Like most 4.1
speaker systems, everything plugs into the back of the subwoofer. Altec
has made what can be a bit of a confusing and lengthy job to one that only
takes a minute to connect. Every connector has it’s own colour, so simply
connect the corresponding colour to the connector on the subwoofer and your
done. The ATP5 can accommodate both analog and digital output soundcards,
most people have an analog output soundcard, so you’ll obviously use the
analog input on the speaker; if you have a digital output, use the digital
input on the speaker. Since there are many manufactures of sound cards in
the market today, sound response with these speakers can differ from card
to card. If you experience poor bass response, the ATP5 has a built-in subwoofer
phase adjuster. Just move the switch from the In position to Out or vice-versa;
keep in mind that this setting only works while the system is in gaming
mode.
At the heart
of the system is the controlling satellite, it can be a bit intimidating
at first but once you learn what each function does it’s quite easy to control.
The ATP5 has three modes Stereo, Stereo x2 and Gaming, what mode you have
the system on really depends on your sound card. If your soundcard only
has one stereo output (most older and some newer cards only have one), you
won’t be able to take advantage of the systems Gaming mode. However if you’re
sound card does have two stereo outputs (one front and one rear) then you’ll
be able to take full advantage of the speakers. Stereo mode only produces
sound from the front input of your sound card to the front two speakers
and subwoofer, Stereo x2 takes the sound from the front speakers and duplicates
them out of the rear speakers. Gaming mode plays the front input of your
sound card to the front speakers, and the rear input to your rear speakers.
If rear speaker effects sound a bit weak, Altec has provided a separate
volume control for them; while in Stereo x2 or Gaming mode hold the button
until the volume level LED’s start flashing, once they flash you’ll be able
to adjust the rear speaker volume.
