Labtec ARENA 685 27 watts RMS 5.1 Speaker

Comments: I do professional audio/visual installations for a living. I have a high end Sib Cub 5.1 dolby system with my main setup and im still impressed by these little things. Incredible sound for such a price.

Pros: dirt cheap positional audio. wattage rating is o.k. as long as you don't like to shatter windows with your sound

Cons: sound quality is alot lower then the phillips 2.1 speakers i had before these (costed roughly the same price). i think i would rather have the phillips speakers then these oblivion sounds TERRIBLE. you have to turn the bass way up to hear a spell being casted.

Overall Review: for those who don't know, the wattage rating is how loud you can turn the speakers up before you get distortion and cracking. guess what those speakers that cost so much more have? yep, higher wattage rating. and better sound quality. these things are cheap for a reason only about 50% of people can tell the difference between high and low quality sound. if you're one of the people that can tell the difference, i would personally recommend getting better quality speakers. if you're not, then get these.

Pros: Excellent sound, even at high high volume it doesn't distort. Even after 2 years with these speakers they are still standing strong, even after many drops off of my desktop.

Cons: Now for the only bad things I can think of through all of the years of use. The speakers hum when they are turned up louder. The humming is something that you get used to, but no matter what I seem to do they always hum, and I don't feel that I should need to get used to a humming from my speakers.

Overall Review: I recently replaced these speakers with with logitech's even though these were a fraction of the cost I still don't notice much of a difference in sound. All in all they are great speakers with only a minor problem. They sound much better than the price would lead you to believe, people always though I spent hundreds of dollars on them when they heard these things.

Pros: Excellent sound quality. Extremely easy to set up. Get very loud for it being so small, I play games with the speakers practicly off, mabye 1/5 turned up max.

Cons: So far none, but you never know how long cheap systems last.

Overall Review: Recommend it highly. Newegg shipped it to me in 1.5 days when I payed for 3 day shipping!

Pros: very nice sound for only $xx it sounds like $xxx

Cons: volume control on the back no headphone jack

Overall Review: it's very nice having something other than the speakers that came with the computer

Pros: very nice, epically for the money. can barley tell I paid $xx for these. The cables are plenty long.

Cons: Almost can't fit them on my desk, the volume is on the back of the sub, not too much of problem, I adjust with my keyboard anyways.

Overall Review: the bass really pumps, and is adjustable. you can really feel it with your foot in front of the sub.

Pros: cables are long enough to fit anywhere. quality for price is excellent. they doo their job well

Cons: volume and bass controls are on the back of the bass which isnt to awesome if your sub is on the bround or difficult to reach. speakers hiss a bit when they are too loud. i have heard my music pop and crackle lightly sometimes and if the speakers are turned up too loud, they begin to distort quickly

Overall Review: for the money they are good, but i really wish the volume and bass controls were on a front speaker rather than the back of the sub. I am using these speakers on an x-fi xtreme with all the settings tweaked and im still finding a bit of distortion and popping here and there, but i think it might be because the audio i am playing. if you arent an audiophile, pick them up at a good price.

Pros: Very good construction and sound quality for very little money. Easy to set up.

Cons: Not as loud as some units, but enough for a computer/small home theater