I'm no audiophile.  Increasingly, my music is stored in the form of 160  kHz mp3's so I can take it with me or put it in very large playlists on my  computer.  That implies some small amount of loss of sound quality.  I'm  the kind of guy who's happy to live with that.
That having been said,  these speakers are ideal for the purpose.  After side-by-side comparing  them at a store with several other more mainstream brands, I was impressed  at the amount of what those audiophile glossies call 'presence', especially  at the low volumes appropriate for apartment dwelling.  Beat the Altec and  Labtec speakers hollow - dunno why, particularly.  A Bose system was a  little better - and about 10 times the price.
The large 'subwoofer' only  gets frequencies that your brain's spatial localization system (mediated by  the lateral lemniscus -> superior olivary nucleus pathways, if there are  any neuroscientists reading this) isn't equipped to deal with.  So set it  under your desk, put the little 2 inch cubes on your desk (or hang em from  something with the included 2-sided tape, each weighs about an oz.) and get  ready for great sound at a great price!  I originally bought a set for my  computer but went ahead and bought extra sets for every room in my home,  including the bathroom, so I can have 24-hour music now if I want.  The  price is right to do that!
I'm no audiophile. Increasingly, my music is stored in the form of 160  kHz mp3's so I can take it with me or put it in very large playlists on my  computer. That implies some small amount of loss of sound quality. I'm  the kind of guy who's happy to live with that. That having been said,  these speakers are ideal for the purpose. After side-by-side comparing  them at a store with several other more mainstream brands, I was impressed  at the amount of what those audiophile glossies call 'presence', especially  at the low volumes appropriate for apartment dwelling. Beat the Altec and  Labtec speakers hollow - dunno why, particularly. A Bose system was a  little better - and about 10 times the price. The large 'subwoofer' only  gets frequencies that your brain's spatial localization system (mediated by  the lateral lemniscus -> superior olivary nucleus pathways, if there are  any neuroscientists reading this) isn't equipped to deal with. So set it  under your desk, put the little 2 inch cubes on your desk (or hang em from  something with the included 2-sided tape, each weighs about an oz. ) and get  ready for great sound at a great price! I originally bought a set for my  computer but went ahead and bought extra sets for every room in my home,  including the bathroom, so I can have 24-hour music now if I want. The  price is right to do that!