I used Titan AE,Gladiator,LOTR Fellowship of the Ring as test movies as I know them well.For music Mighty Sam McClain,Sheffield Lab Drive were used,to test how NATURAL speakers are,and unmask better hidden colorations.Sourround speakers were all tested with Call of Duty the game with the very best and most intense sourround.Plus a few high bitrate MP3 throw for good measure.

After testing these speakers one after the other I have discovered serious flaws in all beside the MegaWorks 510D and the two Klipsch(GMX and Ultra).

Lets start with the Altec Lansing ACS48,this was Altec's best speaker set before the 621 and 641.The sats do a very good job when elevated two to three inches from the desk and angled at the listener.Upper registers are well reproduced and non fatiguing,the midband is not plagued by any major colrations making listening a pleasure.Sats being sealed and the plastic cabinets are quite sturdy eliminating most colorations well.The Bass module uses a single 6" woofer in a ported MDF cabinet,the surprise was the quite large torroid transformer,the amp can deliver the 80W RMS(40W sub,and 20W per channel to the sats).This is clearly demonstrated by the high output levels no audible loss of clarity at these levels. The lower bass reach is around 60Hz,from then down it drops fast.Still very good for a single 6" unit.

Altec's ACS48 is a lesser 421,almost identical drivers,a bit less amp power and much smaller sats.The 421 has a more refined midrange and reaches a good 10Hz deeper.The better midrange is due to the larger cabinet and lower crossover point on the 3" mid-bass.

One thing this system will not do well is reproduce explosive movies to well,as the sub does not have the deep reach capability of many newer PC speakers.

In its time the ACS48 was a sure buy,even today it stands its groud,quite a feat for an low cost PC speaker system.

Second on the test list was my second long time resident,the Cambridge MicroWorks.These as a few here know were awarded many best of PC speaker awards for sound quality a few years back.Designed by audio great Henry Kloss.

Now lets look at the Cambridge MicroWorks,using two cube sats each containing a 3" full range driver.The sats have quite a solid heavy feel,with a bolt on support on the back.Here spring loaded conectors can be found,14GA wires can be used with no problems,gone is the fixed cable.On to the bass module,a single 6" woofer is enclosed in the band pass box.The boxed being braced mid way is very sturdy and does not resonate,the woofer's fron energy leaves the cabinet by the side flared port.The amp is rated at 42W RMS for the sub and 13W RMS for each sat.Nothing great on paper

When listening to music one can notice right away the upper registers are rolled off.Its very welcome as many listen to MP3's from the net and most of these MP3's are edgy and very agressive,this makes prolonged listeing less fatiguing.The midrange is quite free from any major colorations.The bass module does a fine job but lacks the punch and explosive dynamics of direct radiating subs.Overall this system is on the polite side and sounds quite good.

Reaching higher SPL the systems starts to strain,the sats allocated amp power is slim in my view.You can do only so much with 13W delivered to the sats.For music and gaming at low to mid output this system shines,not for those who lisen at high SPL and like to peg the SPL meter.

This syetm sound better than the ACS48 on music but falls behind when action heats up in Call of Duty.And forget BIG ticket movies,the sub will start to cough.

Overall a polite and educated but fragile system.Would not cut it in today's high power bruiser SPL contests.

Now its time to enter newer and more gusty systems,this time the brand new Altec Lansing MX5021.After seeing the pitures flaoting around the net I decided to purchase this one.Week of wait and the system showed up,first thing I noticed is the system is not very heavy,removing the sats I was floored by plasticky feel.Lets not get discouraged now,the sub looks quite good and has a front facing 6" woofer with a white paper cone.The back of the subs has very few connections(just the bare minimum)and a slot,rectangular port.The sats use dual 3" mid-bass drivers and a tweeter(as on almost all PC speakers its a mylar dome,in other words a $5-10 tweeter,still works great if used with a optimised crossover).The sats have spring clip conections,also found on the sub.

The great touch is the nifty control pod and remote control.Good idea if these speakers are used with a TV or as a minisystem.

Ok lets get strted,first I fired my muisc CD's.The first thing that will strike is the great midrange,no gaping holes here.The midrange is quite full and the upper registers well balanced.Overall the sats sound great,if only altec used molded MDF and not plastic the sats would be even a notch better.As you can still hear and point colorations,these are byproducts of the plastic cabinets.Damn I would pay $50 more to have solid MDF cabinets.WEll its just me here

Sub wise the MX5021 is well served by its single 6" woofer,but sometimes I feel it lacks the punch and deep bass air moving capabilities of Klipsch and Logitech.Powered by a C core transformer the MX5021 amp can deliver 50W RMS to the sub and 25W RMS per channel to each sat.On the box it says the system can play at over 106dB,as verified it sure can.Now this is not the 120dB claimed by some testing the Ultra5.1,lets get real here who listend above 100dB? Like I said deaf people so over 100dB capabilities are all one needs

Time to listen and judge the MX5021,started this time with Call of Duty,quite good rendition.Even in two channel mode this system kicks and does not suffer from any audible sonic trauma.Now with Titan AE the system's limitations kicked in,the very deep bass is missing,down to 40Hz the system has ...some output.But forget any true deep bass,Altec needs to start using 8" woofer with longer travel in cabinets tuned around 25-30Hz to compete with the big boys.because seriously five of these stats coupled with a serious MM sub and you have a great competitor for the 5.1 Ultra.

Now dynamics being quite good,I was listeing for colorations and found the sub is the most colored here.Nothing alarming as this is a MM system.All in all a great system for music and games.But for HT you will be much better served by Logitech,Cambridge and Klipsch.

For the $200 retail Altec is asking way too much,this system is worth $150 MAX.And should be sold for $120.The sub lacks compared to today's competition.I say take away the gizmo remote and invest in a better woofer,larger amp ...housed in a bigger box.Then you can stick $200 on it.


Logitech has impressed many when they released the Z-560,the Z-560 has BASS,BASS and more BASS,it was dirt cheap when the ProMedia 4.1 was going for twice its price.And competed quite well,save for the OVER ABUNDANT BASS.All Logitech needed was a GMX competitor.Enter Logitech's newest family member the Z-5300 a 5.1 system going for under $150 in many places.

When I saw the Z-5300 box I knew I had to at least try these speakers.And so I did buy them,just for fun,hey they go for peanuts,even elephants can buy them!

I got home and quickly unpacked the Z-5300.I inspected the sats,solid,thick plastic,little resonance.Good The full range in another Tang Bang this time its a 2.5" unit with the famous aluminium phase plug.The sats have a very high quality feel,no detachable cables here,I think Logitech should have put at least spring loaded clips.Well at this price I can forgive them.

The subwoofer is the same size as the Z560/680 sub! The amp section looks like the Z-680 minus the conectivity and internal amplification.The Z-5300 sub uses a 6.5" woofer in a band pass configuration,a single very large flared port is visible on the left of the sub.If you have small pets be careful they might make the sub their new home!

Time to fire it all up,this time I started with music.First thing that shocked me was the BOOM! The subwoofer was as irritating as all hell.Fast I went for the remote and turned bass all the way down,next I deactivated the crappy "matrix" BS. Ah much better,but still irritating! Next step I placed the sub around 3 feet from the wall in room,out of any corner and reduced bass in the Audigy 2 ZS panel by 15%.Ah now that is more like it.

Serious listening started,the upper registers are not lacking in any way and the midrange is a mixed bag,as the very small sats are cut quite high.With placement the sub can almost blend well,talking about the sub it packs a PUNCH.It goes to around 50Hz with great power and leaves you around 40Hz.Its main flaw is lack of definition,as with almost all band pass subs I heard.

Loading Call of Duty I forgot these flaws,as soon as the action picks up you are envloped in very life like(good fake like like ) sourround,ducking for your life.I played for over an two hour non stop while the Z-5300 blasted out the mayhem. These speakers are best suited for multiplayer games and HT.

Titan AE and LOTR souned quite good,and seriously for $150 you cannot go wrong here,with a little care taken during the setup this system sound A ok.However with no care taken you can end up with a boomy and droning boom box like sound.

Time to take the Z-560 for a spin,as all know the Z-560 sats use 3" full range drivers,in a ported cabinet.As with the Z-5300 the reversible support becomes a wall mount.Clever design The sub uses a 8" long throw woofer,in this case a real long throw.Evident when you hear how much bass this thing can pump out. The amp plate is like a huge heatsink,with a small side reserved for conectivity,a very large port can be found on the side.All sats use binding posts conectors,very welcome as the competition uses spring loaded clips.The amplifier now,188W for the sub,53W per sat(times four).Very respectavle numbers,however as with almost all PC speakers these power levels cannot be sustained to the drivers as they would overheat.Even if these are calimed to be RMS,most of the time few users will even use these during peaks.

Started with LOTR and found these speakers can sustain very high SPL with no audible stress(sub level set to minimum on the pod) ,and the Z560 sub has some deep bass capabilities too.It potent at 40Hz and still has some juice at 35Hz.Below it dies,still very respectable for a sub part of a speaker system often found for $130 USD! The sats being cut lower than the Z-5300 no longer suffer from the lack of midrange,midrange is quite well reproduced.Only slight coloration(port)is sometimes noticable.The upper registers are well reproduced,again rolled off.

Listened to muisc for a few hours,voices are well reproduced.Overall a great system for electronic music.For those who like to listen at medium and ear busting levels.This system packs a BIG punch.A bargain Its power over finesse

A great system for gaming and PC HT,music is less well served because of the bad sub/sat balance.Again sound card EQ must be used to tame the over blown bass.This done and the system sound quite good.

Now one of my fave PC systems,and with good reason.The Cambridge MegaWorks 510D,a system all about balance.

here we have a system using five sats using a 3" full range driver,and a sub using a 8" woofer in a sealed cabinet.The sats are very light but quite inert,the sub uses a very good quality woofer drven by a amp rated at 150W RMS and five times 70W RMS/channel for the sats.This is alot of power for the sats,and seriously I doubt the sats take even 70W during short peaks,unless driver very hard. The quality feel is the best yet,by far.The sats use good quality well spaced spring loaded conectors.The supports are very stable after you glue the supplied clear rubber feet.The center has a nice tilting support.

Now the performance,I started with music.On anything from acoustic to electric this system was simply BALANCED.No boom,no agressive upper range,and above all no colored midrange(for a PC speaker that is,they sure have audible colorations comapred to Dynaudio Contour 1.1's).The bas is well defined and the sub can be placed even in a corner,does not have the BOOM Logitech is plagued by.

The tuning made by Cambridge really shows,the system sound great on all material,save for very deep bass.Speaking about deep bass the system starts to die around 40Hz,still its a solid performance considering how well they balanced it all.

Titan AE sounded great,I would have licked more gusty bass but hey the rest was very competent.Solid performance all around.Now with Call of Duty the action was as good as ever,played half a day.A few missions I restarted just to hear and re experience the awesome sound effects.

As you can see I clearly liked the 510D,many sites have lost the notion of balance when revieweing speakers.These speakers are very well balanced,and this in my view ranks at the very top.The 550's are almost identical save for the repote and ported sub,play loder deeper and lose a bit of the bass definition.Still a good compromise


And here we go Klipschers,the Klipsch ProMedia GMX 5.1's. I have read a few reviews and a negative one by a site who drools over most Klipsch ProMedia speakers.I knew I had to investigate.

So here I come went out and got myself the GMX 5.1 a and Ultra5.1. BTW all the speakers reviewed here are mine.No loaners,as I said before.

First things first,the GMX 5.1 have very stylish sats in my view,some will hate them other will love the looks,me I find the design and the pivot base very original,and functional.The sats use 3" mid-bass driver in a ported configuration teamed with a standrad tweeter.The subwoofer uses a single front firing 6" woofer/slot loaded powered by a 50W RMS power amp.The sats each are allocated 10W RMS/per channel. A well built system,with very conservative power ratings

Started with music,the sats are well balanced but as one review described I did notice a slight problem with the midrange,this was however at higher volume.I am sure a few more watts per sat channel would solve this problem.The bass quality and quantity was very good,and here again as is Klipsch hallmark,no boom.Just cleam bass and solid performance down the 40Hz mark.

In Call of Duty the action was very intense,a few times I could hear the sats straining.This was only during very loud sequences like the one in Stalingrad when all hell breaks loose.And at SPL few will tolerate.

The subwoofer held great,considering its "only" powered by a 50W amp it sure did the job.

LOTR,Gladiator and Titan AE sounded great,the GMX did justice to these great movies well.Only lacking and straning during heavy sequences loaded with extreme bass it could not handle.I think the GMX will be used alot with consoles,I tried with my XBOX and the new Crimson Skies,great fun for sure.

On to the mighty Klipsch ProMedia 5.1Ultra.This was by far the largest and most potent system in the group(like I said the Z-680 and GigaWorks 750 will arrive next week).The box is very large for a multimedia speaker set,after you take out the sub you quickly see why,the sub is BIG and could pass as a small HT sub.It uses dual 8" woofers opposed,ported using a slot on the back. The amp uses 5.1 classic spring loaded clips.The sub is quite hefty for a multimedia unit.

The sats are usual Promedia fare,this time white cones replace the traditional dark grey.I am quite sure the mid bass is identical save for the cone color.The tweeters again bassic fare,horn loaded as any good Klipsch speaker should be.The sats are light,but as with the 510D sats this should not be of any concern as you will later learn.The new base is welcome,sat stability very good.

I could not resist starting with Call of Duty,and so it was.Call of Duty was as explosive as explosive got,explosions are there in full force.No strain could be heard,even during very intense passages.The sats did a great job from the midrange up,and I noted no gap from the sub to the sats,so often present in multimedia speakers.Klipsch did a great job with the crossover here.

When I fired LOTR the 5.1 Ultra showed its true nature,it can go deep and play loud all this with great sound quality.No major colorations or faults to report.The Ultra 5.1 sub is capable of true 30hz output and this makes it the most potent multimedia sub I ever had the pleasure to test.It still has some energy at 25hz but lets get serious,down this deep is weak and the subs starts to loose it.Those who report 20Hz might should buy proper test gear and revise their tesing methods. On Titan AE the action was true and mighty from start to end,the sub did not complain!This is very impressive as all the other sets tested showed more or less strain at one time during Titan AE heavy sequences.The sats again doing a fine job and leaving the user to enjoy the show,not complaining about faults.Very good performance all around here

And lastly music,as you know so far the ebst musical performance was produced by the MegaWorks 510D,so I decided to A/B against the 5.1Ultra,side by side.The MegaWorks is to me at the same level as the MegaWorks when sats are compared,a slight edge goes to the 5.1Ultra sats! The 510D sats have a tendenct to sound edgy at higher volume byt the 5.1Ultra just answered the call and did not get edgy untill it was too loud.And even then one can blame my ears Plus did I say the sub was always there when needed,in terms of clan bass it was up there with the 510D only went about 15Hz deeper and showed no mercy in the SPL departament to the 510D.

Overall the Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra is the best system for movies,and gaming on the PC.And I doubt any system will surpass it in its price range in the near future(as I also have good exposure to the Z-680).

For music it remains to be heard how it stands against the Cambridge GigaWorks 750.It will a great battle and I will post it all here.

So to summ it all up the Altec ACS48 and MicroWorks are still very competitive PC speakers even when compared to today's big hitters.Mainly lacking power and deep bass reach. AltecLansing MX5021 2.1 speakers bring great sound quality to the table,but unless found under $150 are not a great value.Great for music,sub lacks deep bass capabilities to do justice to most of today's movies. In the new released speakers the Logitech Z-5300 does fill the low cost 5.1 segment well,it can be found for under $150 and does a credible job competing against much more expensive MM 5.1 speakers.The secret is to take the time to fine tune and tame the bass,and upper bass. The Z-560 is a sure buy for those seeking a great inexpensive starter 4.1.You have more refined MM speakers out there but at $130 it stands alone as far as power and quality go. Now moving on up we have the Cambridge MegaWorks 510D,here no special setup is needed.It sound great out of the box and performs great for muisc,PCHT and games.Only lacks the ultimate power of the 5.1 Ultra and its bass reach.A great buy and since the 510D is discontinued the 550 replacing it adds some bass depth and a remote to the mix. Klipsch's GMX 5.1 is a good buy for all console owners looking for a good sounding set of sourround speakers,good sound quality with Klipsch's solid and defined bass. And finally Klipsch's ProMedia 5.1Ultra,all the power and bass most users will ever need.Plus great sound quality to boot,think of it as a 510D on steroids the right way.Best sub in any MM and a balanced sound.Sounds great out of the box.

--TheEAR