April 25, 2005

I've owned a set of Altec Lansing computer speakers, which I loved. My son cranked them up, I suspect, and one of the cones seems to have torn. The cost of fixing them would probably be greater than the cost of getting a new set. I have a 20-year-old set of Bang & Olufsen speakers. They are in good order, but sitting around unused. I have a G5 Macintosh desktop computer with both USB and analog headphone/speaker outs.

Q: Should I buy a small digital USB amp and power the B&O speakers? If so, which one would you recommend? I need an amp that will be adequate for a small office and won't break the bank.

Isaac Balbin

A: If it is just a blown woofer, Altec Lansing is a big enough company that it might be possible to inexpensively purchase a replacement cone from them. Check to see if it's possible to disassemble that part of the speaker easily. Also, if you know you like that model, a source for used equipment like eBay might score you another pair. Given that you like the "house sound" of Altec Lansing, the most economical solution for you is probably to buy another pair that is similar to the ones you had. There are plenty of other decent and inexpensive two-channel computer-speaker manufacturers out there besides Altec Lansing; I'd suggest you check out the offerings from Klipsch and Logitech at your price point as well.

There isn't much of a market for USB amplifiers, so there are few choices. One well-regarded model that should work well with your Mac is the Griffin PowerWave. The 10Wpc of power should be enough for your close speaker placement, and the unit adds some recording features that you might find useful one day. Be warned that its frequency response is not completely flat -- it's specified as +/-1.0dB, and I'm told it's slightly tailored upwards at the frequency extremes to sound better driving Apple's speakers.

...Greg Smith