ARCTIC S111 Compact Speakers

Pros: These small 7cm (2 3/4 inch) cubes provide very good sound. Of course, we are not talking about audiophile level sound, but surprisingly good sound for the size and price. I shopped around quite a bit in stores before buying these, and am completely satisfied with them.

Cons: When the USB power cord for these speakers was plugged into any of my desktop's USB sockets, there was an unacceptable intermittent buzzing tone at the frequency of about middle C on the piano. A .1 amp USB wall charger worked well at low volume but cut out at high volume with a lot of horrible noise. An inexpensive, generic 2 amp USB wall charger/ power supply plugged into a Monster brand line conditioner allowed the speakers to work without any hum or buzz.

The "audio in" cable is three feet long and attached to the right speaker. This is a convenient length for use with a laptop, but I needed an extension cord to plug it into the speaker port on my PC.

Other Thoughts: If I was using these speakers as portable speakers for a laptop, I would get something to carry them in so that the exposed speaker cones would not be damaged.

Pros: Small

Cons: Very low thresh hold for volume

Other Thoughts: At a relativity low volume, (softer than my cell phone) the speakers make a loud popping sound. When they work, sound is ok for the price.

Pros: I like just about everything about these speakers for the price. And I'd give these 5 eggs, if only they weren't defective.

Cons: The Right speaker flickers from working fine, to static, to no sound at all. I'll have to assume that I was incredibly unlucky and happened to get a defective pair. it happens.

Other Thoughts: The most discouraging thing about this obvious defect is now having to ship back these broken speakers that were sent to me BROKEN, at my cost. Then they verify for 4 days, then they send me my replacement speakers... 2 weeks later, I'll have spent $25 total on speakers I ordered (and needed) 3 weeks prior. :(

Pros: The sound quality is decent.

Cons: I am quite disappointed that they do not charge and have to be connected to a power source in order to play. The cords are obnoxious because they are short and connect to each other which makes them less than mobile. Additionally the volume is not very capable. Tried to share something via Ipod in the car while moving 70 mph in a reasonably quiet car and the volume was too low.

Other Thoughts: These offer a good value if you are looking for speakers with decent quality at an affordable price and you do not care about mobility.

Pros: Excellent sound for their size, and decent bass (tested some Tony Bennett and LMFAO). They obviously don't get -really- loud, but louder than I expected, using my Atrix phone for testing.

Cons: I was not prepared for their unrelenting cuteness. Like, baby subwoofers. I suppose better noise suppression would be nice, when using very noisy USB ports/adapters, but given the price, I can't complain. See details below.

Other Thoughts: I got these specifically to replace the built-in audio of a small LCD I'm giving to my parents to replace their old kitchen CRT. The LCD has a USB port, powered only when the TV is on, but unfortunately there is a lot of ground loop feedback noise using that port for power; same issue with the built-in speakers (headphones do not exhibit this on the audio-out port). The audio output level is fixed, so the S111 has to be adjusted. The loudest output is...sufficient; not as loud as using my smartphone with it. Device output level is something to think about; the S111's are fairly loud with my phone, but just loud enough with the TV.
Another important aspect is how to power it; a standard USB port provides 5v @ 500mA per the spec. That's 2.5w if you're playing at home, and the S111's are rated at 4W total RMS. So achieving max output with a standard port could be a problem. I happen to have three different wall/USB adapters, and I tested each with LMFAO (as the bass will drive maximum current usage).
1. 5.0v 550mA (Jabra bluetooth headset adapter): Low noise, but on higher audio output, the speaker amp cuts out, due to USB port voltage drop. This makes sense, given the 4W speaker rating, since this adapter can't supply that per its spec. If this occurred on a standard computer USB port, it may also cause other issues due to the voltage drop (to the computer itself and/or other USB devices on the same hub supply). Note: Some laptops (or most, nowadays) have a 'high power' port (usually colored yellow, and normally 2.1A I think) for use which charging/powering higher current devices (smartphones...or speakers). You would definitely want to use this port with the S111.
2. 5.1v 850mA (Motorola smartphone adapter): This has noticeable feedback noise, though less than the LCD TV I tested. This did not have any issues with the amp cutting out, though the two highest volume notches on my phone produced some distortion.
3. 5.0v 1.0A (unbranded, I think from my wife's old Palm: p/n YFAF22073001): Low noise, no amp cut out issues. Looks like this is what I'll set up with the LCD for my parents. Same high-setting distortion as the 850mA.
4. 5.0v 2.1A (12v Lenmar car adapter): I was just curious if the slight distortion on the 2 highest volume notches from my Atrix would be improved with a higher current supply (as in, is it limited by the S111 amp or the power supply). This had no noise as best I could tell, and did indeed have slightly lower distortion with 'loud' bass. I would therefore recommend at least a 1A adapter, if you intend to use these on louder settings, and a 2.1A especially with heavier-bass audio on louder settings.

Pros: Sound is surprisingly crisp and clear. Sounds better than my mid level headphones and comparable to a more expensive 2.1 speaker set I have. They also sound way better and are roughly the same size as the built in speakers in an eMac, if you've ever used one of those.

They also look good with their simple but effective styling. Mine actually looked better than the pictures on Newegg, as the "Arctic Sound" logo was replaced with the better looking vanilla Arctic logo. Not sure if this applies to everyone though.

The USB power is super convenient for just about any modern computer setup, but an adapter for a wall shouldn't be hard to find in this day and age if you want to use them for anything else.

Cons: While they do have some bass, it isn't going to nearly as big as a 2.1 system for the obvious reason that this isn't a 2.1 system and thus don't have a sub. However, this almost doubles back around to a pro if you don't want a lot of bass so it's harder to bother other people in your house.

The USB power thing can also count as a con if you don't want to use them on your computer. You may need an adapter to plug these into a wall if you want to use them with an MP3 player or something.

Other Thoughts: While the volume dial is on the back, you can get away with setting it in the middle and leaving it alone for the most part. These are designed more for computers after all, so you can just use your computer's built in volume adjuster. Not really a pro or a con IMO.

Pros: Plug them in and they work. They sound good for a pair of USB powered speakers that cost me $17.00 delivered to my door.

Cons: No flashing lights.

Other Thoughts: They are actually pretty loud. Exactly what I was looking for.

Pros: -The sound quality for the price range is great! I hadn't looked at the frequency response when purchasing these for my mother so I was happily surprised to hear how good they sounded.

-It can go quite loud

-USB powered, that means it require one less power block plugged into a power strip. If you have a battery for charging usb devices, this can be used as a portable set, although it's a bit large for that.

-Cable length/extendability, the right speaker attaches to the left using an RCA jack rather than being permanently attached. This is very good because should you want the speakers set further apart than the stock cable goes, you won't have to void your warranty or risk damage by splicing in a cable extension.

Cons: -The volume dial is on the back. Surely there is enough room for a smaller one on the front. I took off an egg for this because it is an easily avoidable design flaw that could prove to be annoying to the user.