Netbook Network

Having speakers is a necessity for both desktops and netbooks – without them, you would be left with either no sound whatsoever on a desktop, or extremely low quality sound from a netbook. Shell out 20 bucks and you can get yourself a decent 2.0 stereo speaker kit, or even one with a subwoofer if you’re willing to pay a bit more for extra bass. I picked up this Hercules 2.0 Stereo Speaker Kit and have been using it for a while – a definitive improvement over the tiny speakers loaded onto my netbooks. They may not be the best speakers in the 20 dollar range, though – read the review to find out why.

The kit itself is surprisingly barebones, providing just the speakers and the cables to connect them to your computer. The cables are hardwired to the speakers, so unfortunately you can’t use them for other things. The speakers must be attached to a pretty flimsy plastic stand – and because the stands don’t have weight, the speakers will tip over extremely easily. Output volume is adjusted on the right speaker only, and it comes with a microphone and headphone port for easy access. A blue light (which is a little bright for my tastes) on the right speaker indicates whether or not it is on.

The speakers themselves feels relatively cheap, with lots of dust collecting on the speaker mesh. The sound quality reflects the cheap build in a few ways: they don’t sound bad, maybe even quite good actually, but not excellent. There’s very little bass that comes out of the speakers, though they can get pretty loud when turned all the way up. Not only that, the microphone and headphone ports found on the right speaker don’t seem to be of very good quality – connecting directly up to my computer sounds better.

In the end, the Hercules 2.0 Stereo XPS Speaker Kit is decent and has relatively good sound quality, yet doesn’t quite meet the cut when it comes to being an excellent pair of speakers. The build quality and sound quality make the kit fall short in front of other $20 stereo speaker kits, and you should probably look elsewhere. Are they cheap? Yes, you can probably get them for $15 online or at a retail store. They do come with a few redeeming qualities, such as a pretty loud maximum volume and convenient microphone and headphone ports, some things you might not find in other kits.

You can purchase the Hercules 2.0 Stereo XPS Speaker Kit on Amazon.