Altec Lansing 4100 - Compact and Sleek

Proceeding through the speakers in this roundup, the next contestant is the Altec Lansing 4100 speaker system. This system falls into what I like to call the "Middle-High" category class, being a compact and very sleek 4.1 speaker system and much cheaper than the Altec Lansing 641 speaker system. The 4100 is designed for gamers like the 641 with the desired surround sound but it much tamer being an overall smaller system with only 140 watts of total system power, which is around 260 watts less powerful than the 641 speaker system, which is ironically how much cheaper the 4100's are to the 641's.

However, don't let the numbers (or the size of the speakers, for that matter) from the tech sheets trick you. During our testing the 4100's proved to be powerful and bassy. However, because the 641's have a better frequency rate among other things, the sound clarity is increased over the 4100's when the volume starts to be increased - Basically the audio isn't as defined to the trained ear, at least.

The controller of the 4100 is similar to that of the 641's, although it only has two sound modes - Gaming and Stereo x2, aside from that both are identical. The different between Gaming and Stereo x2 are that only the front two satellites are used, while Stereo x2 uses all four. I still haven't figured out what the actual function of the Gaming mode is, I fired up a couple games during testing expecting surround sound to kick in, maybe I was missing something but sound only remained through the front two satellites.

The subwoofer of the 4100's has a different design to that of the 641's and 621's. I have to say I prefer the design of the latter because of the more modern look and feel. The sub measures in at 2.25" by 12.5" with two 5.25" long-throw woofers compared to the two 6.5" long-throw woofers featured on the 641's.

If you're a gamer and are after a moderately cheap 4.1 surround sound speaker system for your PC the Altec Lansing 4100 speaker system might just be the one for you. Being $260 AU cheaper than the 641's they still are fairly expensive. You have to decided if you want the compact and sleek class of the 4100's or the raw power and grunt of the 641's, it's a decision you're going to have to make for yourself. We give the Altec Lansing 4100 speaker system a rating of 9.5 out of 10 again for an overall solid product, if it were me I would probably spend the extra dollars for the 641 speaker system.

- Pros

Powerful

Compact and Sleek

Good Sound Quality

Easy Installation

- Cons

Fairly Expensive