The new buzz

After nearly six years of faithful service, my el cheapo no-name-brand PC 4.1 speaker set finally bit the dust. Lately, it developed an incessant buzzing noise that grew louder and louder with repeated use. I tried to live with it for the past couple of months. Sometimes, smacking the boom box helped quiet it somewhat; but now no amount of abuse will keep the peace any longer. The buzz has grown so loud I don't hear what I'm supposed to hear from the speakers any more. It's a goner.

Time to fork out a little disposable income. I settled for this Altec Lansing VS2721. 2.1 speakers means less cabling entanglement in the back. That little gadget in the middle puts volume control on a big handy knob right at my fingertips. Though I feel the sub-woofer doesn't give as solid a bass boost as a comparable Creative model, I'm learning to love hearing all the digital subtleties in my music and games that were swept under the carpet by the old speakers. Voices are clean, as are individual instruments -- and even their relative spatial locations can be imagined if I close my eyes. Battle noises in ME3 come out layered , as if things are happening around me beyond my immediate field of vision. Sweet!

Once again, I'm no audiophile and because of what I was used to listening to, I'm easily impressed by what I have now.