally, an adapter wire is provided for those wishing to use the speakers in a dual-RCA connector application (e.g. a Sony Playstation). Disappointment will result from inflated expectations. The Altec Lansings are not audiophile speakers. A critical ear will easily detect the sort of coloration common in desktop systems. The midrange is a bit weak; but the downfiring design of the relatively large mid-range cones in the satellites goes a long way towards minimizing this effect. Once the ear becomes accustomed to a slight tinniness, the remarkable clarity of these speakers becomes apparent. The bass module easily does its share - and then some. Tweak the EQ and crank the volume, and you'll have a fine system for gaming or DVD watching at your computer (I can rattle the pens in the cup on my desk if I wish). Build quality appears first-rate, and I have had no reliability problems. Controls are close at hand - if your hand is near the right satellite speaker. Volume, bass, treble, and power are on the front face (see picture, above); and a welcome headphone jack is on the right side of the same speaker.

I suppose this system may be viewed as an evolution of the Altec Lansing ATP3LA 3piece speaker system, well-reviewed here at Amazon and available as of this writing for $60. The VS4121 bring a freshened look, the aforementioned headphone jack, and some sonic tweaking to the table.

I examined the competing models from JBL, Logitech, and Creative. Bearing in mind that listening tests are so subjective as to be of dubious value, I will say that none matched the Altec Lansings their clarity and openness of sound, or their cozy design values. Creative's I-Trigue came closest; but its design involved a separate wired control unit that I feared would clutter up my desktop. Further, this control was far too light and skittered away from the approaching hand. Within this price range, you can purchase the Altec Lansing VS4121 system confident that you could not have done better in the computer speaker category.

The fair market value of ~$75.00 for these speakers is quite attractive, never-the-less, I returned my set a week after purchase and I will tell you why.

1) Sound quality is marginal at best. The highs are only apparent & clear if you turn the bass down to about 15-20% and the treble to about 55-60%. Without this adjustment, the sound is quite muddy and highs are lost to the droning lows. If you listen to these speakers next to Klipsch 2.1's ($140) or Creative's 250D's ($125) you will be amazed at the difference in accuracy and clarity. Now, admittedly, the VS4121's are half the price (roughly) but the difference is well worth the increase in QUALITY sound considering more and more of our entertainment is computer based (for instance - my entire audio collection is on my drive).

* Sidenote for your understanding: I listen to a great deal of Electronic which has a wide frequency range. Highs are extremely important. These speakers couldn't keep up. I also had a problem with 1 single track where low's were cutting out all together.

2) The manufacturer warns of a detectable buz or hum from the sub if the a/c current in your home operates @ 60 cycles. This is picked up and transmitted through the sub whether your speakers are connected to an audio source or not. This problem is WITHOUT REMEDY. My house was built in 1998 (relatively new) yet this became an enormous problem, regardless of where I plugged them in. The manual says that it's only detectable at low levels or with no audio source. A track would end and I would hear bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz until the next track began or I shut the speakers off completely. I don't experience this problem with any other speakers (multimedia or otherwise) in my home.

3) For the price (MSRP of $129.00), a remote (wired or wireless) would be a wonderful upgrade. You may not realize but reaching for the satellite to adjust EQ and volume is troublesome especially considering they need adjustment quite frequently.

Other than these gripes, the finish of the sub and satellites is quite nice and the audio cables are longer than they were on the old ATP3's which helps with configuration options.

I researched these speakers EXTENSIVELY before purchasing them. As is the case here, the vast majority of the user reviews on the various online merchant web sites are all extremely positive. The professional reviews, however, are more accurate. Read on if you want to know why this system is getting RMA-ed.

Most professional reviews that I located viewed this 2.1 speaker system quite favorably, but ALL mentioned one significant fact - the speakers have NO mid-range....and, in my experience, it's true. The idea of a down-firing mid-range on each satellite was sheer genius. The approach allows the speakers to be small and elegant with a stealth mid-range that also provides a low center of gravity so that the sats do not tip over (a common problem for tall and narrow sats). Yes, sheer genius...in the design phase. In practice, the down-firing mids do not work as advertised. The design leaves the mid-range completely empty and you are left with a WAY overly aggressive bass sub and bright, BRIGHT tweeters. No amount of fussing with the bass and treble controls will solve this problem. I constantly found myself reaching for the controls trying to tone down the aggressive bass and the PIERCING tweeters...all to no avail.

Okay, I knew this was going to be a problem when I purchased them...these facts were clear in all the professional reviews. "So what?", I figured. These are not very expensive and they just look so darned good. So I gave them a shot.

They arrived and I was incredibly impressed with their design. The wiring is ingenious (and unobtrusive) and the controls are within easy reach (and that's a good thing because of the aforementioned issues with the sound range)....and yes, they looked FANTASTIC next to my flat panel and small Shuttle cube. So, after I finished fiddling with the knobs, did I decide to keep them? Absolutely no way, and it had nothing to do with the mid-range.

As another reviewer pointed out, the sub emits a constant low frequency signal whenever the speakers are turned on. This is not a defect in one or two pairs...it is a design defect. Altec would have you believe that it is normal and states as much in the user manual, but I have never heard another sub do the same. The noise is not just distracting, it is maddening. The actual problem is that the sub design did not adequately insulate the input power source from the input audio source...so you end up listening to a gut-penetrating version of your house's AC current when you are not putting an audio source through the system.

I leave my speakers on all the time when I am using my computer...regardless of whether or not I am listening to music. In fact, they are on the same power strip and come on automatically. That way, I get to hear all the other windows feedback (beeps, new mail tones, etc.). I found myself constantly turning these speakers off lest I start to go insane from the hum.

BTW, I am not an audiophile and these issues still stood out. The hum was noticed by others the moment that they walked into the room. "What the heck is that?" was a common response.

Without the hum, these are 4 star speakers. No mid-range is an issue, but hey, they look great and are not very expensive. With the hum, however, they are one star at best.

Now where is that UPS man? Today, I have a package for HIM. :)

As a replacement for an old set of CS 4-Point Surrounds, these are remarkable. The soundstage is palpable, highs shimmer (with proper treble adjustment of around 70%), lows are well-defined and punchy (with bass turned down to around 25%, this thing can go a little crazy), and the convenience of having volume, bass, treble, power, AND a headphone jack on the right speaker is HUGE.

I was aware of a potential dip in low to mid-midrange frequencies due the downward firing driver; it's there, but very VERY slight. I do have a highly reflective soft pine desk, though. Volume, while not room-demolishing, is great, and distortion isn't a factor until well beyond comfortable listening volume.

Appearance is great, and the speakers themselves feel solid. This is one of the better ways I've seen the slim profile handled; like it or not, speakers size is directly proportional to their ability to move air and generate midbass frequencies. By including a 3" midrange, Altec has made a speaker than balances form and function perfectly. I can't recommend these enough, espescially at the price!

The Altec Lansing VS4121 is the epitome of a 2.1 speaker system.

I bought JBL's Creature II's before returning them for Altec's pieces of pure genius. Not that the Creature wasn't good... it was gorgeous just to look at and complimented my iPod quite nicely! I just didn't feel as though it was giving off the sound as intense as I would've wanted it to.

I don't know much about speakers, I only know whether what I hear is acceptable or not. I listen to alot of classical music, alternative, trance, and new age, so clarity and versatility is an issue with me.

I've these for my iPod, my PS2, my PC, my DVDs. The VS4121 actually has the flexability and performance to excel in all aspects of usage. However, be warned that the listed price above may not be the total amount you spend on these fine speakers.

What you may have read in the other reviews is, to many people's dismay, true. There is a buzz when there is no audio input. And, to me, it is, under no circumstances, ignorable.

There is, however, a solution. Since this buzz is caused by "ground loop", inherent in a household's electric grid, one may purchase a funny little device called a "ground loop isolator" to vanquish the evil buzzing that is a byproduc of ground loop. There are more expensive, gold-tipped isolators for about 30 dollars, however, I just bought the not-so-fancy RadioShack ground loop isolator. It doesn't cost more than 20 dollars and pretty much eliminates the buzz. But I think it is fair that prospective buyers be aware of this.

[Note: All dollar values are American dollars.]

4 of 5 stars. Exceptional performance for a reasonable price... though, Altec COULD have made their own filter for this buzz, and that, alot may argue, can be worth more than one star's loss.

I've owned this 2.1 muti-media speaker system for 6 months and I've been thoroughly satisfied with it. It was easy to set up out of the box, simply plug in color coded plugs to the corresponding color coded jacks on the back of my year-old Dell desktop, plug in the power and I was ready to go.

When I received this system as a gift I was in the process of looking for a inexpensive upgrade from the common tin-can speakers that usually accompany desktop computers. While I am no audiophile, I am sensitive to the extremely poor audio quality that can commonly be found in some lower-level speaker systems, and the VS4121 have been a welcome addition to my home PC set-up. Typically, I use them to watch DVDs, some on-line gaming, and to listen to mp3 files while surfing the internet. What I don't do is crank up the volume to "max" and try to listen to audio from other rooms. My audio experience has always been from about two feet away. From that distance, the lows have always been low enough and the highs high enough to satiate this compulsive film viewer.

One nice feature is that the master volume (along with the Bass, Treble and Power knobs and switch) is located on the right speaker and is easily interactive when I desire to mute all the bells, dings and whistles I come accross while internet surfing.

One drawback would be that the sub-woofer is not video shielded, so that precludes a close-to-my-CRT-monitor set-up... but that wasn't really a problem for me because there is ample cable length and I have a lower shelf on my computer desk.

I'm babysitting a set of these for the summer, and I am extremely impressed, enough to go out and buy some for myself in the fall. I'm wondering why I spent $1500 on speakers, sub and amp... at low volumes these are an excellent replacement.

Very nice, powerful sound. I found I needed to turn the bass down to about 10 oclock and the treble up to about 2 oclock to get a nicely balanced sound (it's pretty boomy and dull otherwise). Once you do that the result is very pleasing. I do not hear the hum that others complain of, I admit that would be annoying. Midrange sounds fine to me. The imaging of these speakers is nice... guitar chords seem to hang suspended above my desk. Horns sound bright and sassy. Vocals sound pretty neutral to me. Snare drums have crack and texture. Kick drums have some real b***s. Others have complained the bass is inaccurate... sounds fine to me and I'm reasonably fussy, I'm not just a boom-head (although if you are these will do the trick)...I have no trouble hearing and following complex bass guitar passages on any prog rock material. In general, it is very very easy to distinguish different instruments in the material. Volume wise they will easily go well past comfortable listening volumes if you're sitting at your desk.

Build quality is nice. These things look more expensive than they are (when I first saw/heard them I guessed they were about $250). It's great to have tone controls at hand (I know audiophiles frown on them, but for sub audiophile equipment they are a necessity).

Overall, I am astonished at the price/performance ratio. Something this good would have cost several hundred dollars ten years ago.

I've had (and loved) Altec's ATP-3s for years, but after thousands of hours I think a tweeter has gone south. So naturally, I turned to these -- the successor to the ATPs. But compared to the ATPs, the vs4121s are like a bull in a China shop.

1. The bass is overpowering and muddy. Altec increased the power to the sub and lengthened the port without doing anything to rein in the boomy, inaccurate low end that results from such a move. The ATPs had the perfect amount of bass response with a flat setting. I've got the bass knob on the 4121s turned down to 1/4 of the range and it's *still* boomy and not the least bit accurate.

2. Not quite bright enough flat -- but the ATPs also suffered from this. I have to nudge the treble a little bit. HOWEVER, doing this on the 4121s produces a clearly audible hiss from the sats, while the ATPs have no such hiss.

3. Hum. The sub does produce a humming sound. However, it's not as bad as some other people say. (Note: I've got the speakers plugged into the same high-quality surge protector as the rest of the computer -- the recommended setup to avoid ground loop noise.)

4. No second input? Come on... every other speaker sold today has an auxiliary input. (The headphone jack is a nice addition, though.)

In conclusion, Altec took a well-balanced, nuanced speaker system (that could be loud if you wanted it to be) and replaced it with a menacing, overpowered system that can't be subtle or accurate to save its own life. Recommended only for mindless bass-heads.

(FYI, I used an M-Audio Transit external sound card in these tests, which I recommend highly to anyone who listens to a lot of music on a laptop.)

What a wonderful surprize. It took about ten minutes to install them to my HP Media center computer. They replace speakers that came with my 19" monitor which were lousy to say the least. (speaker make with held) But the vs 4121s surpassed all my expectations. While I am not an audiophile, I do admire and expect good faithful sound reproduction and these speakers more than do the job. I don't understand how the more expensive ones can do any better. Suffice to say I am completely satsfied and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for their moneys worth.

I concur with J. Osborn (Sacramento, Ca), but I am still happy with the purchase as it was for my girlfriend and she LOVES them! I agree that the highs seem to be getting lost and I often turn the bass down, however I also realize that the bass is about 8 inches away from my head. We are evaluating how and where to place these speakers for better performance, and I think that will help. I also noticed the buzz that J. Osborn spoke of.

So I deducted 2 stars for those critisism's and then I gave 1 star back for styling and price. They are attractive speakers, if that is important to you. Amazon had these for $66 at the time, plus with the $30 credit for signing up and using the Amazon credit card, and the Amazon Associate kickback and the SuperSave Shipping, they came in under $35.

So I would say even in the $70 range, these are pretty nice speakers if you can deal with the slight buzz. Certainly you can spend more, but when can't you? We tested them first at local store and comparred with Logitech speakers in the same range and these sounded better to us there. I have a $300 surround sound from Logitech that I think is the best purchaes I have ever made, but for this price range, these are nice speakers and outside of the buzz issue (if you have it) I think you will be happy with them. As with any audio purchase, the best thing to do is listen to them before you buy them.