Best Budget PC Speaker Systems

Altec Lansing expressionist BASS, $99.00 – $130.00 (buy it now)

Typically, two-piece speaker systems that lack a subwoofer also lack appreciable bottom end. Not so with Altec Lansing’s highly-rated expressionist BASS. Each satellite features not only a 1.5-inch midrange/treble driver, but also a four-inch, downward-firing, long-throw woofer. Granted, the system won’t exactly blow out the windows like the bass-heavy three-piece Logitech Z-2300 or Klipsch ProMedia (featured elsewhere in this wrap-up), and it’ll annoyingly shake, rattle and roll your desk more so than a standard two-piece setup, but there’s something to be said for a non-sub-equipped unit that actually produces perceptible bass. Some users will love the system’s futuristic look, while others will run in the opposite direction, though no one can dislike technology that delivers the full spectrum of audio in a two-piece format.