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| Altec Lansing ATP3 |
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Reviews April 2000 • Vol.11 Issue 4 |
 Altec Lansing ATP3 | ||
 The sleek design of flat panel speakers is a sure way to turn the heads of consumers. Altec Lansing took this concept a step further by making speakers that were both flat and narrow: the ATP3 speaker system. The satellite speakers are only about an inch wide (except at the base, which is about 4 inches wide). The result is a groovy looking set of speakers that won't dominate your desktop real estate. The ATP3 is an all-black analog three-piece speaker system. The subwoofer is 18 watts, and each satellite kicks out 6 watts. The subwoofer is sizeable but not overly so, at 9.5 inches high x 8.25 inches wide x 14 inches deep. Each satellite speaker measures 9 inches high x 4 inches wide x 4 inches deep and vaguely resembles a rabbit ear. The frequency response for this system is 45 hertz to 18 kilohertz (kHz). This range is somewhat smaller than most speaker systems, but that did not seem to affect the sound quality. The ATP3 system is light on fancy buttons or bells and whistles. There are dials for volume, treble, and bass on the right satellite. The bass doesn't have a separate volume control, as is common on many subwoofers.  Testing We tested the ATP3 on a 300 megahertz (MHz) Pentium II system with 128 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM) running Windows 98. We also installed a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! sound card. We listened to a few tunes from an audio CD and then played a popular video game, Sierra's Half-Life, to determine audio quality. We were very impressed with how the speakers sounded when we played our test CD, with one caveat: The speakers have a rather narrow "sweet spot." Sounds emanate from speakers in a wedge shape; the further you are from the speakers, the "wider" the wedge of the sound field. The best quality sound is in the middle of the wedge, the sweet spot. Because the ATP3 satellite speakers are so narrow, the sweet spot is smaller. So you'll have to make sure the speakers are pointed directly toward your head. However, when they are positioned correctly, they sound fantastic. The bass and treble were perfectly balanced, and the speakers delivered bigger, cleaner sound than we thought they would. We had the same results in our game test. The small sweet spot is a minor problem, but once the speakers are positioned properly, the sound is great. The sounds in the game were quite realistic, and the bass added a satisfying "thump" to the game atmosphere. We feel the Altec Lansing ATP3 speaker system is exceptional; it delivers big, full sound and is very attractive to boot. And, it's less than a hundred bucks.  by Michael Sweet ATP3 $99.95 Altec Lansing (800) 258-3288 http://www.altecmm.com
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