Installation and Setup

Installation

If there's a word to characterize the wiring on the 4620s, "spaghetti" would definitely be close. Simply (if such is the word to describe it), the right satellite acts as a signal hub, and the subwoofer as the power hub. To the satellite, you connect the power cable from the subwoofer, the input from the sound card, two stereo cables to the left speaker (presumably a separate cable for power), and the optional microphone passthrough. The subwoofer itself has three connections - the stereo input from the right satellite, the power cable to the right satellite, and the power cord to the nearest AC socket.

Cord management system and 4 various jacks

Whew, now that's a handful. At least the power transformer is housed in the subwoofer! Personally, I feel that this system is simply more complicated than is necessary. Take an elegant alternative for example, such as those found in Cambridge Soundworks speakers. Here, the subwoofer contains 4, simple connections - the input from the sound card, an AC power cord, and a cable to each satellite. There's no fumbling with unnecessary cabling, especially between the two satellites.

Wired

This happened to be the biggest grudge I've held against the 4620s. With a 5' length of cable between the satellites (ours was actually about a foot and a half shorter), it was difficult to position the speakers comfortably, as they had to remain fairly close together on the desk. One of the reasons to move from cheap, generic speakers is to avoid the ridiculous speaker-to-speaker cabling hassles, and this is definitely one area that hopefully Labtec will pay attention to and improve.

In their defense, the sats are actually meant to be hung from the top of the monitor via brackets with two-sided adhesive strips, but quite honestly, I couldn't bring myself to stick the brackets on my monitor. Since the satellites come with rubber feet, and are in fact quite sturdy despite their height, it wasn't a big concern, but it would have been nice to have slightly more extended options.