Customer Reviews

Cyber Acoustics CA-3550 2.1 Computer Speaker System - Silver

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've been using these speakers for maybe a couple of years now. I am in the process of looking for speakers for my wife's computer, and I was surprised to see these still available. Everyone who has heard these speakers played off my laptop (currently a Sony Vaio) are floored! I can't believe the bad reviews! And when I tell people that they only cost $40 they just can't believe it!

I wouldn't classify myself as an audio snob, but I do have a multi-$k home system, and a Mark Levinson system in my car, so I know what great sound sounds like. These speakers are clear and crisp, have incredible bass, and have the power to be played rather loudly. I'm right now listening to Real Jazz on XM, and the sound is clean. The bass can be a little boomy, but it is separately adjustable, and hey, these are $40 speakers!!

For those who think these speakers have poor sound, I have to believe that this is due either to (a) a poor sound card, or (b) limited bandwidth for achieving high fidelity.

I have had absolutely no problems with these speakers. I've knocked them off the desk multiple times, and the wiring continues to hold up. In fact, I like these so much that not only am I going to buy another set for my wife, but I also bought a system for my office. Unfortunately, that was a cheaper set, and the sound isn't quite as outstanding, but still I have had no problem with their reliability.

If they were $400 I wouldn't rate them this highly, but for $40 they're 5 stars!

OK, this was kind of an impulse buy. I've had a problem watching TV late at night because if I turn the TV up loud enough to understand voices, my wife can't sleep. I'd considered headphones (cordless), but ruled them out as I like to lie down to watch TV, and headphones would be uncomfortable. Then I thought about putting speakers in the headboard of my bed, on my side. That way, I could add volume on my side of the bed only. It worked, by the way. If you have a problem with a spouse who can't sleep while you are watching TV, try a set of small speakers on your side of the bed only.

Anyway, I'd go with Altec Lansing speakers for better sound (I already own them, and use them with my computer), but the only decent ones I could find at the CC I shopped in were much more than I wanted to spend. These Cyber Acoustic speakers were well within my price range, so I decided to give them a shot.

The cabling of these speakers is horrible. The actual speaker wires are extremely thin and flimsy. What's worse, is that the speakers are packaged from the factory with about 6" (six INCHES) of separation between the left and right speakers. I'm not exaggerating. I almost returned them as (at first) I thought this was a factory defect. After all, you couldn't even use the speakers if they could only be separated by such a short distance. Then I noticed that the clip (which holds the left and right speaker wires together) was adjustable. This isn't much help, however. After you move the clip, the wires still need to be TORN apart to increase the separation between the speakers. The wires are so flimsy that it would be VERY easy to damage your speaker wires doing this. Another problem with the speaker wires is that they are permanently fixed to the speakers. Why is this a problem? Well it's not a problem, unless you need to mount the speakers in a cabinet of some kind, and want to route the wires out of sight. See, there's no way to pass the wires THROUGH a cabinet from one speaker to the other, without having to put a whole speaker through the cabinet. In my case, the areas of my headboard between the left and right speaker are separated by a divider. I wanted to route the cables through the back of the headboard, but I couldn't. I had to settle for leaving the cables on the headboard with the speakers. This looks ugly, and the cables interfere with my storing other stuff in the headboard. (such as TV remote)

On sound quality . . . well, I bought these things to listen to TV with. We have Dish Network satellite service. I used RCA style cables to connect the Dish Network receiver to these speakers, using an adapter that came with the speakers. For TV use, the sound is OK. To get the subwoofer volume control (this is a separate control from main volume) set correctly, I hooked up a DVD player to these speakers and listened to one of my favorite music CDs. These speakers have lots of really low bass. That's not necessarily good. See, while it has lots of low bass, the mid-bass response is rather lacking. So with these speakers you either have not enough bass, or too much low bass, depending on how you adjust the subwoofer.

For the price, the sound isn't too bad. I wouldn't recommend these speakers if your primary use is to listen to music though. As I said before, to listen to TV, the sound is decent. I imagine these speakers would be good for computer gaming, also.

By the way, Cyber Acoustics claims these speakers are 60W. They could be, but CC seems to think that they are 40W. I like the power switch and ANALOG volume control on the right satellite speaker. These controls are handy, and work well.

If you need speakers for music use, I'd recommend something by Altec Lansing. But try to get an analog volume control, if possible. My Altec Lansing three piece computer speakers are simply awesome for music use (mp3 files and such). They sound MUCH better than my new Cyber Acoustics speakers. But I don't like the digital up/down volume buttons on my Altec Lansing speakers. -Dave

I bought this and all the subwoofer would put out was a Thump sound for the bass-lines. No real tone, just a thump. I took it back for a logitech x220 and I am much happier.
This also has one other HUGE problem. When I opened the box there was a sticker on the subwoofer stating that there is no magnetic field protection around the unit. Don't set it near hard drives, disks, tapes, etc. That worried me and was the other reason I returned it.

I gave the system four stars, taking the price into consideration. They are not the equal of better systems like Altec Lansing, but they are really good for the price. We actually use a set as our stereo speakers in the kitchen. I don't know of a satellite-subwoofer system for the price that even comes close.

My son just bought a pair for our computer. Given the generally marginal quality of mp3 computer audio, these speakers are fantastic for the price.

This product was for a great price but the sound that it put out was very tinny and sometimes very distorted at low and high volumes. The largest problem i had was that the subwoofer crackled a lot. 1 out of 3 times i turned it on it would just start crackling. I regret getting this product and have realized that in terms of sound systems, the size does not matter. This is proved by the fact that the satellites are really half the sizr that they look. The actual driver is located on the lower half of the satellite and the upper half has nothing behind the covering. This was dissapointing. Do not be fooled by the size of this system. You can spend your money on a lot better system than this one.

I hooked this little system up to the tv in my home library and the sound is unbelievable! The performance quality is much more than I expected for the price. I definitely recommend this system not only for your budget but for your ears!

I'm sorry I have to give these speakers a bad review - they look pretty good and in general the sound is excellent. Unfortunately they crackle on 90% of the songs we play.

I also find the LED light on the front annoying, but everyone else in the house thinks it's ok - so that's just personal choice.

They aren't that cheap here in Canada - we paid $80 plus tax for them, so back to the store they go.

This is a compact, reasonably-priced powered speaker set. I have a larger Logitec Z set at home, but needed something smaller for my office. I am an amateur musician and appreciate good sound quality. For the price, these speakers are excellent. The highs are crisp and the bass is not too boomy or overpowering,though there is plenty of power. I keep the volume way down and there is still plenty of 'umph' to feel the lows well. There is plenty of reserve power so that there is no hint of distortion even at levels higher than I can begin to crank at work. I can tell that it would be great at home at higher volumes. There are good sound qualities with folk, rock, hip-hop (bass is great for this!) There is no distortion even at higher levels...though I haven't maxed out the volume in my office setting yet. There is plenty of room for separation between the speakers (at least 5 feet). All in all I am very pleased with these speakers.

I recently purchased these speakers after much searching. Yes you can find better speakers if you want to pay double what these cost. No these are not meant to handle your favorite booty-bass mix CD at 1,000,000 decibels. They are however pretty powerful at 68 total watts. They seem to work great for me. I haven't had any trouble with distortion or muffled sound. Whether its music, games, DVDs these speakers are great as an addition to any home computer.