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Offering all the bass that comes with a subwoofer without the wasted space on your floor, the expressionist BASS speakers from Altec Lansing prove to be an interesting concept. Instead of a traditional subwoofer, the speakers have a four inch subwoofer located in their bases.

First things first, the size of the speakers is simply awkward. Standing ten inches high, the speakers simply take up too much room on the desktop itself. The bottom of the speaker is similarly large as they have to accommodate the subwoofers. I suppose this is just a small sacrifice to be made for the extra foot room you gain.

Another drawback I found with these speakers is in the controls. You have a typical power button, then volume up and down buttons. There's no control of the subwoofers, which can become a problem as I mention later. Also, instead of buttons, I prefer a volume dial. It simply makes controlling volume more elegant and exact.

However, the most important part of any speaker system is the sound quality. As I just mentioned, the lack of an onboard bass control proves frustrating at times for one simple reason. When a subwoofer is on the floor, it's muffled more by its surroundings. However, when you have two subwoofers right in front of you, the bass can overwhelm the treble.

That being said, a few small equalizer changes later, I was up and running. Overall, the sound quality is relatively good. Treble notes are well projected providing that you somehow turn down the bass. It's not the clearest sound quality I've ever heard, but it's by no means bad.

If you're in the market for space-saving, built-in-subwoofer speakers for around $130, the expressionist BASS might very well be the option you're looking for. However, if you are willing to spend a bit more, there are more promising speakers of the same space saving design (Audioengine A2, etc.).

Pros

• Stylish design
• Relatively good sound quality
• MP3 Input

Cons

• Poor volume controls
• Overpowering bass
• Very large size

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