Altec Lansing Octane 7

[Psywar]

So after 10-12 years of having the same speaker system setup on all of my PC's I finally upgraded a bit.

 

I picked up Altec Lansing's newest model: Octane 7. The system is only a 2.1 system but it is really all I need for my PC since I only use it to watch Hulu and play Music on.

 

I took some crappy photos for you guys. The lighting in my bedroom is pretty horrid right now I have one low wattage light bulb that works haha!

 

Specs: Altec Lansing - Octane 7

 

(4x) 28mm High-Frequency Micro Drivers

(2x) 75mm Mid-Bass Drivers

(1x) 166mm (6.5") Side-Firing Subwoofer

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) 95dB

Total Continuous Power 28w RMS

Total Peak Power 56w

 

Each Speaker has 7.5w per channel @ 8ohms @ 10% THD @ 150Hz - 20kHz

Subwoofer has 13w @ 4ohms @ 10% THD at 30Hz - 150Hz Single Channel Loaded

 

 

 

Anyways here we go with some good stuff!

 

Here is the box it came in: (Thanks to UPS its a tad smashed on the corners Yay!)

 

 

 

 

Here are a few shots of the Satellites:

 

You can see in the first and third photo the satellites have 2 tweeters (28mm) up top in them.

 

Normal controls. Volume, Treble, Bass and below the Bass is an AUX port to hook up devices such as iPods.

 

 

 

 

Now this next shot is pretty interesting this is still the satellite but underneath it.

 

 

 

Yeah.. its a Small Midrange Speaker (75mm)

 

 

Altec Lansing wrote: "Unique Down firing midrange drivers blast waves which reflect on a hard surface, sending out sound rocketing in all directions."

 

Here is the back of the Subwoofer Unit:

 

 

 

 

This is the side of the Subwoofer Box:

 

 

 

Subwoofer is 166mm (6.5")

 

Here is the system setup at my computer desk:

 

 

 

Closeup of the Satellites:

 

 

Closeup of the Subwoofer:

 

 

 

Now this is the old system I am replacing: It too was made by Altec Lansing. I got this back in 1997 or 1998 I cant remember but it has been a really good system to me over the years.

Altec Lansing ACS45.1

 

 

 

 

This is a Subwoofer comparison between old and new:

 

 

Personal opinion so far about the new setup:

 

I really like it to be honest, sounds better then the other one did. Has a really nice High Range which my old system was missing and even though the Mids are facing down on the desk they work exactly as Altec Lansing had described they do. I could imagine though that if you did not have a hard counter toped area to place these satellites on that the sound would be pretty bad coming out of them. So the idea is nice, but they really should have thought of something a bit better. Works perfect for me though haha!

 

The Subwoofer IMO does not hit as hard as my old Altec Lansing setup, but the bass is still really clean and crisp sounding.

 

Overall though so far I am very pleased with this and it was actually decently cheap. I will not be looking back at all on buying this item!

 

Edit: Wow those pictures are horrible blown up. Haha!

[suchuwato]

I'm not really a fan of the whole micro-speaker thing, they're generally rubbish (creative and harman/kardon worst offenders) but I've heard that set IRL and it's not bad. I would agree about the hard surface though - that down-firing design would also only work properly with 'baffles' in the right places? Try moving the sub about, and facing the port in different directions if you want some more 'kick'.

[Psywar]

I'm not really a fan of the whole micro-speaker thing, they're generally rubbish (creative and harman/kardon worst offenders) but I've heard that set IRL and it's not bad. I would agree about the hard surface though - that down-firing design would also only work properly with 'baffles' in the right places? Try moving the sub about, and facing the port in different directions if you want some more 'kick'.

 

Yeah I was thinking about facing the port on the wall to give it a tad more bounce.

I could see baffles working as well. I also think if I wanted to get a better sound I would some how raise the feet on the satellites higher so the sound had more room to get out.

 

These Micro-speakers actually sound more like the tweeters I have in my car more then anything.

[suchuwato]

Yeah I was thinking about facing the port on the wall to give it a tad more bounce.

I could see baffles working as well. I also think if I wanted to get a better sound I would some how raise the feet on the satellites higher so the sound had more room to get out.

 

These Micro-speakers actually sound more like the tweeters I have in my car more then anything.

 

Just try lifting them up while music is playing and see what sounds better... maybe sit them on some pennies or something?

[bp9801]

Nice to see you were so taken with the article I wrote about them. Glad you like them, they seemed like a really nice set. I believe the Razer Mako speakers use the down-firing speaker system and that can produce some really nice sound.. nice to see another company doing it, especially for a cheaper price than the Razers.

[Psywar]

Nice to see you were so taken with the article I wrote about them. Glad you like them, they seemed like a really nice set. I believe the Razer Mako speakers use the down-firing speaker system and that can produce some really nice sound.. nice to see another company doing it, especially for a cheaper price than the Razers.

 

Haha! Yeah, when I seen your article I kind of fell in love with them. I have always been a pretty big fan of Altec Lansing. The products sound great and are always greatly priced for the quality of the products they sell.

Really at no more then 80bucks for these speakers they sound great!

 

I thought about trying to do a Review for the site, but I really have nothing to compare these with. They could not stand on their own feet vs. my car system or my TV system.

 

And those old Altec Lansing's are the only other computer speaker setup I have ever had. So I just threw this together and posted it up! I need to get new pictures though. Those ones I posted at full resolution are disgustingly ugly!

[bp9801]

Altec Lansing always makes good stuff.. my first headset was a pair by them. Good sound from it and had a decent mic if I remember right.

 

I just noticed how your desk is in a little cubby holy practically. Tiny little space for it. I'd try to aim the woofer towards the wall like suchuwato said.

[Andrewr05]

Looks like a pretty sweet setup, when I get a new monitor and maybe a new videocard I'll think about picking up a decent set of speakers.

[Psywar]

I just noticed how your desk is in a little cubby holy practically. Tiny little space for it. I'd try to aim the woofer towards the wall like suchuwato said.

 

Haha yeah. Tad bit ashamed to say this, but I moved back home last summer due to a number of things going wrong in my life.

This is the bedroom I grew up in: This cubby area from 3rd grade to 8th grade was my work area for homework n such. In 98' I got "My" first PC and turned this area in to the PC area lol.

It was a dell since being a 9th grader I could not afford $2000.00 all at once. Parents co-signed a loan for me and wa-la! Got myself my first PC!

 

Ever since this spot has held one of my PC's. The area is a tad too small for this case though lol!

[bp9801]

Nothing wrong with moving back home, if I don't get a job in the next few weeks I'll have to move back to my parent's when my current apartment lease expires. The plus side is the internet will be much faster ( ) but I'd be driving about an hour to get to class ( ). Ah well, I can just wake up an hour earlier..

 

The case does look a little small there but it seems to be a nice area. The layout of it should really help out with the down-firing speakers because the sound can bounce off the walls easier and sound louder than it is.

 

Btw, you getting your first computer was like mine. I had about 600 bucks in savings and my parents paid the other 200 to allow me to buy the parts. I was originally going to buy it already assembled but then I decided to build it myself.

[fmiler]

I have just ordered this speaker's, and i heard they are great> However, i'm having a doubt about their RMS, is it 28 or 63 ... I looked at numerous sites and some of them write the speakers power is 28W but some says it's 63W(31W subwoofer , 2* 16W satelites...). So what says on the BOX? Btw, do they have enough power for party's ??? xD

[Psywar]

The Spec's that I put up at the top of the post are directly from the Box.

 

As for how loud they are: I can clearly hear the music through out my house with the Volume turned up a bit over halfway. The bass is pretty nice I do not hear much distortion.

Will the bass be heard over at your neighbors place? Doubtful, but I guess you never know. It is a very good set of speakers for the price IMO.