Altec Purports Pro Sound with Lansing FX 6021 Speakers

Easy Listening

Like all systems that offer "clear" listening (prioritizing the upper end of the spectrum), the 6021 makes a good impression. The tone of voices was well reproduced and the bass was at a realistic level without having to make any special adjustments. The playing of a variety of types of music revealed defects, especially in respect of the level that "increases" in the sharps. You may have to correct this point for certain types of music and the sound may lose something for the listener. To some extent, this is a defect common in loudspeakers as much as in micro drives. This feature can be found in a number of products that use this type of transducer.

As for the bass, it generally behaved well, and the level was absolutely satisfactory with detailed and musical reproduction. The response was limited, however, in the extreme bass. Certain particularly demanding music play did not work well, especially if the level was pushed. That caused distortion to soon become noticeable, since part of the signal could not be reproduced correctly. That's the price you have to pay for using an average-sized loudspeaker. It should also be noted that in general, the power is fairly limited but, since the gain is quite generous, you could easily reach levels at which distortion becomes unpleasant. We should note the fact, however, that we are talking about very demanding use in terms of level and bandwidth. In most cases, everything worked well. The FX 6021 provides pleasant listening at a level that is high enough to satisfy any normal requirement.

The "InConcert" technique, although not a true line array, imposes certain constraints. The vertical directionality - although not as definite as that of a line array - is fairly marked, so your ears absolutely have to be in approximate alignment with the two micro drives at the center of the satellites if you do not want to lose part of the musical message. The good thing about this is that the shape of the satellites and their poor horizontal directivity makes it possible to get a very good quality stereo image and a very wide listening space which may be a very positive point, depending on how you intend to use the equipment.

Conclusion

The "InConcert" technology, that Altec Lansing makes such a big deal about, did not really convince us but the FX 6021 speakers are still pretty good acoustic speakers that will be a great addition to any PC. All that remains is the price which, unfortunately, is a lot higher than that of current 2.1 speaker models and this is not justified by the results that we obtained. The esthetics of the design and the directionality of the speakers may respond to specific needs, thus making this product the best choice for some consumers.