Sweet speaker, sweet price

I purchased these speakers at Wal-Mart for about $40. Philips obviously designed these speakers with the desktop computer user foremost in mind, and they are sold as computer speakers, though they can also be used with Walkmans (Walkmen?), MP3, and CD players.

Sleek, petite, and airy in appearance, the magnetically shielded 2.5" drivers nestle nicely at the sides of a computer monitor. The 5" subwoofer can sit unobtrusively at the side of the desk on the floor. A separate main volume control module fits handily next to a keyboard -- no fiddling with the little bitty knob typical for a computer driver speaker, which pushes it around the desk or, worse, into the behind-the-desk "abyss" if not held down with the other hand. The subwoofer has its own volume control on its upper right side. The trim and labeling is no cheesy misaligned paste-on stickers over uneven particle board, but molded into the case.

Beneath this unassuming exterior, however, lurks a mini power house. Some computer speakers of a no name office supply brand which will remain unmentioned, which sell for but $5 less than these, boast of a power approaching 30 watts. Don't believe them, but whip out a calculator and do a little detective work. If you want to know the truth, look closely at the "wall wart" (AC adapter). It will show an output electrical rating (do not confuse with input ratings) of a voltage and a current. Multiply said voltage by said current. If the current is specified in milliamperes (often abbreviated mA) rather than amperes (often abbreviated A), divide that by 1000 before multiplying by the voltage. Due to immutable laws of physics, the speakers cannot possibly put out more continuous power than this. Our no name "28 watt" office supply speakers actually rate at a measly 6.3 watts (9 volts times 700 milliamperes) by that measure. This Philips is quite different. Its hefty wall wart is rated at 10 volts and 2 amperes -- 20 watts continuous. True, there is some inflationary spec writing even on the Philips. The box says 38 watts "system power," which is a hypothetical figure that can be met only in extremely brief (tiny fraction of a second) bursts as the speakers draw upon the power stored in the power supply. But the continuous power level seemed quite encouraging.

But, leaving the math behind now and just listening to it, this mite has a mighty tone. I have an "acid test" for sound systems, which is to hook them up to a high quality electronic piano (not your $100 Radio Shack toy job, but a studio quality unit such as those from Roland which sell for $1500 and up). A piano puts out many sonic frequencies for each key that is played, ranging from the metallic fluttery boom of the low keys, through the clear singing of the middle keys, to the woody, echoey tinkly smack of the upper keys. It is not easy to reproduce the full range of piano sound in that much fidelity, and many home sound systems (let alone computer speakers) are not up to this task, muddying the sound together or coming across quite anemic at the low end.

Well, I tried the Philips. I expected to be underwhelmed, but... woo-hoo! With the subwoofer set at about 3/4 of max volume and sitting next to my feet, and the drivers on top of the piano, not only did it sound true to life, but it put the piano's own built in sound system to shame. It was like taking cotton out of my ears, or moving from a cheap beat up studio piano in a basement to an expensive concert grand in a hall, every time I switched from the piano's internal speakers to the Philips.

I think I may want to buy another set of these now, one to go with the piano and one to go with my computer.

But before I do, I have put my Philips back in the box until I can get some protective coverings for the wiring. Although the electrical parts of the Philips look pretty "pro" for the price (rocker switch for power, RCA jacks for sound, all wiring conveniently centered around the subwoofer box rather than octopusing into one of the drivers), the audio cables are the less than 1/8" size that are typical for this kind of equipment. This happens to be just the right size to tempt the felines who roam my home to chew in half in about five unsupervised seconds. No way.