NS-PCS21 2.1 CH. PC Speaker Package - Best mp3 speakers site, right here

I got a great deal on these speakers, just under twenty bucks at BestBuy Canada for use with my MacBook Pro along with a 24″ widescreen monitor. At this price point, I was preparing to be underwhelmed and, to be honest, I was not very pleased with my first impressions of the sound quality. It sounded rather flat with dull highs and muddy bass.

Then I remembered (duh) that the MacBook Pro has an equalizer for both iTunes and iDVD (accessed through the “Window” menu of these applications). Once I selected a preset equalizer setting (for example, “Jazz”) the sound quality from the speakers improved substantially! I further custom tweaked the iTunes equalizer using some reference acoustic and vocal jazz tracks and was able to make these speakers produce a pretty nice midrange and clear highs. Moreover, it is actually able to do some halfway decent stereo imaging right on my desktop. (I suspect that it uses a class D switching amplifier chip which are pretty detailed, accurate and have linear frequency response).

There is a slight break-in period and treble and upper mids do get smoother after a few hours. Top end treble does roll off, so don’t expect audiophile-like bell shaped treble decays from cymbals – remember these are computer speakers! When the sub’s volume is set correctly the bass response is pretty decent. It sounds integrated and goes as low as about 90Hz, which is fine for jazz, classical and most kinds of rock – but not, perhaps, good enough for bass heavy Hip-Hop. That said, the bass is considerably better with the subwoofer placed on the floor, as opposed to on the desk.

With the Equalizer properly set, I was actually wowed by the sound from some of my well recorded jazz CD’s, for example Patricia Barber’s “Fortnight in France”, which includes vocals, piano, acoustic and bass guitars and kick-drums.

DVD Movies with good sound tracks also sound great, but I expect these speakers probably won’t do well for gaming or with action movies which have a lot of thunderous explosions.

So, to be clear, these speakers are NOT suited for loud, head-banging music. If you push the volume beyond medium levels it will start to distort! And don’t expect thunderous bass either. If you want a speaker that need to do that, look elsewhere or move up to the Insignia 2.1 Computer Speaker System NS-PCS41 4 Piece With Subwoofer.

All in all I am very pleased with my purchase. For those of you considering buying this model, please note the following caveats:

- Your sound source needs to be of good quality! For example, these speakers sound much better with my MacBook Pro than with my Acer Netbook.

- Make sure you tweak the sound through an equalizer. (iTunes and iDVD on the MacBook Pro have an equalizer).

- Position your speakers correctly according to the instructions. There should be no obstructions in front of the satellite speakers. The subwoofer is best placed on the floor.

- Definitely use a power strip that has power conditioner to plug in the power adapter. It will considerably reduce noise and make these speakers sound clearer and make more subtle details audible.

- Don’t crank up these speakers too loud. They are not meant for room filling sound, just for your desk!

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Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) –

  

  

  

It’s tough for me to add much to what the reviewer named “nagappa” has already stated about these speakers; I am not as educated as they are about speakers in this digital age simply because I listen to the vast majority of my music using my portable CD player with some excellent earphones.

Nevertheless, there are some things that I can tell you. I purchased this Insignia computer speaker system about five months ago when I got my new desktop PC; and I must say this is more than adequate for the job. In fact, as speakers they are actually very good for desktops or laptops. Another plus is that setup is a breeze; and there is a port for you to use if you want to listen to sound through earphones. There is a bass adjuster and naturally you can adjust the volume quite easily. In addition, place the two speakers with as much distance between them as possible for the best quality sound.

If you’re looking for speakers to go with your brand new turntable and receiver/tuner for playing loud music, skip over these and buy speakers better suited for that job.

In short, buy these if you want good speakers for your desktop or laptop computer without breaking the bank. As lower-priced computer speakers go, these are great!

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Scott D. Espenschied “ScoDal” (Ohio) –

  

If you’re hoping for speakers that will blow you away, don’t buy these. It’s like they say, you get what you pay for. These are good budget speakers that are currently GREATLY enhancing the sound of my laptop. I was surprised (not in a good way) at how small they actually are, including the subwoofer. They put out good sound, but I am a musician and know how to push the limits of any sound system. Was really hoping these would be a good all around simple solution for portable recording, but I am constantly turning up the volume which causes terrible sounding distortion and crackling, causing me to have to back down the bass more and more. Pretty soon I don’t have any bass left and I’m not even getting to use the speakers for bass anymore. I’m just trying to give you an honest heads up. I don’t know what I expected for the approximately $25 bucks I spent. When I’m just surfing the net and streaming online music I usually leave the bass up all the way and play music at a tolerable level and everything sounds perfect all the time. I am thinking of perhaps hooking them to my other laptop to watch movies with better sound in bed instead of where I have them now. They definitely don’t sound BAD, that’s for sure… but if you spend a lil more I bet you can get much better. Seriously, if you look at the bottom of the subwoofer you can literally see the subwoofer speaker is about 2 or 3 inches wide total. I’ve had mid range speakers bigger than that. The box the sub speaker is in does do some magic to help boost the bass a little, so it’s all good. I enjoy the speakers. I think I gave them a fair rating.

Final thoughts: Need some quick sound in a room? Mp3 player? Kitchen? Bedroom? Bathroom? Watch movies? Just listen to some background tunes, maybe get funky with your lady friend in bed. Good buy

Want to impress all your friends with your super sound system, blow your neighbors out of their house, put on a rock concert. Bad buy

p.s. the speakers alone, without any bass, sound like tinny poop

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