AIO AIO-201 2.0 USB Mini Speaker Black

Comment:
I disagree with Michael_G's review about volume vs distortion. Any speaker system played past a certain volume will have high distortion regardless. This pair will handle what it was designed for just fine. (i.e it's not a party animal..) However, it will play 80-86db at one meter cleanly. Past 90db, distortion starts to become more of an issue. (I actually measured the decibels.) I didn't crank it past mid-90 dbs, but that is plenty loud for most folks. USB power from most computer PSUs isn't very clean. After swapping to a 5vdc wallwart, it's dead silent - no hum no noise whatsoever with nothing playing :)On another note, the piano black finish isn't perfect. Mine has a slight chip on an edge (black marker time!) and two dots on which dust fell before the finish fully cured. The edges where the where the speaker was glued together also show through the finish. However, considering the price, the "wooden" cabinet (felt solid via the knuckle test btw), REAL metal (stamped aluminum?) faceplate, and the sound, it's tough to do better on this side of the world at this price :).On another note, volume control is at the rear of the left speaker...time to stretch those arms...

Comment:
I actually returned these speakers as they had a low level electric hum (maybe a ground loop problem). Anyways I found they were very treble strong and were unable to achieve higher volumes without distortion. This review was modfied by poster @ 05-04-10 12:19 AM