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By Mindsoup (mindsoup@onepc.net) - September 21, 2000

Infobox

Product Reviewed: Edge-418 Product Page Manufacturer: Labtec Home Page Suggested Retail Price: $79.99 USD

Speaker systems are found everywhere nowadays. From complicated speakers comprised of 6 satellites and, sometimes, many subwoofers found in cars, to home theatres using the latest Dolby Digital technology to deliver surround, theatre-like sounds, speakers are a dominant part of our culture. Computer speakers, however, have been slow to catch on in terms of the quality and innovation. From the early days of the SoundBlaster original sound card to just a year or 2 ago, some of the best computer speaker systems are those cheap ones that come with those new computer systems. Surprisingly, however, most users don't complain about the poor sound quality produced by these usually tiny speakers as sound really wasn't a big part of the overall computing experience during those "old days." A few Windows dings here and maybe some gunshots from Doom would be all that would be heard through these speakers.

We are now in the days of having immersive multimedia experiences right with a few clicks of the mouse. We live in a time when sound and video is beginning to over-rule text and static images. A time where MP3 technology allows people to listen to CD-quality music with a few clicks of their music, a time when broadband access is quickly becoming the norm, where these MP3 files download and are playable almost instantly. Listen to music using MP3 technology on the computer is just at the tip of the pyramid when it comes to sound output from computers these days. Games are built with more than just great graphics in mind. Sure, having these great graphics will help to immerse the player into the game, but that's only half of the experience. Realistic, 3D sound is what fills in the other half of this puzzle, as players are able to hear every detail in these beautifully designed virtual worlds. Running past a stream will bear the trickling of the crystal-clear water, a walk around a crackling fire will fill the user with, well, crackling-fire-sounds. Sound is what gives the user the little things that make the environment realistic and helps to cure those long, boring workdays.

Enter Labtec, Inc., one of the pioneers in audio on the PC. These guys were the people who realized the potential of having sound through the computer; they were one of the first to produce the first-ever consumer-level computer speakers. Those speakers of many years ago, however, were not the best of quality, but fortunately, the industry has grown and so has the quality of most computer speakers.

One of the coolest types of speakers that are starting to be more and more commonly seen these days are flat panel speaker. These speakers are sleek as they are mostly only less than an inch thick and are supposed to produce crisper and clearer sound than their coned counterparts. When I first saw the Labtec Edge-418 flat panel speakers on Labtec's web site, I was intrigued. A 2-flat-panel-speaker & subwoofer system made by such a reputable name as Labtec in the computer audio industry for about $80 USD? I had to get my hands on one!

Packaged inside the very nicely designed box were the flat panel speakers themselves, the subwoofer unit, 2 sets of stands for the speakers, all the cables that you'll need and a small manual booklet that I consider to be a "quick-start guide" because of how small it is. Fortunately, this small manual does its job--I was able to install the entire system in a matter of seconds.

The subwoofer had an LED to let the user know if it's powered on or off, a power switch and a bass turn-knob. The bass turn-knob proved to be useful as I was using this speaker set (more on that later).

Also included were 2 sets of stands for the flat panel speakers; one for placing the speakers on a desk or table and the other set so you can hang off the side of the monitor. Labtec made a good move in including both of these sets of stands and adds a lot of flexibility to the complete set. Also included with the set was a portable volume control. This is completely separate from the speakers and is attached through a cable to the subwoofer. I found this to be very helpful as I'm usually too lazy to even lean forward a bit to reach for those volume controls built-into most speakers these days.

Installation
Installation went very smoothly and was very straightforward. After all of the cables were plugged in, I plugged in the HUGE AC/DC power converter box into my power bar (this can be a downside for some people, but I certainly wasn't affected by it as I just plugged it into the edge-most plug on my power bar), turned on the power switch and began playing my MP3's and games.

Performance
Let me tell you, when I first turned on this system and played the first note (or shotgun shot), I could already feel the raw power in these speakers. High, treble notes were extremely clear and you can feel all of the bass.

The bass is actually the highest point of this system as I just completely fell in love with its raw power. Combined with the turn-knob for the bass level, I was able to tune it to provide the most power, yet not drowning out the high notes. For listening to MP3's (especially those techno mixes), I prefer to use this system even over my surround system because of its powerful bass.

The high notes are very crisp and clear as well. I think this is the first speaker set that I've used that I could actually hear a difference between 128kbps and 160kbps encoded MP3's! Of course, this won't be very noticeable to most people, but if you listen carefully using these speakers, you can actually hear a slight difference.

After turning up the volume to extreme levels (let's just say that the light downstairs was flickering on and off) using the detached volume control (I just love that thing!), I didn't notice any distortion in the sound.

Labtec has truly made an innovative, quality speaker system for the true computer audiophile. The flat panel satellite speakers will take up virtually no space on your desk or can be hung from the side of a monitor to actually take up no space at all! These will also add to the high-tech look of any room that you decide to place these in.

Looks are not the only advantage that flat panel speakers have over of conventional coned speaker sets, but their ability to produce the clearest sounds that I've ever heard coming out of a computer drives them light years ahead of any coned-competition. Even plugging these speakers into a 5-year old SoundBlaster 16 sound card allowed them to produce crisper sounds than any speaker system that I've heard before.

Crisp sounds are one thing, but a powerful bass is another. The include 5" subwoofer produced extremely powerful, deep bases on both hardwood and carpeted floors. Along with the turn-knob bass control, any user can tune their system to provide just the right amount of power for the bass.

Sound quality is not the only quality that makes this speaker system the best that I've ever used. The little things that Labtec has decided to include such as 2 different sets of speaker stands for the table and monitor and the detached volume control adds the last bit of finishes to this speaker system that I can safely call, perfect.

Pros They're flat! Very powerful bass Crisp, clear treble; best that I've ever heard Detached volume control for us lazy people Cons Cons? What are you talking about?

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