Harman Soundsticks 2.1 Speaker System
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £114.99Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(3 out of 5)WARNING!
I bought these speakers over a year ago and absolutely felt it was the best accessory I bought for my apple computer. That was until they stopped working and only started giving out a hissing sound. No probs I thought, I'll just go through the Harmon Kardon troubleshooting section on their website.
Nothing fixed it though. The dealer who I bought it from wouldn't look at it as it had fallen outside the 1 year warranty. Now you would think such a great sound producing company would have dealers/ service centres based here in the UK. But they don't.
So if anything does go wrong you'll find you are pretty much stuck with a useless piece of plastic. Because of the special design of these speakers to work with an Apple Mac, I managed to work out that it was probably the transformer that had overheated. A replacement is not as easy as you think. The company expects you to ship the speakers to the USA at your own cost (which I worked out to be £60) and on top of that labour and parts charges could amount to the same!
And also they can't ship it back to you unless you hold an american postal address. So another pointless avenue to explore. Their only recommendation was to buy a whole new set of speakers!!!!
I am now a bit more careful as to what speaker products I will be buying in the future. As JBL is also under the same company I am going to steer clear of purchasing their products. Simply for the fact if I can't get something repaired locally here in the UK if all goes wrong, then it's simply not worth paying for.
(5 out of 5)Works with Windows XP too!
I've been using these speakers for about a year and I love them! The subwoofer has a soft blue glow that looks really cool. The design is a real conversation topic too. Goes very well with a Mac LCD display. Sound quality wise, it's pretty decent for dedicated computer speakers, but I find them a bit 'metallic' sounding. With the subwoofer you won't be lacking in the low frequency department.
Did I mention that it works with Windows XP?
(5 out of 5)Be careful
If you're buying these speakers then please ensure that you're not mistaking them for the new Soundsticks II that connect to a standard PC soundcard through a 3.5mm analogue jack.
The original Soundsticks, are connected via USB only and I was informed about 1 month ago that they had been discontinued when I enquired about them in the PC/Mac department of a large store.
I have the new Soundstick II's, and bought them to replace a Cambridge Soundworks 4 point surround setup.
The Soundsticks provide a better range of sound, as well as looking far more attractive and modern. The volume is controlled in 2 ways. The subwoofer has a dial on it to adjust the level while the overall volume from the sticks and woofer is controlled by touch sensitive buttons near the base on one of the sticks.
The volume level goes surprisingly high with very little distortion, and I certainly won't be pushing the upper limits of the speakers output as I'd end up with hearing problems.
I'd recommend these speakers, they sound as good as they look. Just make sure you get the new version II's, unles you have to utilise the USB connectivity of the older model.
(5 out of 5)Amazing Sound
Absolutely amazing sound quality. I turn these babies up and the doors downstairs shake! :)
(5 out of 5)I never thought sound could get this good!!
these speakers are superb.Buy them.They look excellent, sound flawless and don't cost the earth!By the way those weird little blue thing in the small speakers don't light up but the subwoofer does. And the subwoofer is excellent too, it delivers enough bass without sounding sloppy like the cheaper mac/pc speakers which I wouldn't recommend too highly.Also these speakers are good because they don't involve any installation and you can use them with a CD player or MP3/iPod, overall:
EXCELLENT!