Great, value-priced speakers!
Written: Sep 28 '01 (Updated Oct 01 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Built-in amplifier means no bulky plug, cords are fairly long, great sound.
Cons: Doesn't have as good a low bass frequency as other brands/models.
The Bottom Line: Very nicely priced, excellent sounding (except for low bass signals), recommended!
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| sflorack's Full Review: StarTech.com SPEAKERINT 2 Speakers |
My old pair of speakers were a set of Koss SXM/200s; I bought them in Germany while serving in the US Army. Being that much of Europe is 220V (as opposed to our 110V), I had to splice a new power supply onto the speakers. Then I had to splice the speaker wires because most manufacturers make the right speaker the "master" speaker (the right comes from the output on the back of your computer and then goes to the left) and my computer sits on the left side of my desk.
After getting frustrated with my shoddy wiring job (hey, I had no electrical tape!) I decided to search for new speakers. PC Magazine gave the Labtec Spin-70s an Editors Choice Award. They weren't the highest rated, but the speakers that beat the Labtecs out were all over $300.
Being that I don't own a bank (and wouldn't see a reason spending $500 on computer speakers even if I did; if you want great sound just get a long cable and pump your computer audio into your home stereo) I decided to give the Spin-70s a try.
The first thing you'll notice is that there is no amplifier (no big bulky plug!). That's because Labtec decided to built it into the right speaker (you'll know it's the right speaker because it's 10 times heavier than the left). That doesn't mean, however, that the speakers are huge. Infact they seem to take up about the same amount of desktop as my Koss did, approximately 20 square inches.
There is no bass boost, but there is a single dial that allows you to just the treble and bass. Personally I like dual controls over this style (think 1980s radios with their "tone" control knobs) but it really doesn't matter with these speakers. I've tried adjusting the knob while playing various types of music and hardly notice a difference between the "full trebel" position and the "full bass" position.
There is also a 3D sound button which only seems to echo the signal from one speaker into the other. It slightly improves the ambience of classical and instrumental music while making pop and R&B tracks sound muffled.
The volume control also serves as a ON/OFF switch complete with a light that tells you if you're speakers are on. (If you need a light to figure this out, maybe you should be wondering why you're not hearing any music first.)
The power cord is decently long, and ends in a standard two-prong plug (again, saving valuable space on your power strip). The cords from the right speaker to where you plug it into your computer are also decently long (and I didn't have to splice!) However the cord from the right speaker to the left seems somewhat short, giving you only about four feet to space your speakers apart.
The Spin-70s have two plugs -- one for audio output and the other for microphone input. This allows you to plug your microphone right into the right speaker. There is also a headphone jack available.
Overall, the sound was excellent. The clarity of the high frequency (trebel) notes is excellent; the low frequency bass notes are a little dull. With the volume at mid-level during songs that produced extremely low bass the right speaker produced some rattling noises, quite possibly due to the parts that are inside making up the amplifier.
Still, unless you're into music that produces a lot of bass, the crispness of the high note reproduction will more than satisfy most genres of music.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sflorack
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Location: Parkland, WA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
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