lonelysandwich:

Harman Kardon Soundsticks

I adore them. Purchased in 2000, I cherished mine until I thought to replace them with studio monitors for more serious making of things which I probably wasn’t going to be making, if I’m being honest. I’ve since bought two pair of M-Audio monitors, both of which, within two years of purchase have gone tits up with a blown tweeter.

So I took these down from the closet and hooked them up again. I don’t know if they sound good to a fussy audiophile, but they sound like clear plastic heaven to me, like they’ve always sounded, which is round, a little airy, but crisp and poppy. And although they’re dated insofar as computer accessories seem to remind us of the computers they once accessorized (which in this case, was a graphite G4 tower), I don’t think they’ve ever looked dated. They just feel good on my desk.

I never had the full Soundstick setup. Instead, I had the “iSub” connected to an iMac DV (I still have the iSub kicking around, I have it in a sizable pile of dated computer equipment to go on Craigslist). Even that combination, with the iSub complementing the built in iMac speakers (which I think were also made by Harmon Kardon), sounded better than anything comparable today. That said, if great sound is what you are looking for today, Marco Arment has some opinions on what you should get.

If I get around to it soon, I have an opinion on a great sounding, yet minimalist, solution to post here.