Altec Lansing BXR1220 2-Piece Desktop Speaker System

I purchased these Altec Lansing BXR1220 speakers about two years ago to use with my new Dell XPS 8700 computer, which came without speakers. I am giving them a five-star review after two years of use.Before I purchased the speakers I read through the then-current reviews on Amazon, and figured that if these guys weren't good enough to serve as permanent speakers, they would at least work well enough while I shopped around for a better pair.My main reason for selecting these particular speakers was that I have my computer monitor located on a roll-top desk, and the drawers and pigeon-holes across the upper part of the desk don't allow for anything larger than about 4 1/2 inches tall to be placed anywhere to the rear of the monitor. These speakers, which lie horizontally, fit nicely into two of the cubby-holes behind the monitor. Perfect!My expectations for the sound were pretty low, based on the price - I expected these speakers to be barely adequate as far as power and volume (you can't expect much from a 5-volt USB power source), and I expected the sound to be boxy, bass-shy and tinny. I fully intended to have to adjust the sound with some equalization. More on this below...I don't listen to much music on my computer (I have a nice "audiophile" sound system for that), but I do watch occasional television programs (when I miss an episode of a broadcast program). I just needed a utilitarian set of speakers for general computer sound, television dialog, and "YouTube" internet stuff.Here is my take on these speakers... First of all, my five-star rating is based on the fact that I'm still using them after two years. The sound and power turned out to be perfectly fine, and actually much better than I had expected! (See below...)Folks that give these speakers one- and two-star reviews seem to be basing their low ratings on two things: either the things arrived broken (or broke quickly), or they somehow expected them to be able to play at PAR-TAY!! sound levels. I guess I got lucky - my set have been solid, with no wiring problems, and no unusual buzzes or rattles. And at "normal" sound levels, and with some EQ to tame the frequency balance (see below), they sound quite good. (I admit I WOULD be a bit worried, however, about moving these speakers around a lot, or for regular portable use with a laptop. The wiring is NOT up to the standards of professional road use. Keep in mind that mine have been sitting firmly in my desk for two years!)Some background: I an amateur musician, and I come from a background of "audiophile" sound, music recording and editing, and electronics construction, so I have plenty of audio test equipment and reference sound recordings lying around. I bought these speakers fully intending to have FUN seeing what kind of "silk purses" I could make out of these "sows' ears"! (Basically, I LOVE this stuff...)SO, here are my secrets to getting decent sound out of a pair of BXR1220 speakers...I am using the speakers with a Dell XPS 8700 desktop computer. I plugged them into the "green" audio jack and a USB 2.0 port on the rear of the case. I located the speakers about six inches behind the left and right sides of the flat-screen monitor, firing directly at the back of the monitor.I turned the rotary volume control on top of the right speaker all the way UP. I adjust the sound volume using the computer's volume control only.My Dell came with the Dell Audio "MaxxAudio Pro" (Maxx by Waves) sound management program installed (many new computers come with some similar kind of sound management program). The MaxxAudio program includes various preset audio-enhancement and sound "excitement" settings, as well as numerous built-in preset EQ settings for various genres of music and different listening environments.FORTUNATELY you can turn all that stuff OFF, and Dell Audio also includes a standard 10-band equalizer!Here's how I adjusted my computer's sound to drive the BXR 1220 speakers:First, I TURNED OFF all of the preset sound-enhancement settings. I set the "MaxxSense" sound-enhancement program to OFF.I also set the Volume Leveler and Dialog Enhancement settings to OFF.I set the preset for the Dell Audio Equalizer program to to FLAT (all sliders set to zero).I set the Speaker Setup format to "Stereo", and the Speaker Size to "Medium".Next, I set the sliders for the Dell Audio equalizer as follows, based on extensive measurements and listening tests (I mentioned that I LOVE this stuff):31 Hz = 0 db63 Hz = +6 dB125 Hz = -3.5 dB250 Hz = 0 dB500 Hz = 0 dB1 KHz = 0 dB2 KHz = +2 dB4 KHz = -5.5 dB8 KHz = +3.5 dB16 KHz = +5.5 dBThese settings should work for any standard 10-band equalizer. I saved the settings into the Dell Audio equalizer program as a preset named, of course, "Altec Lansing BXR1220".Comments: The slider settings above look a little weird, but they WORK.The boost at 63 Hz and CUT at 125 Hz do a good job boosting the limited low bass, while taming the speaker's inherent upper-bass peak. (Boosting the 31 Hz range further is futile, and will just waste the limited power available from the USB port.)The deep -5.5 dB CUT at 4 KHz (interacting with the boost at 2 Khz & 8 Khz) works to tame the speakers' HORRENDOUS upper mid-range resonant peak. That "honky" resonant peak is what makes cheap speakers sound cheap!The treble boost at 16 Khz compensates for the lack of high frequency response. Note: The 16 KHz setting can be set somewhat lower (like around +3 dB) if your speakers are not located behind your monitor.Anyway, if you try the above setup and EQ settings, and keep your volume settings (and your expectations) reasonable, I think you will be surprised at how decent the BXR1220s can sound for general computer use. Just don't jump rope with the wiring...Cheers!

Just bought these and they are perfect for use with a notebook.Shielded, space saving and much better than most speakers i'veused with a notebook.The sound is very warm and crystal clear, just what you'd expectfrom a well known audio company.You can get room filling sound and decent bass with a few tweaks.I hooked them up to a Targus mini-usb 2.0 hub(though i have 3 usb ports in the back of my pc)and the notebook headphone jack.Peeled apart the wire a few inches to reach both.Right clicked on the speaker icon in the taskbar, selected"adjust audio properties", added PC speaker to the usual arrayof volume controls. Set all including pc speakers to maxexcept system volume which i set to 3/4Then in audio properties under speaker settings, clicked on advancedand chose desktop speakers from the dropdown menu instead of the defaultlaptop stereo.(and though they get the sound from the headphone out jack, selectingheadphones is only for... well, headphones)Running three sets of volume controls:With the system volume at 3/4, the volume knob on the right speaker setto half, your final volume will depend on the volume control of whatevervideo or audio player you are using both on and offline.You can play around with your volume settings to your own satisfaction.Since system volume comes in loud, i don't bother to turn the speakerson with the on-off switch on the back of the right speaker until i'm actually going to use them to listen to a film, video or mp3, etc or browse through these kinds of sites.Till then, there is no sound since they are plugged into the headphone jack.I haven't heard any start-up, shut-down or any other system sounds and have not missed them, there is almost always some visual effect associatedwith those.The sound at youtube and various video sites etc is not a substitute for expensive high end speakers but is very good for listening to music and movie soundtracks at decent volumes and good fidelity with none of the harsh muffled sound you usually get with outboard pc speakers.And no distortion unless you run the sound up to absolute max.You won't get deep bass, frequency is 180Hz-20KHz, but frankly i don't want deep bass rattling and thumping my notebook and its hard drive and optical drive with the speakers only 3 inches away.As a bonus, the stereo separation is outstanding on these.For the price i think these are the best notebook speakers around :)

I purchased the Altec lansing BXR1220 speakers to use with my mac laptop. Mistake. The speakers just don't work with my macbook at all - they don't work in the speaker jack and they don't exactly fit into the headphone jack - they will if you work at it, but the reward you get for your efforts is a very low sound that is quieter than my built-in speakers. So pretty pointless.Having said that, I tried them with my daughter's Chrome Book and the were great. Very good full sound. She is thrilled and for the money I paid (just a little more than $10) I can happily give them to her and so it wasn't a total waste.If I had bought them for my daughter's Chrome I would easily give them 5 stars. For my macbook - 1 star, so I compromised on 3 stars. They really are sweet little speakers if they work for you.