Here is a very brief review of Altec Lancing’s popular VS4121.

Satellite’s Frequency responce – Altec Lancing VS4121

The FR has two big bumps and they are very audible. One at 480Hz and one at 1650Hz. Since it has an awkward down firing midrange driver, I ran my tests on a number of big and small tables and at different positions on each table (i.e. center, front edge, back edge) to see if that alleviates those two bumps. Unfortunately none of those helped. Overall I rate the frequency response  very poor and annoying.

Satellite’s Harmonic Distortion – Altec Lancing VS4121

Harmonic distortion is quite high through out the whole range particularly between 200-500Hz. This means they might sound sparkly at first, but they will cause ear fatigue in time.

About the Sub

I do not a have the proper setup to measure subwoofers, but I find the sub too boomy and not realistic at all.

Overall, I do not recommend these speakers for music; however, they should be ok for gaming.