Saitek A-200 Portable 2.1 Speaker System

Saitek A-200 Portable 2.1 Speaker System
$69.99 + $5 shipping
condition: New
product(s): 1 Saitek A-200 Portable 2.1 Speaker System

Here is a quick summary of the WOOT-OFF so far:

Start . . . . Quantity
12:00 AM . . 600 . . Mystery Brand 6 Piece 100 watt Speaker Set
12:08 AM . . 200 . . Monster Big Screen TV Kit
12:49 AM . . . 50 . . Nikko 1/14 Scale Lancer Evo High Performance R/C Car
12:57 AM . . . 20 . . Beyond Smart Mill & Brew Coffee Maker
01:06 AM . . . 18 . . HP F1903 19 inch LCD Monitor
01:13 AM . . . 70 . . Vivitar Vivicam 8.1MP Digital Camera
02:12 AM . . . 70 . . Cook‘s Essentials Chocolate Treat Maker
02:18 AM . . 100 . . Saitek 104-Key Eclipse Keyboard - Special Night-Vision Red Edition
02:28 AM . . . 24 . . AMW 10.2" Portable DVD Player
02:35 AM . . . 20 . . LG Progressive Scan DVD / Divx Player with HD Upconversion
02:41 AM . . 110 . . BFG GeForce 6600 128MB PCI-Express SLI Video Card
02:49 AM . . 200 . . Beyond Smart Bread Maker

Here is the PC Mag review…

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1872261,00.asp

3.5 Stars out of 4

Saitek, long known for its PC gaming devices, has jumped into the portable-speaker market. Billed as a 2.1-channel portable speaker, the Saitek A-200 sounds good for its size and is easy to set up and operate. Its somewhat oddball design is very much suited for portability—not to mention that it can run on four triple-A batteries as well as AC power—and it looks very classy on any desk or table top. For $99.95 list, it’s a solid solution for sharing your audio from any MP3 player or notebook when you’re on the go. It also works with any analog audio source, such as a desktop PC or CD player.

Thin and light and shaped somewhat like a flattened bicycle seat, the A-200 measures 1.8 by 5.6 by 9.0 inches (HWD). The casing is finished in high-gloss black, hence it picks up fingerprints quickly. Luckily, the speaker comes with its own microfiber polishing cloth to help you preserve its luster, as well as a padded travel pouch. The only buttons on the unit are for volume; the company deliberately left tone controls off, since those are usually adjustable on whatever audio player you’re using.

The casing holds two 1.5W tweeters and a 3W downward-firing subwoofer, all with neodymium drivers, and all protected by metal grilles (important for travelers). The rubber feet on the bottom lift the unit just far enough off of a table to let the subwoofer do its job. The company claims 24 hours of continuous audio playback on the aforementioned triple-A batteries.

To turn on the speaker, you press the top, which expands to form a cavity that’s ported out to the side, adding about 3/4 of an inch to the overall height. Saitek calls this the EAVS (Expanded Air Volume System); the design provides a resonating chamber for the bass to make it sound fuller. When the speaker isn’t in use, you simply press the top back down to turn it off, and it reverts back to the very low profile. You connect it to the headphone output (or line output) of most portable audio sources via the included 3.5-mm stereo mini plug cable. For sources with RCA outputs, you’ll need a stereo RCA to stereo mini jack cable (not included), though we doubt anyone would actually connect this speaker to a component stereo system.

We listened to several different genres of music and found that for some, the A-200 works very well, particularly well-recorded music with lots of bass, like hip-hop tracks or Cake’s Comfort Eagle. Low bass is not this speaker’s forte; most of it is lost despite the built-in subwoofer, though it handles mid and upper bass with aplomb. Highs are very crisp and clear, resulting in good clean cymbal sound, and the upper midrange is fairly well defined for vocals. Classical and jazz are a bust, though; solo horn sounds tend to distort quite a bit, and piano often sounds a bit muddy. As for sound output, the A-200 won’t fill up a noisy room, but it’s plenty loud enough to listen to while working or hanging out with a few friends.

The overall sound quality is good for a speaker of this size and price, especially if you’re not really into classical or jazz, and it’s very easy to use. Its unique profile and glossy finish—not to mention nice touches like the case and the polishing cloth—make it a good-looking travel companion.

Works best if this review winds up on the first page.

“which expands to increase available air volume, boosting bass performance”

Sounds like my father in law…

Newegg link

new egg has it for $75.98 so it’s a so-so woot, especially for a woot off

EAVS = they mounted the 3 watt “subwoofer” in a balloon

95 smackers on amazon free shipping

PSPSolution Review: 9.5/10
http://www.pspsolution.com/reviews-42.html

My guesstimates tell me there are about 100 of these. When the progress bar was at 98%, it said 100% of users were in the “x% < one year old” and that 50% were “x% < 10 woots” and 50% were “x% > 25 woots”.

Just some pure speculation that doesn’t mean jack.

$75.89 on NewEgg + $5.99 shipping

Newegg link

Where can you see how many there are?

feh - I can’t imagine these sounding better than the Boston Acoustics 4.1 set I got here recently…nice for portablility I suppose but I’d rather see a decent set of SENNHEISER! headphones…

quick math - 96% remaining, 75% are new wooters 25% old, 50% first woot, 25% 10 woots, 25% 25 woots… comes out, on my end, as 4 buyers, each buying 1, 100 sets… i think…

So…is the picture how the item is suposed to sit? I have a deep seated fear of triangles.

I have a BoomTube and the Saitek. The Saitek is better by far.

froogle says newegg’s price is 71.90… 71.90 or 69.99? less than 2 bucks difference…

rates a 4.5 out of 5 on pc magazine.com, heres the link.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C1895%2C1872262%2C00.asp#memberratings
sorry go back to page one and read it as a blog

Yes, it actually sits on only one corner. That is the only way it will work. If you place it flat, it will only play polka music.

Nope there are only 50. When the progress bar was at 98% it said that kstrange was the first and last wooter, and it also said that 100% of the people, so just kstrange, bought just one.

Yeah but with the saitek you can’t walk around asking people if they want to see your boom tube.