3. In Use

As with all equipment of this type, ease of use is what counts most of all. If you look at the actual measurable performance, it'll obviously be far below what traditional speaker systems can produce - even modest ones costing a good deal less. In absolute terms, the possible volume levels are low to very low, and the bass is limited. On the other hand, given these products' small size and other characteristics, the results were good. Unlike many similar products, the sound these two Saitek models puts out isn't heavily colored or aggressive. Distortion remained very reasonable, and listening was always a pleasure - naturally, with a few reservations.

Everything depends on your source and the music you're listening to. It'll often be worthwhile to use the equalization on your player to adjust the sound to suit your tastes, the music, and your listening conditions. After a little experimentation with optimizing the reproduction, you may well find that the best listening position is approximately 8" (20 cm) from the device; among other things, this will let you get the benefit of a proximity effect for bass reproduction. In other words, the unit is perfect for stretching out in a deck chair with it sitting on your chest - you feel the vibrations of the bass in your thoracic cavity, and your ears get a very nice stereo image. If you prefer listening from your bed, a shelf or other support just above your pillow will be ideal. Obviously you can also listen from farther away, but you'll lose some stereo effect - since the distance between the two channels won't be sufficient - and the bass will lessen, since the proximity effect disappears little by little. Still, if the sensation of bass power isn't essential, the results are quite nice to listen to from any spot in a room (as long as it's not too big!)

A little tweaking of the equalization will often do a lot - here, using the equalizer built into Windows Media Player. Don't even try playing with the extreme bass; if you want more lows, raise the 125 and 250 Hz sliders.

With the A-250, the Bluetooth link opens up some interesting possibilities, because in addition to listening to audio files or CDs in your computer, you can also listen to Internet radio without being stuck in front of your PC. Saitek claims a range of 100' (30 m) and that's about what we got. Naturally, a lot depends on what is in that range - in particular, whether you are going across 100' of open air, or through walls. We were able to get the A-250 to work through two concrete walls over a distance of around 30' (10 m) - not bad at all! As with any low-power radio link, you'll need to test each specific configuration, because the results depend heavily on the environment. The claimed battery life is 8 hours for the A-200 and 20 hours for the A-250. Naturally, rechargeable batteries will save you money if you plan on intensive use.

In Conclusion

Small packages that do a lot - that's what you could say about the Saitek A-200 and A-250, at least if they provide what you're looking for. In any case, these are carefully designed and built products that do what they claim. The A-200 can be the perfect companion to your MP3 player if you hate earphones or want to share your music, while the A-250 will be ideal at home for enjoying the music stored on your PC anywhere, in the house or out in the yard.