Altec Lansing FX6021 2.1 Speakers

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Bradford Day
Kurtis
Altec Lansing
Oct. 13, 2004

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Setup

As I said, setting the FX6021s up is a snap. Every input is clearly labeled, color coded and only the specific cables will fit into specific input jacks. Seriously, if you are reading this because you couldn't figure out how to install these speakers, just donate your computer to the Salvation Army right now and go join a commune.

Testing

Music

At last, my favorite part, testing. Yes, there is no way to hide it, testing a speaker set-up couldn't be any more entertaining. Blasting music and movies at full volume to test "total harmonic distortion" and "sound quality" can be difficult, but somehow I trudge through it. In other words, I get to load up hours of my favorite tunes and enjoy the show. And readers, it was a great show.

In all seriousness, I couldn't believe my ears. Taking into account that these are 2.1 speakers, just 2 satellites and a sub, I was blown away. My test bed of tunes included a wide range of music, such as:

The Mahones - Drunken Lazy Bastard, The Clancy Brothers - Irish Fiddle Song, Propellorheads - Spybreak from The Matrix soundtrack, The Dust Brothers - Stealing Fat from the Fight Club soundtrack, The Beastie Boys - Alive, Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch, The Pogues - Whiskey in the Jar, Gogol Bordello - Sacred Darling, George Clinton and Ice Cube - Bop Gun, Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin out My Back Door, Public Enemy - Can't Truss It, Transplants - Tall Cans in the Air, The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army, MC Chris - Fett's Vett, and more!

I couldn't bring myself to cease "testing' the FX6021s. There were times I would swear to you that Gogol Bordello was playing live in the next room, the sound was that clear and rich. In their literature, Altec Lansing claims that each pair of speakers on the satellites are powered by their own amplifier and that the sound is beamed straight out from them eliminating omni directional reverb from walls and ceilings. Now, I can't say with certainty that is exactly what they are doing, but whatever they are putting out sounds pretty damn good. Highs and mids are clearly distinct and not at all brassy or hissing. Adjusting the bass and treble from either the wireless remote or wired control center will tweak the sounds to the user's liking with the press of a button and twist of a knob.

Bass response is excellent for a small 50 watt subwoofer. Turning the bass level to maximum on hip hop songs will make the sound a bit reverb-ish, but I never experienced the unhinged slapping sounds that poor quality woofers will create when overpowered. In fact, my wife and I threw a party at our new house and towards the end of the night we dug deep into the hip hop section of our MP3 collection. Even the venerable Sir-Mix-a-Lot couldn't put an end to the bass response of the subwoofer. I was quite pleased with the overall bass performance. The maximum volume wasn't as ear-bleedingly loud as something a full scale 12" woofer set-up will spit out, but it was loud enough for me to not want to hear it at that volume again for fear of hearing loss. And I do believe I've heard the song "Baby Got Back" enough times to last me for the next decade or two.

These speakers can handle just about every type of music I could throw at them and continue to impress me. Punk, Country, Funk, all sounded smooth and silky... well Punk isn't silky, but you get the idea. Guitars ring loud and true whether distorted beyond belief or twangy and clean. Obviously certain types of music will evoke different reactions from the speakers. Techno, for example, tends to really push the limits of bass and treble. With 6 pairs of miniature drivers, this is where the speakers really shine. Techno, and other types of music that tend to span both the bass and treble community, radiate from the FX6021s. The clarity between each frequency range is marvelous and I honestly could not stop listening to music for most of the first night I started testing these speakers.

Games

Gaming with speakers rather than headphones is something I do mainly when I'm home alone fragging. True, if you're fragging you typically don't have any friends bothering your lonesome butt. However, I happen to be married and rarely get the chance to play Call of Duty or Star Wars Battlefront with the speakers on full blast. For the purpose of testing, I made an exception.

Games sound most outstanding when pumped through these speakers. Voice characterizations, explosions and gunfire are all nicely separated and represented. And, like the Altec Lansing Gaming Headset I reviewed last week, the FX6021s really make flying helicopters in Battlefield Vietnam a floor shaking good time.

I still prefer a headset for gaming though. The absence of stereo sound millimeters from your ears makes it tough to tell from which direction enemies are approaching. Of course, a 5.1 set would easily remedy this, delivering distinguishable sound from every which-way... even though I do personally prefer headphones for gaming, sometimes it's just nice be able to feel the sounds of gunshots ruffling your pant leg.

Movies

Now, for me 2.1 speakers just don't do it for movies. If you're an occasional computer movie watcher, 2.1s are fine. But if you like to enjoy a fully immersive audio experience, chances are you don't want just 3 sound sources, but 6 or more. Now that every movie is in surround sound, 2 forward mounted speakers just don't cut it. However, that isn't to say that these speakers fail when it comes to movies. As a matter of fact, they sound quite excellent (considering they are 2.1s). I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (don't laugh, I hadn't seen it yet) as well as The Return of the King. Both sounded very good, but in the end I longed for a rear channel and some echo effect on my explosions. Voice and dialogue come across crisp and clear and sound effects are never muted or distorted. But, for the money, I would get my hands on a 5.1 set, unless you only want to watch an occasional movie on your computer. In that case, this set-up is a very good choice, as it will cover all the other bases quite well and still sound great. Yet, for movie viewing I just didn't hear an overwhelming difference between the FX6021s and other lower end 2.1 speakers I have tested or owned.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Packaging & First Looks
Page 3: Setup & Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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7 User Comments

1 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on October 13, 2004 - 6:34 pm

ooooo, those are pretty

2 - Posted by Rich on October 14, 2004 - 10:09 am

Oh yeah, and they sound great too!

3 - Posted by handrail on October 14, 2004 - 1:49 pm

indeed, they do rock. i'm pretty impressed with altec lansing's new products.

4 - Posted by Guest on December 24, 2004 - 6:03 pm

Really crumby. I just got some for christmas and I am very disappointed. The packaging was awful; a really long tedious process followed by furthur disappointment at the uglyness of these speakers. They really are not as nice as they seem. Once plugging them in, I was greeted with less than adequate sound and really yuky base. I dont lik heavy base personally, and you can turn it down but in doing so the music sounds silly. Dont buy these speakers, I'm taking them back tomorrow.

5 - Posted by Guest on April 27, 2005 - 7:07 am

The major problem with these speakers is that they delivers a very high-pitched treble wich becomes annyoing after a while. I tried tweaking them (i own a Audigy 2 ZS) but in vain... The only thing i can do is set the bass and the treble manually track (!!!)...
Over-all: dissapointing... The In-concert technology is the one to blame , because it adds an echo to the sound, making it be like youre in a concert...

6 - Posted by handrail on February 2, 2006 - 3:45 pm

well, this comment might be a year and a half late, but i am still using these speakers i and think they sound great. i listen to music on them constantly and i never had a single problem as mentioned above.

high pitched treble? try using an equalizer. less than adequate sound and yucky bass? i've not experienced either. i stand by my original assessment.

7 - Posted by guest on February 12, 2006 - 2:07 am

Sound good to me. Mostly music. The bass booms if sub-woofer is in a boxy area - have put mine up on a bookshelf, instead of in the bottom of computer cupboard, now very happy. I am going to buy a second set for the kitchen - subwoofer on top of the fridge, satellites wonderfully thin to hang on the wall out of the way.

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