Audyssey Lower East Side Media Speaker

by Audyssey

Product Features

• As the first speaker of its kind with both 3.5 mm line and digital optical audio inputs..
• The Lower East Side Media Speakers connects to all your electronics.
• Use them with just about any playback device: computers, Apple TV, Blu-ray players, iPhone models or MP3 player.
• Wherever you want your movies and music to sound better, just add the Lower East Side Speakers.
• Small speakers that can't produce bass, speaker cabinets that make noise, distortion,
• Or even poor sound quality at low volumes are all problems that are solved by Audyssey Smart Speaker technology.
• The Lower East Side Media Speakers use Audyssey Smart Speaker digital technology to provide flawless sound for your computer and media center.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.9 x 9 inches ; 7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8.7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B005FLG3OQ
• Item model number: AUD020003000102
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,920 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #18 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Stereo Components > Speakers > Satellite Speakers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 2, 2011

Product Description

You'll like the way the Lower East Side Media Speakers look on your desktop, but you will love the way they sound. With Audyssey Smart Speaker technology, the Lower East Side Media Speakers let you hear every musical detail: deep bass, warm mids and clear highs. Turn it up and you'll be blown away by the distortion-free, powerful and precise sound. That's the flawless audio quality that you've come to expect from Audyssey.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars BIG sound; small footprint October 15, 2011

By Tom D. TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

I initially got the Audyssey Lower East Side Media Speakers for my wife's MacBook, as she likes listening to music and also watches a lot of movies using it.

The sound quite frankly blew us both away. I ended up "borrowing" them frequently for my home office, where I also like to jam from my own MacBook Pro while working. I did it so often that she ended up ordering ME a pair, too. I was very glad she did!

The speakers are perfect for for small spaces - and in such settings deliver surprisingly rich, clear sound -- the bass in particular is amazing.

Two thumbs (make that four) WAY up for Audyssey's Lower East Side Media Speakers!

UPDATE, July 20, 2012: These speakers ROCK on my Kindle Fire. I've been watching HBO GO movies and shows with the speakers and it is amazing. I've got the speakers setup in my home gym. My elliptical machine has a little shelf designed for holding books, iPods, tablets and I put the Kindle Fire there when working out. Since connecting it to my Audyssey speakers I've been watching tons more video on it. And needless to say when playing music from my Kindle or iPhone, I also use the speakers -- really pleased with these speakers.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lower East Side Speakers September 9, 2011

By SeanO

Amazon Verified Purchase

These speakers sound amazing! Audiophiles will be satisfied with Audyssey's expertise in audio. They are extremely clear, especially through the optical audio port. Don't expect glass breaking bass, however it is definitely present and much more tight than other systems. The passive bass radiators do this well as opposed to a dedicated sub. However, they are expensive and lack a few features I would like to see (ex. wake up from standby). This is the only reason these did not get full stars.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great sound, product massively compromised by a ridiculous "feature" October 17, 2012

By md

First the good news: These speakers have amazing sound for such small units, the best I've heard. Unlike most speakers of this size the Audyssey's actually do sound like speakers about twice their size. They have expansive low to mid-range, so much so that I wish they had a bass and treble adjustment on the speakers. A quick fix in iTunes though, so no worries. Bass is enough to vibrate my desk, a first for computer speakers in my experience, but the highs are still plenty distinct and discernable. At high volume there's a little distortion, but nowhere near as much as I'd expect from speakers this size. These won't replace an actual stereo system, but in a smallish room or for a quick blast they're more than adequate.

Esthetically speaking they're handsome if a bit bland. Ultimately they look like what they are: A pair of speakers with a wire stand. I waffle on whether I prefer my speakers to make a design statement or just "be there" and not attract attention. These definitely fall on the "just be there" side of things. The wire stand they're on almost seems like an afterthought and detracts a bit from the overall ability of the speakers to blend into the background but doesn't add enough oomph to make them seem like their own design element. Sort of a worst of both worlds option, but again it's not a serious problem.

Now the bad news: Functionally these speakers leave a lot to be desired with one glaring flaw that would prevent me from buying these for anything over $100. On the "needs to be improved" end of things, dedicated bass and treble knobs would be nice since these speakers give enough of both that you want to adjust them. The volume/on/off knob on the front of the right speaker is pretty flimsy and cheap feeling for speakers in this price range IMO. And the speaker-to-speaker connection is a hunk of wire with raw ends that go into standard cheap-o plastic speaker clips. Not really acceptable IMO for $100+ speakers, let alone the MSRP.

The big issue, though, is a serious design flaw that would prevent me from buying these speakers again at any price over $100: The speakers have an auto-off "feature" that turns the speakers off after 30 minutes of silence. Unfortunately there is NO corresponding auto ON feature and NO way to defeat this idiotic flaw. Audyssey calls this an "auto sleep" feature, but come on... if the speakers shut down and you have to manually turn them on again that's not "sleep"... that's OFF. Sleep would mean they turn off *and* on automatically. These absolutely do not do that.

Anyways, after 30 minutes of silence the speakers shut down and then you have to MANUALLY turn them back on. That's just ridiculous, there's so many reasons something like this can become a serious nuisance. For instance, I use my computer sporadically throughout the day with usually 45 minutes to an hour between uses. That means every single time I sit down at my computer I have to turn the speakers on. That's absurd. If the speakers can detect no noise and turn off... why can't they detect noise and turn back ON when I play a song or there's a system alert?

And speaking of system alerts... what if I rely on my computer for audio alerts such as email, calendar events etc? If 30 minutes goes by without an alert the speakers shut off and now I won't hear any alerts until I manually turn the speakers on again.

What about incoming skype calls? Sorry, missed your call, my speakers shut off while I was in the other room.

What if you have the speakers located high on a book shelf or somewhere else where they might be inconvenient to reach? Tough luck.

There's a litany of situations where a "feature" like this would make these speakers essentially useless, such as being used as TV speakers. Think about it... if you use these as TV speakers now you have to manually turn your speakers on every time you want to watch TV. Paused the game for dinner? Gotta turn those speakers back on! Got a long phone call from mom? Great, get your @ss up and turn your speakers on again. The auto-off "feature" on these speakers is a classic example of something no one wanted being poorly applied to a product that doesn't need it. If you're going to give speakers an auto-off feature (a ridiculous idea in the first place in my opinion) it should be optional, automatic or at the very minimum configurable. But honestly it shouldn't be there at all. When my computer is on the speakers should be on. Speakers should be the ultimate user-friendly device: You plug them in and you're done. The fact that I have to interact with these speakers as many as a dozen times a day is simply absurd in the extreme.

In conclusion, these speakers really do sound amazing but the auto-off "feature" means I simply can't give them more than 2 stars and definitely do NOT suggest paying anything over $100 for them. I'm listening to some music as I type this and I really am blown away by the deep base, silky mid-tones and clear, discernable highs. But the fact that it's only 9am and I've already had to turn my speakers on 3 times today makes me doubt that I'll be keeping these on my desk very long. I bought these on Woot for $80 and frankly if I'd paid more than $100 I would return them, despite their performance in the sound department. I'll probably end up relegating these to my garage work bench or somewhere else where I don't spend too much time and am already turning things on when I arrive anyways... because I'm already beyond annoyed at constantly turning these on at my desk and also constantly missing system alerts.

Great sound + massive design flaw = look elsewhere unless you can get a screaming deal.