Background Info

Altec Lansing

Started in 1961, Altec Lansing has been around for a very long time and has its roots in professional audio equipment. Its founder, James B. Lansing was the mastermind behind the company’s success but Altec Lansing passed from owner to owner rather quickly over the years. The side-company that really moved along with James was a construction company called All Technical Services Co. The project between James and All Technical Service Co. became what we all know of today – Altec Lansing.

Specializing in loudspeakers, Altec Lansing is no stranger to engineering high end speakers. Its most famous speaker is the Altec 604 Duplex speaker, which consisted of a large 15” low frequency driver with a unique high frequency compression driver in the center that looked like a mini honeycomb. The result, was a mark of supreme audio quality that is legendary, and still considered by many audiophiles today to be the best loudspeaker multi-driver.

I've never seen anything like it

Altec Lansing continues to produce professional speakers, as well as those found in home theater systems. Most of us know Altec Lansing for its PC speakers though and they are excellent speakers that keep up with all the latest speaker trends. In fact, Altec Lansing was the first to introduce a set of speakers that were Dolby ProLogic compliant – the ACS500. Remember those towering speakers Altec produced that each had two mid-range woofers and two tweeters? At the time, the ACS500’s were much too expensive for most gamers to afford. While today’s high-end systems aren’t relatively cheaper, they do offer a lot more oomph for your buck and we’re not just talking about wattage as you’ll see in Altec’s latest system.

Logitech

While initially we were surprised, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Logitech is known for its peripherals like keyboards, mice and controllers so we were surprised when Logitech introduced speakers. However, our skepticism proved warranted when Logitech’s first few speakers were only average to below average. Truthfully, if you want better sound from your computer, a set of good speakers will do you better than a new sound card.

Call the exterminator!

Coming from an unrelated background, one would expect little in terms of audio performance and fidelity from Logitech. However, every company goes through its own cloister of trials and tribulations before emerging as an experienced manufacturer. Logitech has definitely gone through some trials. Its latest Z-series speakers are simply amazing and even add a bit of innovation to the design department. Perhaps Logitech hired a few audio engineers, or spent a lot of time researching, but whatever the case, its Z-series speakers give the competition a serious run for its money.