Home > Consumer Reviews > Altec Lansing 220 2.0 Computer Speakers (2-Speaker, Black & Silver)

Who are these speakers for?
Well, these speakers are not for people who are going to be listening to a lot of rap or club music (weak bass). These speakers are not for the audiophile. These speakers are, in my opinion, perfect for budget gamers (the bass is weak, but the mids and highs are excellent, very clean and crisp), the stylish college student who doesn't have a lot of space, notebook users who want a cheap way to augment their built in speakers, and people who listen to classical or jazz music casually.

Why not 5 stars?
Don't be fooled by the pics, these speakers are pretty big. They're about 3/4 the size of a carton of OJ. All the cables are also permanently connected, meaning that it's a pain to transport and a pain if one of the wires gets damaged. There is no control for bass or treble, which is kinda annoying. They're also kinda heavy, but I guess this is a sign of quality.

What about the good stuff?
Like I said, the sound quality is excellent. Mids and highs are crisp and clean. Classical, jazz, and ambient music lovers will love these speakers for their excellent clarity and spatial seperation (at this very low price of course). Static and distortion at high volume levels are acceptable. The speakers themselves are rather STYLISH in person...I like em :). Setup is a breeze, even for non-technical persons since everything is basically connected for you to begin with. One big plus in my book is that the power brick is built into the speakers, meaning no BULKY adapter (I hate bulky adapters). The construction is definitely very solid and of high quality. Oh and there is a headphone plug located very conveniently on the side of the right speaker, a very useful feature...

For the price, these speakers are a fair deal. Power rating is 5 watts per speaker.

I bought these speakers to monitor output from a sound editing program. I would not recommend these if you intend to monitor sound quality. It's easy to overdrive these speakers and get fuzzy, distorted output, when there is no fuzziness in your sound file. For low-volume monitoring, these speakers are a great value. You get what you pay for with these speakers.

Pros:
-Compact size and stable, metal base

-Adequate for the average sound application
-Headphone input

Cons:
- Input is a hard-wired male stereo mini-plug connection. If the output of your sound card is other than a female stereo plug, you will need to buy an adapter. My sound card output was two RCA plugs, and I had to string together two adapters: RCA to male mini stereo, and female-to-female mini stereo.
-Left and Right speaker hard-wired to each other. Thus, both speakers must be moved together, and the left speaker is not replaceable.
-No bass and treble controls

I have these speakers plugged into both a mac and a pc that sit in different parts of the room -- they are perfectly compatible with both. The sound is rich and clear without any hiss or background noise. I was very impressed with the sound quality.
They are very attractive sitting next to my black monitor, and the large volume button is handy. In fact, these are the best looking speakers I researched, regardless of price, and they look even better in person.
The only thing is there are little rubber feet to attach to the bottom stand, but they only give you three for a square stand without instructions for their best placement. Also, if you have a headphone plug that turns a right angle, It might not fit very well in the deep plugwell on the speaker side.
Those are very, very minor nitpicks and the ONLY things I can think of to detract from how much I enjoy these speakers. I used to have speakers that cost about as much but these are an excellent value, easily being 5 times better speakers but only being 5 dollars more.

Decent tone at low volumes. The bass, as expected for a unit this size, doesn't knock your socks off, but sound quality is suprisingly good. For the customer who likes to listen to music at low-moderate volumes, this is a great value. Watch out if you listen to anything loud. There will be significant distortion,lack of power and poor balance at higher volumes. These speakers were a good complement for my laptop since the bulit in speakers are absolutely horrible, and you can't argue with the price. They are solidly built and thoughtfully designed. If you are willing to kick in twice the money, the Cambridge Soundworks "Soundworks" system is three times as good.

I wanted a set of 2.0 speaker system for my dad. He does not require the head pounding bass of the Altec Lansing 221 2.1 speakers that I have. My main problem is that most 2.0 speaker systems are just plain awful. They usually have little or no bass and terrible highs. Don't even mention about to me about clarity. My problem was solved when with the purchase of the Altec Lansing 220. This thing not only looks good, but is the best 2.0 speaker system I've ever heard in this price range. Excellent lows and highs for audiophile critics. Can play any music from hip hop to classical with ease. Big volume control and a headphone jack tops it all off.