Reviews for Harman Kardon SoundSticks III 2.1 Channel Sound System

I was reading reviews on the bose three speakers which was what made me decide to choose these HK's, have to say I'm not disappointed at all. They have a great sound & simple to hook up, and for the money you can't beat them. they have great highs & good bass, sound great with audio or as movie cinema. I would recommend them highly for the money.

I have the speakers set up at one end of a long front room (40'x16') in my mountain cabin (living room, dining area, kitchen). For this space, I can't imagine any speakers producing better sound.

The speaker system works great with Airport Express playing music from iTunes on my iBook G4 or iPad3, and it plays the audio portion of movies or TV shows I'm watching on my iPad3. The set-up was simple enough for a klutz like myself, and I even accidentally placed the speaker with the barely noticeable volume controls in the easier-to-reach location.

Pros: For simple listening enjoyment in a small home, it's nice to get away from the wall full of stereo components, equalizers, amps, etc. The equalizer on iTunes is adequate for my ears.

Cons: Wish there was a remote control for the volume - I'm not always near the laptop or iPad when the volume needs adjusting.

Note: I bought these identical speakers in Sep. 2012 for $152.12 (free shipping) at Amazon. Not much of a price difference, just FYI.

Im a video editor that was looking for some great speakers for monitoring audio, I fell into the hype and cool design of these speakers. I have found that they sound just like speakers that are much cheaper. They do get the job done, im not saying they are a bad speaker, but you can buy some about half the price and get the same performance.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise... NOTHING compares to these speakers. For the money, you will learn to live with the fact that the sub looks like a giant jellyfish. Even the larger, more expensive HK speakers are only a slight step up from their much cheaper cousins. Best in class- absolutely.

i have had them for almost two years still work amazing i love the intense bass...its legit

After seeing all the great reviews here I thought I'd give you all a little perspective from someone who has owned a pair of these for several years. They sound great out of the box, but be aware that they do clip (distort) a bit. Over time mine even started rattling and coming apart. The magnets on two of the small speakers came off and I had to put tape on both sticks to keep them together, which has resulted in more rattling. They look cool and are a lot better sounding than most computer speakers, however, if you're a stickler like I am about sound quality then I would consider doing a little research. Perhaps there is a better option available. Alrighty, there you have it.

I use H/K Soundsticks II and I would never trade them for anything else! At the beggining, despite all the reviews I have read - I was so sceptically tuned - how in Earth is possible, this set, built entirely of transperent plastic to sound as good as made of wood speakers?! Well, somehow they do! At least for me - they sound fantastic! Of course not better , but at least on par with my audiophile HI-Fi Pioneer stereo system, where sound is amplified thru a true MOSFET amplifiers and is delivered from 3-way speakers+subwoofer! Well, the Hi-Fi cost me 5 times the Soundsticks, you definitely can not place it on your desktop and despite of it good aesthetics can not compare with the "insanely beautiful" look of Soundsticks! So, if you can afford it - do not think about anything else! Go and buy one! And you won't be sorry!

I usually don't write reviews on products I have purchased, but these speakers impressed me so much I felt I had to back up what has been already said even more.

Apparently the IIIs are very similar to the Soundstick IIs, with the difference being cosmetic only. The new speaker base is now black instead of a greyish blue. The sub emits a white light instead of blue, and the logos are silver now instead of gold. The sound is identical. Why fix what isn't broken I guess.

The sound from this system is phenominal to say the least. They have great depth and outstanding clarity. A very well balanced system that sounds great at any volume. My wife works for a major audio/video company (who does not offer such a product) and even she was blown away by them at the store. Very rich and full sounding. Thankfully the store we went to had the 3 choices we were looking at lined up side by side by side and we were able to compare the Soundsticks with the JBL Creature III and the Bose Companion 2 Series II speaker systems using The Beatles Dear Prudence as our test song. The Bose sounded very muddy and didn't offer anything to control and adjust the sound. They also look ugly. No thanks. While the JBL system did offer up a decent sound for such a compact system and have a fairly cool look to them, they just could not match the quality of sound, nor the looks from the HK. They ready do go great with the iMac. The decision was one of the easiest I have ever made.

If you are looking for a set of computer speakers and can afford them, the Harman Kardon Soundstick IIIs definitely deserve a look at the very least. Don't be surprised if it's these you end up taking home with you though. Five stars!

I have gone through many speakers and some even over $500, but out of all these are the best. It doesn't matter that something is more expensive to be better because these are at an amazing price for the best household speakers ever. I wish i could give this product a 100 stars, thats how great they are!