The metal bases, holding the speakers up from a single stud in the rear are well designed, with four long rubber strips underneath each one to prevent slipping across the desk. Despite the stud in the rear, routing cables from the backs of the satellites is incredibly easy thanks to a groove underneath that allows the cable to get past while the base lies perfectly flat. For those with limited desk space, the bases (with a little effort), slide straight out from underneath the speakers, allowing users to wall mount them after putting in an order for the wall mounting kit (free, but $3 S&H) that Altec Lansing decided against including in the box.

The subwoofer design is also unique, not geometrically but in application. For one, it doesn’t have a blow hole, but the entire top portion is surrounded by a honeycomb mesh to allow sound to propagate out. Second, unlike traditional consumer subwoofers the sub doesn’t have one woofer, it has two, and they’re pointed right at each other in an isobaric configuration that effectively doubles the bass without taking up additional floor space.

A solid audio system can make a tremendous difference- it can turn gaming from just another boring shoot-em-up to a spine-rumbling, surround sound action fest. If you are not a gamer then you might enjoy improved sound quality for your digital music, surround sound movies, or the added bass of a subwoofer.

This time around we will be looking at the FX5051 surround sound 5.1 speaker system from Altec Lansing. The new system was just released in order to round out their lineup as a high-end system with speakers and a subwoofer. Despite its being at the top end of Altec Lansing’s PC series the FX5051 is still relatively affordable (MSRP is $249) for a serious computer sound system. There is extremely tough competition in the audio market though and some very good systems are available for a lot less, so let’s see how the FX5051 stacks up.

As for the satellites, they don’t look very hardcore at glance but once you hear them you will be surprised by the sound. Each of the 5 satellites (including center) contains 2 drivers, a smaller one for the higher frequencies and a larger one for mid frequencies. The highs sounded exceptional, possibly the best I have heard from a speaker system, and the mids weren’t bad but nothing amazing, just decent. The design of the satellites is very appealing and will fit in a contemporary setup very nicely. The cast-metal stands are removable if you want to wall mount them. The satellites’ drivers are magnetically shielded so it is ok to put them next to your display.