Thoughts on the Altec Lansing ADA885 speakers?

[Noriaki]

Well...I finally found a place to buy these speakers (http://www.paradisepc.com/ if you care)

So here's the deal. I have two requirements for my speakers. I want 4 (or 5.1) channel input for gaming, AND dolby digital decoder onboard with SPDIF input.

Not having either of those two input modes disqualifies speakers immediately (So please do not suggestion the Promedias, I know how many promedia lovers there are out there).

So there are only 3 speaker sets I've seen that meet my requirements

BA-7500...they are flat panel sats so I'm a little leary...
Creative DTT2500/3500..these are a possibility..but they are a little expensive for what they are....

Finally is the Altec Lansing ADA885/890s....

They have 4 channel input with a dolby digitial input...hmm

The front sats have a separate tweeter...should be good for high range?
The sub is fairly big and if it follows suit from the rest of AL's speakers it should be fairly powerful.

I'm wondering if anyone has or has heard these speakers and could give me any impressions...since it's an online order I can't really hear them first-hand for myself...one major concern is midrange as they will be used for DVD I need good midrange (voices) and you can't really tell how good midrange will be just from specs....

 

[Snipa]

I have the Altec ADA885's.

They are damn loud. Never heard the promedia's in person, but these are PLENTY loud enough for me.

The sub is huge and delivers full, rich bass.

They sound great with DVD's. My friends can't believe how good the Matrix sounds with them.

When I play "Twister" on DVD the bass shakes the whole damn room and I always get neigbors pounding on the floors and walls to get me to quit that racket. I luv it

Also, they have a decent remote, a backlit LCD screen on main satellite, and a headphone jack on one of the satellite's so it's very convenient for me. That's a plus.

I'm not a self-proclaimed audiophile by any means but they sound plenty good to me.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Nori's endless quest for PC speakers

 

[Noriaki]

<< Nori's endless quest for PC speakers >>

Indeed. It's really annoying. All I really want in life is a set of BA4800 with dolby digital decoding, but I can't have it. The closes thing is those BA7500s and like I said...I'm not fond of flat panel speakers....

I love the BA4800s...but my DVD player of choice only has digital or 2 channel output...no 4 channel :| :frown:

Why is it so hard for companys to make speakers that are good for gaming and DVD


One other interesting option would be Midiland S4-7100 and an ADS2000...that would require some cable switching but....I do like a powerful sub though....not to the point where it drowns out my mids though (read: Klipsch heheeh )

 

[Noriaki]

Hmmmmmmmmm GT..do you know if the BA7500 sub is compatible with the BA4800 sats???

Heheh I could get a set of BA7500s AND BA4800s, then take the sub/amp from the BA7500 and use the sats of the BA4800!

Wow I'm just so damn smart. That might just give me BA4800 quality sound AND dolby digital decoding.


That might just be the stupidest thing I've ever thought up .

 

[nightowl]

Noriaki, check out this site here. They have indepth reviews of two of three sets (no BA7500) of speakers that you are looking at.

 

[Noriaki]

Thanks for the link nightowl, but 3dss.com is one of my staples They have the ADA 880 I'm looking at the 885, they don't have a review of the 885s.

Thanks for the thought though

 

[slpaulson]

What about the midiland 8200 speakers? I believe Anand Reviewed them a while ago. They are kinda pricey I know but not that high.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Nori,

I seriously doubt you can use the BA7500 sub with the BA4800 sats. For the price of the ADA885s, I'd buy the BA4800s for $150, sell the Hollywood+ decoder, and buy the Creative Dxr3 decoder for around $70. My Dxr3/SB Live! combo has to be almost as good as the Dolby Digital decoder found on the ADA885s and BA7500s. Mark would know, so let me ask him.

 

[Noriaki]

That's a good idea GT...the only reason I'm holding off on that is becuase the remote control doesn't work with the Creative Dxr3...but I've survived this long without the remote and I have a cordless mouse...so I'd probably be ok...

 

[Vrangel]

I was once looking for 885 speakers and found few places where refurbished
units were available. I checked some forums and found many similar complaints:
smell of burnt plastic from the sub and it doesnt work anymore.

You might wanna check DellTalk forums on Dell website.

EDIT
Ppl also complained it was hard to get speakers fixed
cause Altec kept saying they dont sell them retail,
only Dell sells them so you should call Dell and so on...

Having said that I have to add that one of those refurbished sites
once liquidated 885 inventory at reduced prices.
Too bad I was too late.

 

[vi edit]

Noriaki, I own the ADA880's, one step down from the 885's. I believe the only difference is a little more power to the sats on the 85's.

From a 3 piece setup my 880's sound great. Very crisp sound from the sats, and a nice solid thump from the sub. They are plenty loud as well with very minimal distortion up to a reasonable level. The remote is very handy and uses an RF signal instead of line of sight so you don't have to aim it directly at the speakers for it to work.

Where the speakers seriously lack is in the rear channels. To be completely honest, the rear channels suck big time. I don't even have the rear channels hooked up anymore it was that bad. They were very quiet, and lacking any definition. I've heard better passive speakers than these powered ones. Altec really dropped the ball on the rear channels of the 880's. Since I don't really care that much about rear channels, and I only paid $115 the set, I'm not out too much anyway.

I really, really recommend that you try and get a demo of them in a store or at a friends house before you buy them. If the 885's are anything like the 880's you will be dissapointed.

 

[andylawcc]

I heard 880 is 130 in Overstock.com, you can get two sets of 880 for the price of one 885

and btw: there's a 890 too. I think its just a black version of 885

 

[Noriaki]

The 890s are black, and they have optical input as well as RCA for the Dolby Decoder (they are &quot;playstation 2 compatible&quot.

 

[Vrangel]

Optical input ? That gets my attention.
My Xitel Platinum has only optical out.
Gotta check it out.

 

[Noriaki]

I can't promise, but I'm pretty sure that's the difference.

PS2 has Optical out right? The ADA890s are Black and are &quot;PS2 compatible&quot; which I believe just means that they have optical input.

 

[Vrangel]

I checked Altec website . No optical in.
Digital in is RCA type.

 

[Noriaki]

Damn sorry about getting your hopes up

I read somewhere that the 890s are PS2 compatible...I wonder what that means...

 

[jaggrey]

The 890s are my next speakers..........whenever the price comes down:disgust:

I also read in a review (can't remember where) that the rear channels in the 885/890s were improved from the 880s.

IF ANY1 FINDS THE 890s FOR LESS THAN $250 LET ME KNOW!!!!!!!