A step in the right direction, but another step backwards ?

Amongst all the ‘commodity’ 2.1 speakers, 2.0 desktop speakers and iPod docks on show at Altec-Lansing/Plantronics stand at CeBIT Australia 2009 was two particular sets of multimedia speakers that caught our eye. These speakers stood out from the rest of the pack due to their unique style and design and our suspicions of these particular units were confirmed by Altec’s representatives who revealed that these speakers were unreleased pre-production models on show for the first time.

We only have some basic specification for these units which should be sufficient to give our readers an impression of the product direction Altec is heading this year, which seems promising comparing to the speaker line-up which we saw at last years CeBit.

These products are not even listed on Altec-Lansing’s websites so we will endeavor to update when we receive new information. Model number are to be confirmed.

Expressionist Plus

2.1 channel compact contemporary/lifestyle type multimedia speaker

Judging by looks alone, the Expressionist plus takes some DNA and design cues from both Altec-Lansing's existing hybrid speakers, the Expressionist Classic and of other contemporary 2.1 lifestyle sets such as the THX Certified Mako from Razor and the E3350 series from Edifier.

Altec-Lansing Expressionist Plus

Since the speaker is intended as a compact desktop solution, the volume control is integrated into the subwoofer unit rather than an external unit or pod.

Connectivity features include the typical green coded analogue 3.5MM input and power is supplied by a plug pack rather an internal AC power supply. From a design and performance perspective we were not too impressed by this feature however given the segment and target market for the product this is acceptable.

Altec-Lansing and their supply/manufacturing channel need to ensure that the power pack that will be included in shipping examples of this speaker is compact to ease of installation into tight AC outlets and energy efficient, preferably Energy Star compliant.

Multimedia Speakers are often left on for extended periods and their high current power packs sometimes run warm and can be a source of failure.

Altec-Lansing Expressionist Plus

A down-firing 12CM coated woofer, of what we speculated to be paper cone type handles bass duties. The subwoofer units stand performs double duty as a bass port, especially when sealed against a hard surface such as a desk.

Total power output is 30 watts RMS. Price and availability to be advised.

Expressionist Halo

2.1 channel high end/high performance style multimedia speaker

This large format speaker set is what PC multimedia enthusiasts would be more familiar with or looking for, especially with a market filled with very high performance multimedia 2.1 speaker sets from Creative, Edifier, Kiplisch, Logitech and Razer.

Judging by looks alone, the Expressionist halo takes after its namesake, the ported sub woofer/amplifier unit is quite large for a 2.1 set. The triangular cabinet takes after some older Kiplisch speaker designs.

Altec-Lansing Expressionist Halo

Due to its size and design, the sub woofer unit is intended to be placed under a desk or in a corner with the satellite speakers on the desktop. Unlike the Expressionist plus, a wired remote control pod is included with LED indications of the volume level, a handy and attractive feature but not that innovative as has been implemented by Razer on the Mako.

Connectivity features include the typical green coded analogue 3.5MM input and power is supplied by an AC power cord with a power supply internal to the subwoofer/amplifier unit. We were unable to gauge extent of specific features such as automatic sleep/shutoff mode or specific specifications due to the early nature of the demonstration unit. For ease of use  the 3.5MM audio input is fed into the control unit rather than the amplifier itself as the control unit would be closer to the user and their equipment. The user may use this feature to easily switch audio sources or connect devices without needed to reach behind the subwoofer unit.

Each of the speaker channels is driven by an independent amplifer (Tri-Amp) and the two-way unidirectional satellite speakers feature silk tweeter domes.

Note the unconventional design of the satellite speakers themselves, comprising of a very compact cylindrical cabinet with a Perspex stand, quite different to the conventional plastic or wood reflex type cabinets we are used to seeing on multimedia speakers. The split design of the satellites with mid range and tweeter improves dynamics and frequency response over design which use a single or multiple full range drivers in the satellite speakers.

As the subwoofer cabinet is an unconventional shape also, the woofer is front firing complemented with a frontal bass port.

Total power output is 200 watts RMS. Price and availability for Australia is $399 AUD RRP, August 2009. Global price and availability to be advised.

 

As these new speakers are 2.1 channel designs we discussed Altec-Lansing’s intentions for 5.1 or higher channel multimedia sets and were informed that no such products were in Altec-Lansing road map, at least for the time being.

In addition, 5.1 set especially the FX5051 USB speaker which we previewed last year has been given end of life status in the US. Australia often lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to product life cycle and different product and marketing strategies will likely lead to this speaker being available here for some time more yet.

2018-09-21 | NVIDIA QUADRO RTX 6000 In action - Photoshop, Porsche RTX, Kubernetes, CLARA and Metropolis


2018-09-20 | NVIDIA RTX Live Demo - Ray Traced Porsche on Turing GPU


2018-09-21 | EPSON goes bright with laser projection and 4K


2018-09-15 | 8 NVIDIA TESLA V100 VOLTA GPU server from HP


2017-12-31 | Future of Networking with Extreme Networks - Eric Broockman CTO Interview


2018-02-16 | NVIDIA’S VOLTA is real, it works and it is finally here.


2018-02-07 | motorola harbourside chat and interview | moto x4, g5s plus, 360 camera & gamepad


2018-02-07 | Inwin X-Frame product tour and interview


2018-02-07 | ASUS Zenbook 3 Deluxe UX490 Ultrabook


2017-11-20 | VICHYPER - Australian Hyperloop Interview and Tour


2017-11-17 | Eugene Kaspersky & Kaspersky Lab Press Conference Sydney 2017


2017-11-17 | Eugene Kaspersky Keynote Sydney 2017


2017-05-21 | AMD RYZEN - Australian launch and Q&A Session | BIOS Update Detailed


2016-11-21 | Motorola Mobility VP Engineering Interview | Moto Z and Moto Mods Developer Kit for Makers & Modders


2016-11-30 | EPSON Tech Interview | 2016 Business and Professional Projectors


2016-11-30 | EPSON Tech Interview | 2016 Home Theatre Projectors 6000, 8000 & 9000 Series


2016-11-22 | EPSON HDR Home Theatre Projector Demo | EPSON TW9300W


2016-11-21 | HDR video Demo - AMD Radeon 'Polaris' RX480 with LG OLED TV


2016-11-30 | Intel Game Chamber 2016 Tour and Interviews | VR, Games, PC Mods, Overclocking and FUN


2016-11-30 | Intel Core i7-6950X Broadwell-E @ 5.62 GHz Live Overclock | Intel Game Chamber 2016


2016-08-29 | LG puts OLED in all the things - Integrate/CEDIA AUS 2016 Booth Tour


2016-08-12 | What is Software Defined Networking with Doug Murray, CEO Big Switch Networks.


2016-06-17 | NVIDIA DGX-1 launches in Australia - NVIDIA ANZ Interviewed


2016-05-01 | Build a kickass Dolby ATMOS Home Theatre - The Pros show us how


2016-04-01 | The Panasonic Toughbook CF-20 Story


2016-03-23 | Seagate 8TB Family, 10TB Helium & Mobile HDD 2016 Hard Disk Update


2016-03-21 | Panasonic Toughbook 20 : Fully Rugged detachable Laptop launch - Water, Drop & Weight Tested


2016-03-23 | ASUS ROG Gaming House Tour - Sydney, Australia


2016-03-01 | ASUS ROG GX700 Liquid Cooled Notebook Preview & Interview


2016-03-23 | League of Legends Legacy eSports Team Interview


2015-12-09 | Microsoft Store SYDNEY - Grand Opening Press Conference


2015-11-11 | HP 6th Gen Core Intel Skylake PC & Jet Intelligence Printing Launch - Melbourne Experience Centre


2015-11-11 | HP Experience Centre Melbourne Tour -Part 2


2015-11-11 | HP Experience Centre Melbourne Tour -Part 1


2015-08-28 | Parrot Interviewed - Flower Power Wireless Plant Monitor


2015-08-28 | Parrot Interviewed - ZiK 2.0 Headphones


2015-08-28 | Parrot Interviewed - AR. Drone, MiniDrones, Bebop Drone


2015-08-23 | MOTO G 3rd Gen IPX7 Water Proofing Demo & Moto X Style/Play/G Q&A


2015-08-21 | Motorola Mobility Interviewed - 3rd Gen Moto G, Moto X Play, Moto X Style


2015-08-20 | NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 Launch Ep.1 | Gamestream Co-Op - A New way to share games


2015-08-20 | NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 950 Launch Ep.2 | MOBA/DOTA 2 Latency and Smoothness


2015-08-08 | Intel SKYLAKE i5-6600K LN2 overclock at 6.33 GHz with ASUS Z170 ROG Hero


2015-08-07 | Intel Skylake i7-6700K @ 4.8 GHz & DDR4 @ 3.5GHz on ASUS Z170 Deluxe Overclocking Guide


2015-08-05 | ASUS Z170 Deluxe Motherboard for Intel Skylake 6th Gen Core CPU Overview


2015-08-05 | Review - ASUS Installation Tool for Intel SKYLAKE 6th Gen Core CPU


2015-08-02 | HP Pavilion and Envy 2015 Consumer Notebook First Look


2015-07-25 | HP Envy Phoenix 2015 Overclockable Gaming Tower First Look


2015-07-22 | Ashes Of The Singularity - DirectX 12 Hands-On Demo with AMD FURY X


2015-07-14 | Media Q&A with AMD and Richard Huddy - AMD Fury X ‘Fiji’ Graphics comes to Australia


2015-07-14 | MSI Interview - AMD Radeon R9 300 Gaming, Armour and Lightning GPUs