Rating: 
Summary: Great music quality for 2.1 speakers
Review: These speakers are cool-looking, with a subwoofer that is small but capable, and a simple design. There is a outlet for headphones, and color-coded wires. Sound quality is good for its price, but it depends more on the sound card and the quality of music being listened to. The volume can get pretty high, and is sensitive. Games were not that great because of the lack of additional satellites, so surround sound was OK. Altec Lansing website recommends these for music, and I would agree- it is the music quality (especially classical) that makes these speakers tick. Experienced no problems till now, have been owning these for about an year or so. I give 4 stars because they are "not the best", but I believe they are "the best bargain for the price." Would recommend it for well-priced speakers that offer good sound/price ratio.
Rating:
Summary: Good speakers if your using an equalizer
Review: Although I am kind of disappointed that Altec did not include a bass volume control with these speakers I am satisfied with their performance. If your primary application for using these speakers has an equalizer you should be able to tone down the bass to an acceptable level. If you are not using an equalizer buy the Altec AVS300LA 3PC 10W 220V SPEAKER ( AVS300LA ) which has a bass volume control and sounds good for half the price. The AVS300 satellite design is not as nice and they don't sound quite as crisp, but for inexpensive speakers they are great. (I own both the AVS300 and 221 series). See the cnet review on the 300's for more information. The 221 satellites sound excellent and once you have the bass under control they are perfect if you don't want to spend a lot of money for good quality sound. As for those who say they are unable to get these to sound good with an equalizer they may not be using an application with a good quality equalizer. I have not tried Media Player yet, but Musicmatch works great with these speakers. Also where you place the sub woofer makes a big difference. If you place it in an inclosed area or in a corner of a room you are going to get a lot more bass, if you place it out in an open space it will not be as overpowering. After you figure out the best place to put it you can make the adjustments with your equalizer. One other con is that the sub is unshielded so keep it away from any monitors, hard drives, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Descent speakers for the price -- terrible headphone output
Review: Considering these speakers were only $30 at my local Sam's Club, I couldn't really pass them up. I mainly purchased these speakers because of the sleek look and controls + headphone jack on the right desktop speaker.After I got everything set up, the sound was comperable to my other past low-budget desktop 2.1 speakers, but it may seem to not pack quite as much punch as my other speakers. But for no louder than I normally listen to them, they were just fine -- especially considering the price I paid. However, my biggest problem with the speakers is the headphone output. This was my first 2.1 set that had a headphone jack, and as I mentioned above, this was a big selling point for me. Unfortunately, the headphone output is terrible! The bass and treble seem to completely drop once you plug the headset in. What's strange is that I use headphones at work (same headphones) on very cheap desktop stereo speakers, and the sound is so much better. I'm not sure why the sound quality of the headphone output is so bad on these speakers, but I won't be buying this model again, unless I don't plan on using a headset ever.
Rating:
Summary: Too Much Bass is never Too Bad
Review: For those people whose eardrums are fragile, I do not recommend these Altec speakers. I for one love rich deep bass and these speakers have plenty of it, maybe too much. One thing which [is bad] is the inability to control the bass output from the subwoofer itself, because without the ability to adjust, the bass gets distorted. For those of you with the same problem, I recommend that you use a media player that has an equalizer control. Most Pc's have Windows Media Player and this player has a great equalizer. Without windows media player, i would have returned these speakers. Overall i recommend them to those who love deep bass; these speakers are like a "minie me" of a nice car audio system if adjusted properly.
Rating: 
Summary: Great
Review: Good Speakers for price. Nice volume control and the addition of rubber feet. Would recomend.
Rating:
Summary: Good satellites, not so good sub.
Review: I bought this system last year and returned it after a few days of music listenning. The satellites were clear and crisp but the sub was just plain awfull, it has a hollow, distant bass sound. When listenning to musics, the kick drum should sound tight and punchy but on the 221 it sounded like a timpany. I got a pair of socks and stuffed them in the bass port and that improved the bass abit (people do this sometimes even on high end component speakers). The system also didn't have a bass level control. I give it three stars because it has a headphone jack and the improved sock-in-port sound. I know this is a low price set but you'll get better value at Creative or Logitech.
Rating:
Summary: great speakers
Review: I disagree with all of the negative post about these speakers.I just built my wife a pc that has on-board 5.1 audio and i must say these speakers were a great add-on to the system. To put it simply they sound great. Much better than my 3 piece yamaha's. I agree that altec should have put base controls on the sub, but then again there's always something the manufacturer could have done better. I think that if your audio card is old or poor these may not be the speakers for you. But if you have a good audio card then rock-on,, just my 2 cents
Rating:
Summary: Very nice for the price!
Review: I just bought these speakers replacing my puny speakers, and having a few kids cant afford a nice bose system. The bass is a little much but I dont mind that at all. The speakers sound great though. I am 100% happy with my purchase and my wallet is too. On a tight budget Id definatly recommend these speakers.
Rating:
Summary: Good Sound for the price
Review: I just received my Altec Lansing 221 Speaker System. Im pretty impressed. The sub has no bass control but thats not a problem if you use any one of the current media players. The sound is pretty awesome considering the size of the speakers. And they look very sleek as well. If your looking to spend under $50 but want big bass and clear treble, this is the system for you. Im proud with my purchase. The cool thing about this is that their amplified. That means you can hook these up to a walkman and get big sound. They can be hooked up to anything that has a speaker jack. Thats awesome!
Rating:
Summary: Best speaker for 50 bucks (CDN)!!!!!!
Review: I love these speakers better than some $150(CDN) speakers in the store i tested. All who gave these speaks a bad review are all stupid F*** HEADS!
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