Altec Lansing MX-5021 Speaker System

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Altec Lansing MX-5021 Speaker System

Ameya Dalvi, Jan 14, 2004 0000 hrs IST

These have to be the best 2.1 channel PC speakers that I have ever come across in our country.

Excellent sound reproduction, Loud and powerful, Remote controls, Good build quality, Headphone jack and Auxiliary input

Slightly expensive for a 2.1 channel speaker system

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Expert Review

With THX being the buzzword for all high-end speaker systems for a while now, we were surprised to find one missing in the Altec Lansing line up. As we all know, Altec Lansing is a major player in the Multimedia speakers arena and have been amongst the first few along with Creative to unleash a large variety of speakers here ranging from the basic two point stereo to the high-end 5.1 channel variants. That's what made the absence more conspicuous. Finally the wait is over and we have with us the THX certified 2.1 channel speakers from Altec Lansing, the MX-5021. Whether they were worth the wait, let's find out.

The speakers arrived packed in a good-looking box, which appeared a bit too big for a 2.1 channel speaker system. In fact, it was bigger than those of some of the 5.1 channel systems that we have tested in the past. I couldn't wait any longer and unpacked the contents and stumbled upon a lot of goodies. For starters, there was this massive subwoofer standing tall at around a foot and a half and add to that a depth of over a foot. It was fitted with a 6.5" long throw driver and also hosted the power supply components. Then there was a pair of 10.5" satellites each fitted with two 3" drivers to take care of the mid-range frequencies and a 1" horn-loaded tweeter for delivering the highs. Other than that the package also contained a pair of remote controls, one wired and the other cordless. Both the remotes had adjustments for the master volume, bass and treble along with a power button. The wired remote was fitted with blue LEDs and a knob for adjusting the sound and sported a headphone jack and an auxiliary input for connecting another audio device. All the necessary cables were included in the package.

As I mentioned before, the MX-5021 are THX certified and boast of a total power output of 90 Watts RMS of which 20 Watts is allocated for each of the satellites and 50 Watts for the subwoofer. Loudness of the system stands at 103 dB. The system supports an overall frequency response of 30 Hz to 22 KHz. That's it for the technical stuff, now let's get down to the real thing. I connected them to our Audigy 2 and then the time I spent in front of these babies was nothing short of sheer bliss.

We stretched them to the limit with our set of audio benchmarks, which include sound tracks from different genre, games, movie clips etc., and they came out with flying colours in every single test that we threw at them. The reproduction of high, mid and low frequencies was absolutely spot-on. The highs were crisp and the mids were deep and rich. The bass too was powerful and tight with a lot of thump. As for the loudness, it's simply deafening but the sound didn't crack even at peak volume. To be precise, everything sounded just about perfect. Music is always the most difficult test to get through. If you can manage that well, excelling in gaming sound and movies is just another test to pass and it did just that. It can easily get you jumping out of your seat when reproducing the blasts in certain action games and get your adrenaline pumping in NFS Underground. The classic lobby scene from Matrix sounded better only in the theatres perhaps. All in all, these have to be the best 2.1 channel PC speakers that I have ever come across in our country.

The reviews of such fairytale products often have a tragic end, thanks mainly to their price. Luckily it's not the case with this model. The MX-5021 will be officially available here by the end of this month for a street price of Rs. 12,000. Though the price is slightly on the higher side for a 2.1 channel system, you easily get your money's worth, courtesy of its features and fabulous sound quality. Even though it marginally misses out on a perfect 5 star rating, I would like to add that this is the closest, any 2.1 channel speaker system has ever come to getting it.

One gripe I have is that I was allowed to feast on these speakers for only a week when I would have preferred to have them for a few months at least (just kidding). But the truth is that no matter for how long you listen to them, you just don't seem to get enough of it. For the little time that they were here, they truly rocked my world and if you buy them I am sure they will rock yours too.

Test Unit Sourced From: Zeta Technologies, Mumbai.