Good sound, cheap!
Written: Aug 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very cheap on eBay, dolby digital, large, powerful subwoofer, good enough sound.
Cons: Not nearly as good as much expensive systems.
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| hayau's Full Review: Altec Lansing ADA 880 4 Speakers |
These are the speakers that got me addicted to audio! I bought these to attach to a DVD player, and hopefully enjoy some movies in dolby digital surround. With the surrounds turned up and the center channel turned slightly down, these speakers provide a great introduction to immersive dolby digital DVD. But this isn't going to be a totally glowing review. These speakers have their bad points too.
Here is how I set it up. I placed the surrounds up on the wall behind the couch, the TV in the middle of the room against a wall, and the fronts to the left and right of the TV, approximately about 6.5 feet apart. I used some wire cutters and some wire to extend the left surround all the way to one side of the couch, and hide all the wires against the walls. I placed the subwoofer next to the TV, against the wall. I hooked it up to our Sony DVD player using a heavy duty RCA cable. Yes, this is more than most people would go through to hook these up, but that's because my sole purpose for these speakers is to create a downright cheap, but effective home theatre experience. Watching movies with this system is a pleasure. It sounds good. But it does have its faults.
The Bad: Soundstage and imaging are are pretty blah, and the individual speakers don't truly "disappear" into a setup. What does this mean? It means you can still barely pick out where each speaker is with your eyes closed. Many sounds that are intended to be in a particular place behind you seem to end up in one of the two rear speakers. This is irritating sometimes, but it sounds ok. My description is worse than reality. Transitions from one speaker to another aren't always smooth, but good enough. Also, the sound gets a bit staticy as you bring the system into louder volumes. It must be connected with an RCA style cable directly to the back of a DVD or sound card to use the speakers in DD/four way mode. The highs aren't *nearly* as detailed as they are on my Paradigms, and the speakers just don't give you the full, realistic sound that you get out of better (bigger) speakers. You should turn off the DSP/fake surround mode while playing music, because the fake surround mode just doesn't sound realistic with most pieces. Full surround sound immersion just isn't possible with these speakers because they aren't realistic enough to really make you feel like you're actually there. It also lacks a real center channel.
The Good: When you plug it all in it sounds decent. Bass is very punchy, especially when the subwoofer is put next to a wall. The speakers are great for rock music, and anything with a good heavy beat. I wouldn't play too much classical music with these because they simply lack the necessary fidelity, but you won't miss the extra quality considering you saved $950, and you are enjoying movies so much more than you ever were before. The subwoofer produces thunderous bass, especially for a smaller room. You'll appreciate this every time a cannon goes off, a helicopter circles overhead, or a train goes by. You'll feel it in your chair, and often in your stomach. The 3d sound effects are good, and will lend a whole new dimension to your home theatre experience, even if they do have some room for improvement.
In Conclusion: My stereo speakers (Paradigm Atoms + SB-8 subwoofer) absolutely blow them away in fidelity. I am building a new Dolby Digital/DTS system component by component (also need a Yamaha HTR5240 or RX-V496 Receiver, surrounds, and a center channel, and lots of 12 gauge cable). My new system, when complete, will cost 10 times more than the Altec Lansings, and my current Altecs won't sound 10 times worse. For $150-$180 or so on eBay, this system can't be beat. I am keeping mine, for use in another location. Buy them, they will take your home theatre experience to a whole new level, as long as you don't develop a total addiction to it, and end up buying the expensive stuff anyway (ahem). :) I would recommend this system wholeheartedly to those on a budget, especially college students who want a cheap way to rock the walls of their dorm rooms on weekends watching The Matrix. Good stuff.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
hayau
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 1 member
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