I've owned these speakers for over a year, have used them for music and speech hooked up to pc or mp3 player. Having tweaked my equaliser, i've just replaced my £80 2.1 speakers with these as the sound is more 'cohesive', even if they lack the deep bass.
Pros:
+ The silence! A real problem with most low-cost powered speaker systems is the hum or hiss they make. This system makes no hiss or hum AT ALL. You really benefit from that if you sit close to them at a desk.
+ Output is limited, but its enough for playing games, internet radio, films and music if its plugged into a pc or tv. You hit the end of the amplification before the sound distorts.
+ Great sound stage - much better stereo sensation than my old 2.1 system that cost 4x as much.
+ For the money, and providing you have a decent equaliser on your device, they can deliver a good sound - competitive at the price, better than average for cheap desktop speakers.
+ VERY well made. I've moved them, packed them up and unpacked and, yes, dropped them (!), but they're undamaged.
Cons:
- Not the best speakers for music at this price. No deep bass; bass can be boomy unless you tweak the equaliser to kill the mid bass; mid-range is a little constrained; mid treble bit too brash (@8KHZ, so kill that frequency with your equaliser).
- The separate power supply (though small and it stays cool) means several wires - though at least you can tidy is up using the built-in cable storage on the back of the speakers.
- With MP3 players I've found the amplification isn't really enough: no distortion, but simply too quiet at max vol.
Verdict:
If you want good looking, compack speakers that sound good (at this price point) and are well made, these are a good choice. However, if you're prepared to sacrifice looks and compactness for the best sound, I'd recommend the Logitech X-140 Multimedia Speakers (2.0)
Logitech X-140 Multimedia Speakers (2.0), also for around £20. Bought a pair of those for someone else and they sound more refined, 'bigger' and more natural - I was really surprised - but they're a little bulky and not so handsome.