Aged bulky styling, but packs quite the punch when playing digitally.
Written: Jun 06 '08 (Updated Jun 07 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Deep and responsive bass, simple to set up and use, sounds great even loud.
Cons: Bulky and aged look, remote control no longer works, wires are a thick eyesore.
The Bottom Line: Deep bass, easy to use and set up, not so easy to store. Ugly on the outside, but the sound quality on the inside is what counts.
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| luxuryliners's Full Review: Altec Lansing ADA 880 4 Speakers |
General Background Information:
I purchased the Altec Lansing ADA 880 for $20 at a garage sale and it is certainly one of the best sale finds I have discovered in a long while. The ADA 880 is a 4.1 speaker surround sound system that can be adapted for home theater or computer stereo use. It could also be used in conjunction with a gaming device like the Xbox or Playstation. The system is Dolby digital compatible and I have it connected to the digital jack of my sound card on my computer.
Appearance:
One of the cons of purchasing and using this system is that it has an outdated and bulky appearance. The four satellite speakers are not the sleek, thin, speakers seen on most surround sound packages today; they are instead 6" x 5" white boxes with less than flattering "hospital" gray colored dust shields on the front.
The subwoofer is simply massive, its dimensions are approximately 11.5 inches wide and tall with a length of over 15 inches. With a subwoofer that size I expected decent bass out of this system and it definitely delivers.
to operate it, I have 7 wires connected to the back of the subwoofer on this system (the box houses an 8 inch sub along with the internal amplifier). The wires to the two front speakers are quite thick and bright white, so hiding them from view has proven a challenge. The system also includes a small black remote control.
Sound Quality:
The greatest attribute of the ADA 880 is it's ability to produce crisp, deep, low frequency sounds. Orienting the subwoofer to face the floor allows the noise to resonate within the large, box, sound-chamber; this results in great sounding, hard hitting, bass. With most music I can turn the volume up just over half way with the bass turned all the way up (on the system's equalizer) before hearing any hint of distortion. If I lower the bass level to the midpoint I can turn it three-quarters of the way up and still get great sound quality. Even when cranked to the maximum volume it still provides decent quality sound.
Treble response is also more than adequate, with the treble setting at its maximum level I can increase the volume to about three-quarters of maximum without hearing too much distortion. I have completely shut off the subwoofer and played music through only the satellite speakers and quality is still good. There is nothing cheap sounding with the ADA 880.
The surround speakers sound good but clearly do not have all the power of the main front speakers. The system plays stereo sound through the front speakers while the surround speakers play in a Dolby digital surround set up; voices and other treble sounds are cut out of the rear speakers leaving only the background music. This creates an interesting effect as certain sounds are emphasized and others aren't. There is also the option to shut off the surround speakers completely, but this degrades the overall listening experience so I don't recommend it.
The surround speakers can be attached to the tops of the front speakers or detached and set behind the listener. Altec Lansing claims that a computer inside the subwoofer box will compensate either way to envelope the listener in sound from all directions. I have the rear surround speakers set behind me when I listen to this system, and that is the way I prefer to hear it. I have no doubt that some computer manipulation through the Dolby digital programming contributes to the clear, undistorted, quality of the speakers, despite my complete lack of understanding of this feature.
To conclude my evaluation of sound quality, the bass is deep, the treble is crisp and loud, and when combined you can hear this system at least 70 feet away.
Usage Connection and Function:
The Altec Lansing ADA 880 is very simple to set up and use. All wires are color coded and clearly labeled both on the subwoofer housing and the back of the speakers. I have mine connected to a computer via a digital audio port on a sound card, which, calls for only one additional connecting cable. Analog set up is just as easy and both wires are included, color coded, and clearly labeled. The hardest part of setting this system up was finding an open outlet to plug it in, only five minutes was required from start to finish. I will note that speaker placement can also be a challenge do to their size and the wire thickness.
Once everything is plugged in all you need do is press the power button and your in business. The front right satellite speaker has four buttons and one rotatable switch on it. The four buttons, looking from left to right control the power, surround speaker power, bass, and treble, respectively. The switch is for volume adjustment. Seven LCD lights sit vertically above the buttons behind a black plastic window. These lights are volume indicators. By pressing the bass or treble buttons, you can independently adjust the equalized volume to your preferred balance between the two. If neither the bass or treble button are pressed, the volume can be adjusted to a maximum of 7 bars in the window. The remote control has all of these buttons, plus a mute function. This is all you need to know to operate the system.
I would like to note that my remote control failed shortly after I bought the system from the garage sale. The remote is not critical to operation, especially when using it for a computer with the speaker an arms length away from the monitor. I cannot objectively judge whether this is a problem with the remote's or just an uncommon occurrence as the one I bought was used, and I have yet to ascertain why the remote doesn't work. (not the batteries, I know you thought it).
Closing Remarks:
If you can still find one of these on Ebay or Amazon then go for it. The sound quality is better than expected and the 240 watt subwoofer provides deeper and louder bass than my 250 watt home theater subwoofer that cost twice as much. For all it lacks in visual appeal, the system is very functional and bargain priced in today's market. I don't know what original retail was for this item but I can imagine that purchasers were not disappointed. I think the ideal use for this system is on a son or daughters computer, tucked away out of sight, I wouldn't showcase it in the living room, but it is certainly beyond adequate sound for most users.
Recommended:
Yes
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luxuryliners
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