Harman Kardon Soundsticks 2

Rating:
Summary: Great product
Review: Although not exactly inexpensive, these are definitely worth the cost - nice design and great sound.

Rating:
Summary: I am really impressed!
Review: Don't be fooled by their rather flashy and diminutive package. These have some great sound in all but the largest rooms. I'm sure there are better out there, but for the price I am quite impressed. They have a typical JBL sound, somewhat forward in the mids and a crisp high end. Plus they look awesome next to my Apple cinema monitor. I would highly recommend these for most applications except heavy rap and R&B, where a giant sub might be more applicable.

Rating:
Summary: you just want look at them.
Review: even if you don't buy them for sound quality- which they are terriffic- buy them for the coolness factor. i've always wanted soundsticks since when they were mac only. then the soundsticks 2 came out at the apple store. $199.99?! i got these from amazon for $119 including shipping. these are great. out of courtesy for my roommates- i don't blast these speakers but use them casually while listening to mp3s or my tv tuner. if you own a set of these... you'll know what i mean when i say... they're beautiful speakers.
cons.... alight... there are things i wish these speakers had. the speakers that the soundsticks replaced are Bose Mediamates. i miss the dual input- i had my ibook plugged into the 2nd input. another thing i miss is a headphone jack.

alright... BUY THESE SPEAKERS. i highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Not Dissapointed
Review: I bought this speaker system strictly on looks and reviews. I am a very careful researcher usually, but I knew that I had to have these as soon as I saw them. Luckily for me, the sound is AWSOME. Much better than I had hoped for. I have an Emac, and these not only look great with it, but I am going to sell my stereo and use the computer as my music system now. Trust me, these are all you are going to need to fill your apartment or room with great sound. Especially for us New Yorkers with shoebox apartments and nice computers, you won't be sorry!

Rating:
Summary: Love 'em
Review: I got these for christmas. These are the ultimate 2.1 speakers. PERFECT sound. Room-rattling bass. A little pricey for 2.1's but worth every penny.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for Classical Music!
Review: I have been looking for a decent pair of speakers for my computer for almost a year. After going through many user reviews, as well as actually listening to some of them, I have to say the Soundsticks are one of the best computer speaker sets out there. You will be surprised that plastic speakers can sound this great! I have had the Soundsticks speaker for close to a month already. As with many others, I am very pleased with my purchase.

I primarily use Soundsticks to listen to classical music, which I believe is very demanding towards speakers. Due to the very dynamic nature of classical music, speakers need to perform well all the way from the highs to the lows in order to give a reasonable interpretation to the music. Because a lot of the speakers on the market now are geared towards the R&B / Rockn'Roll / Rap crowd, many of them only have some bass to shake the floor. Their inadequacy in reproducing the intricate details in classical music is indeed painfully obvious.

On the contrary, Soundsticks give a balanced performance across the spectrum, providing classical music fans the perfect solution to computer music. The highs are sweet and clear. If you try to play the "Voice of an Angel" album from Charlotte Church on Soundsticks, you will see what I mean. Midrange is a little bit on the tight side, probably because the tweezers aren't equipped very well to handle that. Nevertheless, Soundsticks still show considerable warmth and refinement. Bass is solid with good definition. The subwoofer won't shake the floor like other systems. What Soundsticks give you is quality bass, not quantity. Overall, the sound is very spacious and rich. You can try the Tchaikovsky piano concerto no. 1 on Soundsticks. The grand poetic opening of the piece will give you a very good idea what Soundsticks can do for you.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Soundsticks do have shortcomings:
1. Lacks a little bit of midrange.
2. Sound is very directional. Once you move away from the "sweet spot", the spaciousness of the sound disappears.
3. Bass adjusting knob is on the subwoofer unit, kinda hard to reach if you put the subwoofer under your desk.
4. Touch sensitive control will take some time to get used to.
5. Soundsticks cannot be turned off unless you unplug them. So, they are not very friendly to your electricity bill.
6. Relatively pricey.

However, I guess all the shortcomings mentioned is relatively trivial compared to the wonderful sound they produce.

I highly recommend Soundsticks to all classical music fans. You will get the biggest bang of your buck investing on Soundsticks! They will perfectly fill up your office / bedroom / dorm room and give you the most intimate experience with your favorite music ever! Amazon has been offering the Soundsticks at the lowest price on the internet as far as I know. For the record, I brought mine for $120.

One last point I want to draw your attention to is the pitfall of connecting the Soundsticks to computer. You may hear a good deal of statics noise in doing so, even when you are not playing any music. Chances are that it is the fault of your bad computer soundcard. You can verify this by connecting the Soundsticks to a CD player, preferably those with a dedicated optical lineout. If you don't get statics anymore after that, then it is definitely your computer's fault!

You may also want to check out the Bose Companion 3 speaker set. The Companion sounds at least as good as Soundsticks if not better. However, they cost twice as much as Soundsticks. And of course, they don't look quite as good! Is this a trade off you are willing to make? You will have to decide on your own.

Some good recordings to try on the Soundsticks:
Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op.104 (Rostropovich)
Bruch Scottish Fantasy (Perlman)
Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 (Van Cliburn)
Voice of an Angel (Charlotte Church)
Classics (Sarah Brightman)

[...]

Happy listening to all the intellectually sophisticated classical music fans!!

Rating:
Summary: real sound
Review: I just got a set for Christmas and can't believe the sound. At work I have an iMac with great Mac speakers and was always aggravated when I came home and played music on my PC's tiny, three-inch, came-with-the-computer, junk speakers. I knew the HKs would be an improvement but WHAT an improvement. The sub is powerful, although a bit cumbersome for crowded computer desks. The desktop speakers are much less obtrusive-slim and stacked vertically-and the sound is rich and full. The bass fuzzes a little on louder rock tunes (although you can equalize it out pretty well) and vocals seem a bit smothered in the mid-range, but on acoustic stuff, wow. I'm playing some Paul Simon (Late in the Evening) now and the sound is just amazing. The touch-toggle volume is very cool and the clear plastic housing looks both high-tech and artistic. Most people don't splurge on computer speakers but if they could hear what I'm hearing right now, they'd get iTunes and grab soem Soundsicks ASAP.


Rating:
Summary: not so phenomenal
Review: I just wanted to say that these speakers may be pretty good as computer speakers, but don't expect that they are going to beat your serious stereo systems in sound quality. Because I've only encountered reviews raving about the greatness of this product, I think my expectations got too high.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible speakers
Review: I must say I had been wanting to pick up these speakers for a long time now! Now that the price has come down I picked them up and hooked them up to my Mac. I'm very happy with these. I would say these are the best computer speakers for the price!

Rating:
Summary: Everything sounds perfect except metal stuff......
Review: I set up my Soundstick in my bed room.. not with the computer, but with my iPod, I tried them with my iPod at various stores before I bought them. they sound much better than the JBL Creature 2, so if you are choosing between the two, you don't have to, go buy the Soundstick 2.

they are strongly built, very soild, they sound a little stiff brand new, but, you know, that's normal for audio speakers, especially the sub. I run them at low volume for few hours and they start singing right there, I put the satellites on the table top, about 2 feet from each other, and the sub under the table, have a lot of definition and "width" from the two tiny, and with the bass boost twist at the back of the sub, you'll be amazed how easy the balanced tone can be adjusted, and they sound very soild even in very low volume,

I tried pop stuff like Michelle Branch, Clay Aiken, sound very clean, and have a very good definition, jazz greats like Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, every instruments sound so distinct, and bands like Maroon 5, My Chemical Romance(it's esp good on trying stereophonic), Story of the Year, or even bit heavier Blink, or the D'n'B 4Hero, the Soundstick 2 still provide very good spectrum of different freq inside small area like my bedroom, thing like bassline and bass drum are audible and solid, yet highs like hihat and cymbal are clean but not ping, the overall performance is excellent, considering the price and size of the unit.

but when I turn to a even heavier side, like Pantera, Slayer, or Soilwork, Mnemic or Shadows Fall, those fast double bass rumbles are still audible, very clean, but even i boost the bass a little bit more, it still do not have enough power and air to be felt, i 'm not talking about that kinda floor shaking storm, but just not enough "heaviness", but i think it's partly due to the fact that I connected the Soundstick directly to the iPod dock.

Cons?! i'd be happier if the bass adjust knob is placed at the front of the sub, but not the back, so i can hear the difference in tone while i'm adjusting, without leaning real close to the sub, which on and off gave me the illusion of excessive bass. And they don't have any kind of indication on peak or threshold volume-wise, the touch volume control is good to use, but very often i'm worrying about if i would peak the system by turning too loud, especailly back when it's brand new.

I'd recommend everyone buying one of this for small room use, the Soundstick sound really great, and combine with artistic design, the blue LED is really a thoughtful attraction, which really add points for anyone who want their system to be more than ordinary audio speakers, but a feelie as well.