The Power Monsters Plus
Written: Oct 26 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Super powerful, floor shaking solid sound. Attractive, long cords and good price.
Cons: Not in production anymore.
The Bottom Line: ACS48s are high powered, attractive and recommended for the demanding power user. High quality sound and solid as a rock with long cables for great separation.
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| cudaviper's Full Review: Altec Lansing ACS 48 2 Speakers |
GENERAL:
These are the power monsters of the out of date speaker systems. I presently own a set of the ACS46, 2 ACS340s, Logitech Z-340 and the Yamaha 201s as well as 2 sets of these beautiful beasts. The ACS48 80watts of RMS sound can flat out power all of them. These will also give many home stereo speakers a run for the money too. 2 tweeters per satellite and large wooden sub woofer. A solid powerful sound system, fairly inexpensive, and very attractive in appearance.
CONTROL FEATURES:
Nothing fancy here. The right satellite contains a top mounted electric volume control which operates very quickly and smoothly. Pressing both the up and down volume control at the same time will turn the unit on and off. Green indicator "ON" light on top of right satellite, between the volume controls. There is no headphone jack or separate tone control.
The sub woofer has a small volume control knob on the rear panel of the unit. A really nice feature of the ACS48 is the 9 feet of speaker cord between the sub and right satellite, with 6 feet of cord separating the 2 satellites. This is great for a wide separation placement of the speakers. The satellites are slightly larger than most and the wooden sub woofer is large and heavy and is ported in the rear. Setup of this very attractive system is easy and straight forward.
SOUND:
At low volume, there's nothing that really distinguishes this system from any other good speaker system. The satellites do not really produce a very crisp sound at this level but do sound good. EQ will fix this. But when you cross from the low to mid range this unit really starts to come alive. In the full mid range of volume you are certainly aware these are great sounding speakers. The satellites 2 tweeters, 3/4" and 3", reproduce a solid high end and the subs 6 1/2" woofer hold the lower tones rock steady and smooth.
Now take it up a notch, and get ready. This is where you separate the good system from the earth movers. At the mid to upper end volume, these will have your friends turning green with envy and communicating with them, will have to be done via hand signals.
The sub woofer really thumps, shakes the floor and WILL vibrate things off the shelves. Sub placement IS important. Try it in different areas until you find the best "thumper" spot. Distance and angles really can make a big difference. Mine seem to work best standing on one end, in the corner, 8" from the wall. Port hole at bottom.
(NOTE): I prefer an EQ for fine tuning to taste and to raise the high end at lower volumes. Highly recommend latest version of Windows Media player. Allows use of EQ and SRS without recording to harddrive.
PERSONAL NOTE:
These being analog speakers, on occasion, can distort when playing an over signaled piece of music or when there is to much input signal to them. (example: a walkman cd player volume. If it's set on 3 or 4 has very little distortion output, but raise it to 19 or 20, and it will send its distorting signal out to be amplified by the 48s.) Same with a computers sound signal. A simple adjustment of the output level on the computers volume control, found on the taskbar, will remove any distortion. A small bit of "fine" tuning will be most rewarding. Let the 48s do all the amplifying. You may or may not have this issue but I can say confidently that it is NOT the speakers.
If your into a solid, high output, quality speaker system, I recommend these without any reserve, but your neighbors may.....
FACTORY SPECS:
Drivers (per satellite):
One 3 inch shielded full range driver
One 3/4 inch high frequency tweeter
Drivers (subwoofer): One 6 1/2 inch long throw woofer
Satellite Power: 20 Watts per channel RMS at 0.8% THD
Subwoofer Power: 40 Watts at 0.8% THD
System Response: 35 Hz - 20 kHz
Input Impedance: >10k ohms
S/N Ratio: >65dB
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cudaviper
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Location: Nashville
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
1953, drummer, photographer, married, car & motorcycle painter, artist, father, grandfather, 4cats, 3computers,
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