Last week I mentioned the lack of punch the iMac built-in speakers had. Since I love listening to music while I work and browse the net this just wouldn’t do. But, because I’d just spent £799 on the iMac and another £199 just weeks before that on the iPod touch I didn’t have the big bouncy budget that I’d have liked.

I asked for some recommendations and several came in ranging from Bose Companion 2, JBL Spot and Harmon Kardon Soundsticks. These were pretty much around the £80-£100+ mark. Since I am still feeling quite poor I did some more looking around and found some interesting Altec Lansing speakers ranging from £20 to £120. I remember reading some reviews on this brand a short while back which praised them. I then came across the Altec Lansing VS2321 2.1 speakers for £39-99. My other half has Altec Lansing speakers built-in to his HP laptop and I’ve always been impressed with the sound.

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I bought them today and was almost blown out of the room. Really rich sound and as much or as little bass as you like. I have the subwoofer under the desk on the floor. I have tried several of my favourite music tracks on today and realised just how much I was missing out on all this time. Prior to getting the iMac I was using JBL Pro which came with my Compaq Presario 7 years ago. Even though the PC is long dead the speakers lived on. And I was happy with them even though they did nothing to compliment my set-up. The Altec Lansing do compliment the set-up and they look and sound much more expensive than they are.

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So, for now at least my set-up is complete. I hadn’t planned on buying external speakers as some reviews of the iMac actually went so far to say that those built-in were more than sufficient for big surround sound. I beg to differ. Now my ears are happy…and so are my eyes.