If you are on a tight budget (or your workspace isn't conducive to booming sound), you don't have to accept bad sound. Altec Lansing recently has rolled out its new "VS" (value series) line of powered systems that can meet your needs.

To go to the main page for Digital Music Revolution coverage, please click here.

To Go Back to Sound Investments, please click here.

The range consists of four bundles:

• VS2120 ($28.50); 2-speaker system
• VS2121 ($50); "2.1" system
• VS3121 ($62); "2.1" with volume control box
• VS3151 ($70); "5.1" surround sound system

Pricing is consistent with competitive speakers in the budget category. The silver and black speaker units have a surrounding frame in the front that is wider than the rest of the speaker. (You can see this in the photo to the left.) This gives them the look of a more costly flat panel system.

Altec Lansing appears to have kept down costs by using common components across the line. The two speakers in the 2120 system are also used with the 2121 and 3121 systems, which add a subwoofer (the ".1" in speaker terminology.) And five of them are used for the multichannels in the surround system.

Sound output favors bass, which will please the younger users at whom they are probably aimed. They are fine for rock and pop; less so for jazz and classical.

For my tests, I worked with the 3151, trying it out with both a notebook and a desktop. It is a nicely done surround system for the money, with well designed, color-coded cabling to let you set them out quickly without having to sends hours figuring out which one is intended for which corner. The control box has a switch that lets you configure the units to work with the capabilities of your sound card. Whether you have true 5.1 channel output, four channel (for gamers), or two-channel stereo, the system will deliver the proper signals to the five speakers and the subwoofer.

A 5.1 system is designed for movies, with the fifth speaker placed as a center channel intended for dialog. I tested it with DVD movies as well as broadcast TV from my tuner card. The latter is no particularly big deal as it mainly proved how minimal the stereo sound is on broadcast and cable stations. DVDs, however, are another story, with most shipping these days with the necessary coding to deliver surround sound.

I didn't necessarily get the same sense of, say, an object moving from behind you to the front that you get in full blown theater systems, but surround sound is definitely adds presence to the movie soundtrack. You definitely pick up the sound effects and background noises in a way that two-speaker and 2.1 systems don't. A true center channel also resolves the problem you so often experience listening to your movies of having to crank up the volume so you can hear the dialog, then having to turn it back down when a sound effect of the music score starts blasting you out of your chair.

The 3121 would be a good choice to use with a TV as well as a PC, particularly if your DVD player supports surround sound. At a $70 street price, it offers sound value.

(c) 2004 Al Gordon.

In addition to his computer interests, Al Gordon is a principal in the Boston-area strategic consulting firm, Mary Fifield Associates, www.maryfifieldassociates.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can reach Al Gordon at:

al@tnpcnewsletter.com