Finally something bigger to get my hands on. This time round I got to test out the VS3151R 5.1 surround sound speaker system from Altec Lansing. This unit aims to deliver great performance at a competitive price of just £79.99, yup that's right! £79.99
First of all let me just tell you a little about Altec Lansing. I’m sure that there are still many out there who have not yet heard of or know what Altec Lansing is. The company is focused on providing high end computer and home entertainment sound systems. Altec Lansing also have a produce line of headphones microphones and the like. They are certainly no rookie in the field of high quality audio equipment. Just a look at their website will prove this.
· Product manual
· Control pod
· Sub woofer
· Centre speaker
· Front left speaker
· Front right speaker
· Rear left speaker
· Rear right speaker
· Wireless remote control
· Battery for remote
Specifications:
Front Speakers: 5 Watts/channel @ 8 ohms @10% THD @ 150 Hz - 20 kHz 2 Channels Loaded
Rear Speakers: 5 Watts/channel @ 8 ohms @10% THD @ 150 Hz - 20 kHz 2 Channels Loaded
Center Speaker: 10 Watts @ 8 ohms @ 10%THD @ 150 Hz - 20 kHz Single Channel Loaded
Subwoofer: 20 Watts @ 8 ohms @ 10% THD @40 – 150 Hz Single Channel Loaded
Some helpful diagrams were printed on the flaps of the box.
Once out of the box I realized how much nicer it looked in 3 dimensions. The product is very cool looking, not too simple yet nothing complex looking either.
The great thing about these speakers is the ability to remove the base on which they stand so they can be wall mounted if you like. This includes the centre speaker. Now let's take a closer look at some of the equipment.What you see on the left is the control pod, from here you can adjust the master, centre and sub volume levels. There is also a headphone jack. The lights look very stunning too and indicate how high or low the volume setting is. Turning up the volume will bring the lights all the way up. An infrared receiver is also fitted on the front of this control pod for use with the remote.
The back of the control pod features RCA inputs for connecting up to other audio sources such as games consoles. The power cable is also connected to this pod as well as the audio leads which connect to the back of your system. On the right you can see the switch to select your channel mode 2/4 is used for audio sources such as CD players and 4 channel sound cards where as 6 channel is for use with soundcards that support 6 channels thus experiencing FULL surround sound.
Connecting the leads to the back of your sound card output is obviously no mammoth task.
Here is the 20W sub as you can see, matching the rest of the of the setup, retaining that sleek look. The cabinet itself is made from wood.
In this shot you can see where the connection for the front, rear, centre speakers and DIN are made. If you look carefully at the sockets you can see notches designed to allow the connectors to be fitted securely.
This is what those notches were for. Each connector has text on it to identify which speaker is which. Every thing is colour coded too.
Once you make the connection on the sub it is fairly secure. We gave a few tugs to see how well it was secured. The notches prevent accidental disconnection, for example; by pulling on the lead.
Setup and testing:
It was time to get these speakers up and going so I proceeded to set them up appropriately. Each speaker was placed with enough clearance for sound. The centre speaker was placed on the monitors you can see below. This speaker can also be tilted to your desired position. The rear speakers were placed just behind the rug and missed the camera show.
The stands on which the surround speakers sat were a bit light and I felt they could of done with more weight, however, they do stand fairly well but could of done with just that little extra. Another thing were the buttons on the remote, being so flat and slim the buttons were no different and sometimes I couldn't tell if they were actually being pressed in or not. This shouldn't bother many of you but it did bother me a little and I ended up pointing the thing right at the control box in confusion. For those of you would like to know, the rear speakers cable length is 400cm, the front and centre speakers have a cable length of 255cm.
I tested this unit with a 5.1 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy sound card. We used the "Surround Mixer" provided with the driver for the sound card to test the setup and adjust volume levels accordingly.
With everything set it was time for the testing. So how did we test it exactly? Well first of all we used original full quality Dolby Digital and THX trailers followed by some Starwars and Terminator 2 Judgement Day. In the end we used FarCry and set the sound property for use with 5.1 in the game options.
Dolby Digital & THX trailers
What can we say? Crash, bang, trickle, snap you name it, all was clear and crisp. We really got the effect of surround sound. Some of the trailers of course weren't so good so naturally we only used the best ones, ones we thought would bring out the potential of this system. We certainly achieved it though, the system was giving us great surround sound.
Starwars & Terminator 2
You've got to love these movies! Who doesn't? The amount of rumble we got from the woofer was incredible we were immersed in the action and we couldn't believe this system was only £79.99, incredible! The whole room was rocking to the sound, there is no holding back here.
FarCry
Well it may not have the plot but certainly has the eye candy and gameplay you'd love. By enabling 5.1 sound we looked behind us during gameplay because we thought we were about to receive a melee, ok maybe we didn't look back, yea it's a lie, but we did in the game and there he was ready to shoot but we were fast and wasted the guy no problem! The sound was great! Just perfect for those who are serious about sound when it comes to gaming, this system really does promise to deliver.
Conclusion
After testing this product I left........incredibly satisfied! While it may not rock the house it certainly rocked my room and that was good enough at £79.99 it basically punches similar products out there right in the face with that price tag. It delivered well, I expected no less from Altec Lansing. The testing went fine without any problems. I would definitely recommend this product. Now it's time to get back to some more gaming.
Pros:
Superb performance
The true definition of value for money
Very attractive
Good build quality
Wireless remote a plus!
Easy to setup and use
Wall mountable speakers
Cons:
Speaker stands a little light
Remote buttons are iffy
Score 4.5/5
The Duo can be used in most Sony products that can accept the card as is or in an optional caddy as seen below.
Here is a list of where the DUO can be used ranging from:
Tune in
The Picture
There are over one hundred channels to choose from TV and radio. It is pretty straightforward on how to choose what channel to watch by either clicking on the plus or minus on the control panel. Also you can get a list of all the channels by bringing up the Program List Viewer as seen below.
The other features