Speakers Reviews

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In my humble opinion, if you are primarily interested in blowing off the roof while you crank up the volume for rap music, then put the CD in your stereo.

These speakers are not causing Dolby to lose sleep at night but for a home computer system, they are nothing short of excellent.

Sleek, extremely lightweight and designed so they can fit almost anywhere, they are wonderful for any home/office. And the sound? Perfect. Test them with any of Amazon's audio clips while you are on-line and you can see how professional Altec Lansing made these.

But what brings it all together is the price. For [a reasonable price], these perform better than most speakers that come with boom boxes and mini-audio systems.

So, if you want concert hall sound, go to a concert hall. But if you want to upgrade from the (usually) shoddy speakers that come pre-packed with most computers, these are the ones to buy.

I bought these speaker many years ago, probably about 7 years ago I think, for $100. They are a great set of speakers. I was happy with them then, and I am still happy with them now. Yes, I still have them and they still sound great. I listen to CD's in my car, on boom boxes, and on other computer speakers, but am still amazed at the quality and extra sound reproduction that I get with these speakers on my home computer or laptop. I see that Amazon has them for just over $50, at that price they are a steal. You won't be disappointed

For a month I researched and looked at so many speakers. I decided on these speakers. All I can say is WOW! These are better than most stereo speakers I have heard. I am MORE than satisfied and was TOTALLY blown away! Combine the unbelievable qualtiy with the price and these qualify for a five star rating. I can't say enough and have absolutely nothing negative to say about these speakers. I am very happy with my decision and would recommend these without hesitation. If you are looking, look no further.

I bought these over a month ago from Amazon, and they are truly amazing. I've heard lots of computer speakers, and this set beats all of them hands down. There are some things you should know, however: (1) these speakers WILL work on the final release of Windows 95 (I bought a pair for my wife's computer which runs on the final release, and they run perfectly), but not on earlier releases; (2) they definitely run on Windows 98; (3) they run really well on Windows ME; and (4) they do NOT run with full functionality on Windows 2000. Altec Lansing has not developed, and its tech people claim they will not develop, drivers for the audio management software for Windows 2000. The speakers will work with limited functionality with Windows 2000, but they will sound no better than another decent set of computer speakers that cost less than half of these--you completely lose the surround sound capability of these speakers under Windows 2000. I switched my computer from Windows 2000 to Windows ME because of these speakers. They're that good.

As others have pointed out, these speakers are very high on the WOW scale. The quality of their sound is unequalled by all but the very highest end systems. They will transform game playing into a truly immersive experience. Watching DVDs will produce better sound for you individually than in most seats at the theatre.

But in a way, these speakers are TOO good. They don't require an audio card because they connect via USB, and therefore come with their own audio management software. This, Altec claims, is a positive boon. There's no need, they say, to buy a separate audio card if you own their speakers. Unfortunately, this selling point, while truthful, belies market realities. Almost every computer sold today already comes with an audio card of some kind. So, if, as would seem natural, you install these speakers by plugging into the USB ports you'll create an odd and frustrating anomoly in Windows. Windows will believe you have two audio controllers: the Altec Lansing speakers and your audio card. This can be frustrating if playing games, because, despite the quality of these speakers, you probably do want the sound to go through the advanced drivers on your audio card. But Windows will typically give preference to whatever device was added most recently. So if you were used to having the sound pumped through your audio card before you got the speakers, the act of plugging in the USB cables alone will automatically cut your audio card out of the loop. The upshot: goodbye Aureal--or whatever your preferred audio accelerator was.

So how can you get these speakers to work with your Soundblaster Live or other audio card? Easy. Unplug the USB connection. Better still, never connect them that way in the first place. It's a simple fix, but it makes no intuitive sense and is only barely mentioned in the manual. Altec Lansing went to such trouble to market the USB connectivity of the product; it's more than a little ironic that most users don't really WANT to connect it that way.

Also, do take heed of the very OS-specific nature of the product. It will ONLY run on a Windows 98 machine. Not 3.1, not 95, probably not 2000 (though you should contact Altec Lansing for confirmation on that), ONLY 98. Don't even bother thinking that you can somehow create a workaround. If you don't have Windows 98, don't complain when you have to send them back.

All this aside, though, this is a serious audio system for your computer. At the price, you won't find anything better.

Midrange and highs and very clean and crisp. Bass is also very clean and deep.
But I was not satisfied with bass at first. It was too low at low volumes, even with bass volume set at max. I tried to increase the bass using the equaliser that is built into mp3 player, but it distorted the music, it was distorted even at lowest volumes and it was distorted with othe speakers that I tried, so I concluded that it must be the soft equaliser that is messing things up. I was diappointed about it at first, I even went as far as ordering stand alone equaliser. But couple days later I found the solution to this problem. It turned out that (on mp3 player equaliser) you should leave the bass lever where it is and turn down the rest of the levers to get distortionfree bass. Than crank up the volume on the speakers.After that, I did got much, much more distortion free bass than I needed. (prologic mode cranks up bass even further)
In fact I listened music for 5 minutes at 30% volume with bass set up as described above and my next door neghbour showd up complaining about music.
I never even plugged in stand alone equaliser that I recieved.
I am completely satisfied with these speakers now.
You can get these speaker for a total of $100 at yahoo shopping.
It is dirt cheap for this much clean sound.
(I did compared them to Klipsch promedia thx 2.1 and think that midrange is more present (or live) in ADA890 and bass also goes deeper (no wonder ADA890 has 8" bass driver vs 6.25" in Klipsch)

I bought these over a month ago from Amazon, and they are truly amazing. I've heard lots of computer speakers, and this set beats all of them hands down. There are some things you should know, however: (1) these speakers WILL work on the final release of Windows 95 (I bought a pair for my wife's computer which runs on the final release, and they run perfectly), but not on earlier releases; (2) they definitely run on Windows 98; (3) they run really well on Windows ME; and (4) they do NOT run with full functionality on Windows 2000. Altec Lansing has not developed, and its tech people claim they will not develop, drivers for the audio management software for Windows 2000. The speakers will work with limited functionality with Windows 2000, but they will sound no better than another decent set of computer speakers that cost less than half of these--you completely lose the surround sound capability of these speakers under Windows 2000. I switched my computer from Windows 2000 to Windows ME because of these speakers. They're that good.

As others have pointed out, these speakers are very high on the WOW scale. The quality of their sound is unequalled by all but the very highest end systems. They will transform game playing into a truly immersive experience. Watching DVDs will produce better sound for you individually than in most seats at the theatre.

But in a way, these speakers are TOO good. They don't require an audio card because they connect via USB, and therefore come with their own audio management software. This, Altec claims, is a positive boon. There's no need, they say, to buy a separate audio card if you own their speakers. Unfortunately, this selling point, while truthful, belies market realities. Almost every computer sold today already comes with an audio card of some kind. So, if, as would seem natural, you install these speakers by plugging into the USB ports you'll create an odd and frustrating anomoly in Windows. Windows will believe you have two audio controllers: the Altec Lansing speakers and your audio card. This can be frustrating if playing games, because, despite the quality of these speakers, you probably do want the sound to go through the advanced drivers on your audio card. But Windows will typically give preference to whatever device was added most recently. So if you were used to having the sound pumped through your audio card before you got the speakers, the act of plugging in the USB cables alone will automatically cut your audio card out of the loop. The upshot: goodbye Aureal--or whatever your preferred audio accelerator was.

So how can you get these speakers to work with your Soundblaster Live or other audio card? Easy. Unplug the USB connection. Better still, never connect them that way in the first place. It's a simple fix, but it makes no intuitive sense and is only barely mentioned in the manual. Altec Lansing went to such trouble to market the USB connectivity of the product; it's more than a little ironic that most users don't really WANT to connect it that way.

Also, do take heed of the very OS-specific nature of the product. It will ONLY run on a Windows 98 machine. Not 3.1, not 95, probably not 2000 (though you should contact Altec Lansing for confirmation on that), ONLY 98. Don't even bother thinking that you can somehow create a workaround. If you don't have Windows 98, don't complain when you have to send them back.

All this aside, though, this is a serious audio system for your computer. At the price, you won't find anything better.

Midrange and highs and very clean and crisp. Bass is also very clean and deep.
But I was not satisfied with bass at first. It was too low at low volumes, even with bass volume set at max. I tried to increase the bass using the equaliser that is built into mp3 player, but it distorted the music, it was distorted even at lowest volumes and it was distorted with othe speakers that I tried, so I concluded that it must be the soft equaliser that is messing things up. I was diappointed about it at first, I even went as far as ordering stand alone equaliser. But couple days later I found the solution to this problem. It turned out that (on mp3 player equaliser) you should leave the bass lever where it is and turn down the rest of the levers to get distortionfree bass. Than crank up the volume on the speakers.After that, I did got much, much more distortion free bass than I needed. (prologic mode cranks up bass even further)
In fact I listened music for 5 minutes at 30% volume with bass set up as described above and my next door neghbour showd up complaining about music.
I never even plugged in stand alone equaliser that I recieved.
I am completely satisfied with these speakers now.
You can get these speaker for a total of $100 at yahoo shopping.
It is dirt cheap for this much clean sound.
(I did compared them to Klipsch promedia thx 2.1 and think that midrange is more present (or live) in ADA890 and bass also goes deeper (no wonder ADA890 has 8" bass driver vs 6.25" in Klipsch)

I bought these over a month ago from Amazon, and they are truly amazing. I've heard lots of computer speakers, and this set beats all of them hands down. There are some things you should know, however: (1) these speakers WILL work on the final release of Windows 95 (I bought a pair for my wife's computer which runs on the final release, and they run perfectly), but not on earlier releases; (2) they definitely run on Windows 98; (3) they run really well on Windows ME; and (4) they do NOT run with full functionality on Windows 2000. Altec Lansing has not developed, and its tech people claim they will not develop, drivers for the audio management software for Windows 2000. The speakers will work with limited functionality with Windows 2000, but they will sound no better than another decent set of computer speakers that cost less than half of these--you completely lose the surround sound capability of these speakers under Windows 2000. I switched my computer from Windows 2000 to Windows ME because of these speakers. They're that good.

As others have pointed out, these speakers are very high on the WOW scale. The quality of their sound is unequalled by all but the very highest end systems. They will transform game playing into a truly immersive experience. Watching DVDs will produce better sound for you individually than in most seats at the theatre.

But in a way, these speakers are TOO good. They don't require an audio card because they connect via USB, and therefore come with their own audio management software. This, Altec claims, is a positive boon. There's no need, they say, to buy a separate audio card if you own their speakers. Unfortunately, this selling point, while truthful, belies market realities. Almost every computer sold today already comes with an audio card of some kind. So, if, as would seem natural, you install these speakers by plugging into the USB ports you'll create an odd and frustrating anomoly in Windows. Windows will believe you have two audio controllers: the Altec Lansing speakers and your audio card. This can be frustrating if playing games, because, despite the quality of these speakers, you probably do want the sound to go through the advanced drivers on your audio card. But Windows will typically give preference to whatever device was added most recently. So if you were used to having the sound pumped through your audio card before you got the speakers, the act of plugging in the USB cables alone will automatically cut your audio card out of the loop. The upshot: goodbye Aureal--or whatever your preferred audio accelerator was.

So how can you get these speakers to work with your Soundblaster Live or other audio card? Easy. Unplug the USB connection. Better still, never connect them that way in the first place. It's a simple fix, but it makes no intuitive sense and is only barely mentioned in the manual. Altec Lansing went to such trouble to market the USB connectivity of the product; it's more than a little ironic that most users don't really WANT to connect it that way.

Also, do take heed of the very OS-specific nature of the product. It will ONLY run on a Windows 98 machine. Not 3.1, not 95, probably not 2000 (though you should contact Altec Lansing for confirmation on that), ONLY 98. Don't even bother thinking that you can somehow create a workaround. If you don't have Windows 98, don't complain when you have to send them back.

All this aside, though, this is a serious audio system for your computer. At the price, you won't find anything better.

Midrange and highs and very clean and crisp. Bass is also very clean and deep.
But I was not satisfied with bass at first. It was too low at low volumes, even with bass volume set at max. I tried to increase the bass using the equaliser that is built into mp3 player, but it distorted the music, it was distorted even at lowest volumes and it was distorted with othe speakers that I tried, so I concluded that it must be the soft equaliser that is messing things up. I was diappointed about it at first, I even went as far as ordering stand alone equaliser. But couple days later I found the solution to this problem. It turned out that (on mp3 player equaliser) you should leave the bass lever where it is and turn down the rest of the levers to get distortionfree bass. Than crank up the volume on the speakers.After that, I did got much, much more distortion free bass than I needed. (prologic mode cranks up bass even further)
In fact I listened music for 5 minutes at 30% volume with bass set up as described above and my next door neghbour showd up complaining about music.
I never even plugged in stand alone equaliser that I recieved.
I am completely satisfied with these speakers now.
You can get these speaker for a total of $100 at yahoo shopping.
It is dirt cheap for this much clean sound.
(I did compared them to Klipsch promedia thx 2.1 and think that midrange is more present (or live) in ADA890 and bass also goes deeper (no wonder ADA890 has 8" bass driver vs 6.25" in Klipsch)

I bought these speakers after reading nothing but positive reviews online, and listening to many different systems in the stores in my area. After getting these things plugged in, I was really amazed - they sounded so much better than the HK's that came with my computer. The bass was really good, tight, not really distorted. The highs were clean, a little harsh though, and the mids were fairly good.
That was about 3 months ago. Now that I've had some time to listen to just about all the music that I own on these speakers, I have noticed a couple of things that I didn't hear before, probably because I was still in that phase of being excited about my new purchase.
First of all, the sub is low-passed at 200Hz, and the tweeters are high-passed at 12KHz. But I think the midrange drivers get the whole frequency range. So when I play anything with a lot of low bass in it ( < 80Hz or so), this really distorts the midrange because they can't reproduce those frequencies very well. I noticed this one day when I had the sub level turned all the way down (by accident I think), and I found out why the mids were distoring. The other thing is, the sub does not have really great low frequency extention as I would like. For midbass ( > 40Hz or so) it is pretty good, but I really need sound in the 20-40Hz range for some movies and songs. The frequency response of the system only goes down to 32Hz anyway, not low enough for me sometimes.
Another thing, now that I think about it, was that when they did the specs for this system, they measured the wattage at a THD (total harmonic distortion) of 10%. That is a lot of distortion, so you will probably not get 80 watts out of this system (even though it does get loud, the people in my dorm can tell you that) unless you like a lot of distortion.
Now it might sound that I am unhappy with this system now, but I still really like it. For only (...) (what I paid) it was a really good investment, but of course it is not gonna rank up with higher end stuff. But for most of the things I use these speakers for, they are great. Just certain things are a little lacking, but I think I can stand that for now.

Simply put, I was blown away by these speakers (and continue to be, of course). Not only do they actually produce the "brilliant highs" they're advertised to, but the YSTMS50's also provide enough bass to be felt three rooms away. However, they won't jar your fillings - the bass is round, smooth, and precise. The best word I can find to describe the experience of listening to these beauties is "immersion." You just feel surrounded in a swirling vortex of sound. It's great.

Now, I'd be willing to pay a lot more for this kind of quality, and I was prepared for a hassle setting them. However, they were blasting out tunes in about seven minutes from bringing the box in from my front step, and I couldn't be happier.

These Yamahas are THE choice not just for CDs, mp3's, games, DVD's, and all other computer uses, but they can be hooked up to anything with a simple 3.5mm audio plug. My Discman has never sounded better.

If I could give these speakers ten stars, I would, but we'll have to make do with five. They are perfect.

These speakers are extremely good. The sound is very clear, the bass sounds very natural. Get them. I found them incredibly difficult to find, I searched over 20 sites until I finally got them. Amazon totally has a monopoly going on. But anyway, bottom line, get these as soon as possible, because I remember when they were available for like $80 and when I finally found them at like the 23rd site they were $107. But they were worth it. Maybe watch it if they reach like $200. But otherwise, yes.

This Labtec set amazed me. For (price), I did not expect the kind of quality I got. I compared this set to my old speaker system, a... Creative Labs FPS1000. Well I can safely say, although the price of this labtec is a little less than double the creative, its about 8 times better.

The subwoofer is built well, its heavy, in a strong wooden case to eliminate distortion. The base is extremely powerful. The only problem it suffers is that at some volumes, it tends to overpower the satellites. But this can be fixed by adjusting the level of the base.

The Satellites are very lightweight, sometimes, i wonder if they are too lightweight. But anyway, they sound great, very clear. There is a power button, volume control and headphone jack on the satellite, very convenient.

There is only one slight problem with this system, it comes with a flimsy manual. But, that isn't too much of a problem because it is very easy to set up. Thats why I give it 5/5 Stars.

I bought these speakers because I was tired of the pathetic ones that came with my PC. I got them home, uncrated them, and, just to give them a test, plugged them into an old CD Walkman. A month later, they're still hooked up to the Walkman and I'm contemplating another pair for the PC!

I was really suprised by the power this system pushes. The documentation is a bit sparse, but I'm led to believe that the whole system produces less than 40 watts. However, the sound is massive, largely in part to the 8" subwoofer which, at times, threatens to overpower the satellites. Not just loud, but clean sound, breaking up very little at top volume.

The only complaint I have is that the satellites are a bit bright and a bit weak in the midrange. Mostly I listen to reggae, so antually this sound works well, but I haven't found listening to jazz or classical as fulfilling. Still, you can't beat them and with a cheap Walkman CD player, I now have decent sounds in the bedroom.

If you ever find these speakers I strongly recommend getting some. I use these speakers with my computer and also as my sound system in my bedroom. Why by an expensive system when you can simply hook up these speakers to a portable cd player. Great buy for anybody.

When my friend saw them and heard them he then went out and got some. These are nice speakers.

I stumbled across this thing in the Urban Outfitters magazine. Laughed it off.
Two months later, I bought one. Now it is an essential part of my gaming experience. Well, tv. as well. I make my girlfriend squeeze on it and watch "24."
If you wanna get sucked into the t.v further than you ever have by being engulfed in sound. I suggest you get this, and hook up external speakers. Get it before Halo 2 comes out, and you probably won't need to leave the house.

I saw this thing at CES and I have to admit feeling is believing. I laid down on this thing and forgot where I was for about a half an hour. The bass rumbles along with your controller and the sound is all around you. It was really cool for gaming and I bought one from amazon and i love it.

Face it, you're probably staring at this thing thinking- what the....
That's how I stumbled upon this piece of furniture, looking for computer speakers and randomly taken to the pyramat item. After reading the near perfect reviews, I decided to splurge a little (it was the end of the exam period- i deserved a toy). This thing is pretty amazing. Here's why if you have the money to buy this, you should:
1) Comfort: this thing is better than most pieces of funtiture in your house/dorm room right now. Forget the fact it has sorround sound built in, I'm talking about the material and comfort of it. All my friends who have used it have loved the comfort.
2) Sound: amazing. the built in speakers simulate a sorround sound effect very well. However, plug in 2 [bad] external speakers (for $... at any electronics store) and get real sorround sound. Pretty amazing, awesome to use for watching or listening to anything.
3) Customer Service: My first pyramat was actually busted. I called them up, no wait, talked to somebody in managment immediatly, they sent out a new pyramat the next day and set up a paid home pickup for my busted mat. Best service I've ever encountered.
4) Just plain cool. Your headrest is a subwoofer. You are sorrounded by sound. You can't really beat that.

Drawbacks:
-The 4inch sub could be more powerful, although its right next to your head, but it still could be a little more powerful without getting too dangerous.
-These aren't Altec Lansing speakers...but for the price for everything included you shouldn't expect them (nor are they too far off from the quality of the altec's I have on my computer)

So if you're looking for a fun new addition to wherever, seriously just buy this and check it out. For the price it's probably the best, most useful toy you will have bought in a while.

After comparing the Creative Playworks DTT2500 with the Yamaha TSS1B and the Altec Lansing ADA890 for a 5.1 Dolby Digital system for the PS2; the DTT2500 was my choice. This compact desktop theater is very compatible with the Sony PS2, using the optical audio connector.

I also have a mono VCR connected to the line in 1/8" input using a single regular RCA cable with an attached stereo 1/8" adapter (mono 1/8" will not work). By setting the CMSS mode to Music and the Digital Surround mode to Digital In, it uses simulated surround sound well from a mono VCR/CableTV. This method uses all 6 speakers. Having a stereo VCR should give much better sound.

If you play audio CD's from the PS2, it is best to use CMSS mode at Stereo (Digital Surround mode automatically is disabled). This method only uses the main left & right speakers and subwoofer. Of course, you can play cd's with the same settings as my mono VCR and use all six speakers; the resulting sound will be expanded stereo.

The main purpose of the DTT2500 is for the PS2 games, and here it excels. Twisted Metal Black supports Dolby Surround, and Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore sounds great in simulated Dolby. I just hope that more games are made with Dolby. We can definitely hear effects that were nonexistent when formerly using the RF adapter from the PS2 to TV speakers. Just make sure that you have the CMSS turned off and Dolby switched on.

I have not yet used any DVD's, but it seems unlikely that any issues will arise.

The sound quality is good for a low power system. You can overcome the louder center channel by adjusting its volume lower and the surround speakers volume higher. I find that I must also run the subwoofer at a slightly lower than normal volume or it seems to have a "thump" (could be due to room charasterics). Due to the small size of the left and right speakers, you can notice the lack in upper bass frequencies. If you like extra deep bass, the DTT2500 does come with a line level subwoofer output that will connect to a powered subwoofer and can be used simultaneously.

Don't worry about not having a DTS decoder with the DTT2500. If you need to have it, then you need a larger, more power packed home theater system. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and Creative's Multi Speaker Surround (for simulated surround from mono/stereo sources) does the job just fine.

The control unit is easy to understand and figure out what settings work best for the type of input used. One setting does not work for all formats, tweak it for your personal needs. All the adjustments are easy to make.

Overall, its a great value enhancement for PS2 gamers; has good TV/VCR performance; and average audio CD sound. It missed out on 5 stars because I believe that the main left/right speakers should have been a 2way so it could include better upper bass response.

The Creative Labs PlayWorks 5.1 DTT2500 is a good system for anyone starting out a small home theater because it comes with everything you need for the audio aspect of your home theater as well as being incredibly simple to install and use. Out of the box, you will be able to get Dolby 5.1 sound from your favorite DVDs (though check the DVD to make sure of Dolby compatibility) without having to buy speakers (five are included, and a subwoofer) or a receiver (a receiver is not included, but a little box that basically acts as one is). There are several connection options that allow you to hook up your TV, DVD, PS2 or other video game systems, even your computer, to the sound system and the best part is that all the necessary cables are included (even the optical cable to get the most out of your PS2 audio).

It's hard to argue with the convenience of having everything in one simple box, but there are also some issues that may lessen your enjoyment of the system. For one, there is no DTS compatibility, it's Dolby or the highway in terms of high-end sound. Secondly, the speakers provided are not extremely powerful, the subwoofer in particular. There's certainly enough power in here for a bedroom or small living room, but if you're looking for an audio system that will absolutely blow your friends away and engulf your living room in Surround Sound, you may want to save your money and look into higher-end packages. Finally, the options can be somewhat confusing. There are many choices for audio output (Dolby, Stereo, Four-Point, etc.) that are not very well-explained, but a little tweaking with the system will definitely give you good results, it just takes the patience to figure out which sound settings work best with which inputs (TV, PS2, Computer, etc.). One final word of warning- very few video games utilize Dolby sound, so don't expect to be playing your games in Surround Sound (as I expected) because besides a few games like The Bouncer and Twisted Metal: Black on PS2, games do not support Dolby.

Yet the few minor complaints I have about the system do not hamper my enjoyment very much and I love to crank things up and enjoy great sound and I also loved not having to hunt down a bunch of different parts (receiver, speakers, subwoofer, cables, etc.) to put together a respectable home theater. Overall, I give this product an A- and I am a very satisfied customer.

These are simply a great pair of speakers!

I have had these for 2 years and they are great sounding speakers, except they have one major design flaw. The angle of the speaker is fixed. Changing this angle is essential for optimal sound and I can't believe that Monsoon overlooked this. I think the other models they offer are similar. I've thought of trying to modify them to add a hinge or something, as it still bothers me. I love 'em, but why not make them adjustable?

These speakers are worth the money. These things ROCK! My old computer speakers were Altec, which were fair, but compared to the Monsoons, it now seems that I had been listening to my music through a tin can. The sound quality on the Monsoon is great. I wish I had gotten them sooner.

I am totally blown away by how good these speakers sound. Talk about powerful. They may be intended for computers, but I think that you can hook these guys up to just about anything putting out music. I plan on using these with my Rio Riot as well. They cost more than your average Computer speakers, but trust me - they are more than worth it. I love 'em!!!

Although this fine product cannot be shipped to me here in New Zealand, I found the Amazon review and description so helpful that I went out and bought a pair here in Auckland city! It's all systems go for this very fine Wharfedale product. These speakers are clean and open sounding with no hint of 'boxiness', and they have decent bass output. And the real Rosewood veneer finish is just superb. I'm somewhat biased, as these are the third Rosewood colored set of speakers I've owned. You see, I bought the Emerald Center speaker, too! I may be wrong, but I think Wharfedale has become a slight underdog in the marketplace these days and I urge any undecided buyers to heed my words and at the very least audition the Emerald range.

Well, first of all, I should say the speakers look just as good in person as they do on amazon.com. Fabulous!! They really complement the modern furnishing in our house. Also, I visited two major retail electronics stores a few nights ago (Circuit City, The Good Guys). There wasn't a speaker that looked better than the Wharfedales--at any price. And, they had some fairly pricey wood cabinet speakers on display ...

Sound--these aren't just for looks, after all! A good amount of bass and well defined high-notes. Very nice, indeed, and the best sounding speakers I've ever owned. I am driving the Emerald 97's with a Yamaha RX-570 receiver, 70 watts/channel, connected in a bi-wire configuration. Interestingly, I can now actually play the receiver at full volume (yes, unreasonably loud, but tolerable), something I couldn't have dreamed of doing with my old Acoustic 3311 Series ("white van") speakers. I imagine whoever makes the Acoustic speakers weren't lying about the sensitivity--95 db. The Wharfedale's have a sensitivity of 89 db, and suppose I may need to get a more powerful amplifier to fully realize the speaker's capabilities. Then again, I do live in a condo, and probably shouldn't do anything--like buy a more powerful amplifier--that might encourage me to play music any louder than I already do ;-)

Audiophile garbage aside, I have not heard better speakers at four-five times the price of the Emerald 97 speakers. I got these from UBID when they were selling Wharfedale products daily...but no more...These are being powered by a mid-level Onkyo theatre design receiver and they project a musicality and clarity that you do not find in most $1000 speakers. The base is sometimes a little muddy but usually is extremely defined and mixes well with the ample mids and sweet highs. The "tuned" port is designed well and does not cause the speakers to lose definition or "tightness" that creates a sense of realism (which is what speakers are all about, after all). I don't care where they're made...they are beautifully finished, amazing sounding boxes that can be found for less than $350 delivered (for the pair!). At soft levels they provide details YOU DON'T HEAR ELSEWHERE. At mid levels they are BETTER than just about ANYTHING serious listeners can afford. At high levels they do not distort, they do not blur, they do not disappoint. Poorly mixed tracks will NOT sound good on these speakers. They are large and need space to sound their best. Also try the Diamond 7.2 Anniversary Edition. Possibly the BEST small speaker (I got pairs from UBID for $40 plus shipping) ever produced. Absolutely amazing.