Pros: Clear notes, very good bass from the sub-woofer, easy controls
Cons: Pricey, slightly large sub and speakers for normal desktops, minor hiss and hum
The bottom line: Very good sound quality, neat appearance and easy usage.
First a little background: I've been reading up about PC speakers for more than a year. I primarily use my PC for gaming and music (whilst surfing the Net). I own a cheap set of 2.1 speakers, which sufficed for 3 years. I was all set to upgrade to a set of 5.1 surround speakers.

Having heard that THX certification is a reasonable indication of the audio quality, I checked and found that there were a few choices in this regard. Mostly, one either had to buy a really pricey set of 5.1's, or else settle for 2.1. Currently it's more practical at home to have a 2.1 set, even though this cancels out the surround-sound option.

The Altec Lansing MX5021 set is one of 4 THX-certified sets, of which only 2 are sold locally. I chose this one, because:

a) it has 3 separate driver-speakers on each satellite (2 mid-range units and a tweeter), which means clearly produced high and mid-range notes
b) the sub-woofer is rated for a broader frequency range than its competitor
c) it costs a few bucks less too
d) the black colour scheme with blue LED lights on the controls matches perfectly with my PC's black colour scheme.

The downside is that they're also not produced anymore. I was very fortunate to locate a supplier who had a set in a warehouse far away.

Unpacking these, I was quite stunned at how big the sub is, even after people mentioned this in other reviews too. It's about 75% as high as my PC's mid-tower case. You receive a wired control pod, an infrared remote control, stereo adaptor, wall-mounting brackets and a square felt cleaning cloth.

Being a 2.1 set, it was easy enough to connect everything up. The sub-woofer houses the power, control and audio connections. This is clearly detailed on the top flaps of the packaging and strangely, nowhere in the manual. The satellites use regular flex wiring from the sub, so one can freely get longer wires, or more expensive ones if you wish.

They’re as lightweight as all PC speakers are which I’ve experienced. Being so tall though, means that they can be easily knocked over, which users should be cautious about. It would make sense to use the included brackets to mount them on a wall. This also saves on desk space, which may be an issue with these larger units.

The speakers are controlled from the wired unit, which has 3.5” stereo jacks for auxiliary input and headphone output. The controls themselves are digital, with a single large dial to change either the volume, treble or bass, depending on which of these has been selected. The same control is available from a small card-sized infrared remote control. Seeing that the main control-pod sits on the desk by my keyboard, I see little reason to need the remote. When using the speakers for a reason other than the PC, this item would be convenient though.

Turning these on for the first time, I was too impressed with hearing such expensive speakers to really notice how good the output was. I did some comparing between the old and the new speakers, playing the same music and then switching from one set to the other. Firstly, the MX5021's are capable of far louder volume and secondly the quality is a pleasure to hear.

Next, I handed the old speakers over to my girl friend and settled in to some proper listening. I’m using the onboard sound from my Asus Nforce4 motherboard currently, but I will definitely by buying a THX-certified Audigy soundcard soon too, just to match the speakers’ quality. As suggested by other reviews, I disabled any software equalisers and used only the speakers' own bass and treble controls.

Over the past 2 days, I've spent about 6 hours in total listening to music and games on these speakers. The overall experience is very positive. Notes are beautifully clear and the bass is so potent that I reduced that setting to about 1/3 or lower.

The reported issue regarding a hissing sound that comes from the speakers when not playing sound, is true. The satellites do produce a hiss which is clearly noticeable when your ear is held closer than 1m from them. However, I have 2 120mm fans in my PC, adapted for lower noise, which are more audible than the speaker hiss. The hiss disappears when the speakers are turned off on the control pod. Similarly, the sub-woofer produces a low hum that is clearly heard when your hear is closer than 1m from it. This sound remains even when switched off, so I expect that this is related to the power-supply.

These 2 issues are the only negative points for me, about these wonderful speakers. They are more powerful than any normal PC user could need, produce superbly clear sound and will not disappoint someone looking for better sound quality from their PC.

The specs from the manufacturer:

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL):
103 dB

TOTAL CONTINUOUS POWER:
90 Watts RMS

Front Speakers:
20 Watts/channel @ 6 ohms @10% THD @ 150 - 18000 Hz 2 Channels Loaded

Subwoofer:
50 Watts @ 4 ohms @ 10% THD @ 40- 150 Hz Single Channel Loaded

SYSTEM RESPONSE:
30 Hz - 22 kHz (-10 dB)

SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO @ 1 KHZ INPUT:
> 80 dB

DRIVERS (PER SATELLITE):
One 1" hornloaded tweeter and two 3" full-range drivers