OK, now you’ve seen ‘em all, the good, the best, and the ugly. Now you know what the real deal is with speakers, and now you know why we didn’t mess around with single product reviews. We thought you’d like to be able to round ‘em all up and count heads at one go, which is exactly what we’ve done here. (Don’t worry, you can thank us later.) And now for the moment of truth (not really, since we’ve already said this, but consider it a summary): handing out the recommendations.

For the budget-minded user: Microsoft’s Digital Sound System 80. Though this is the cheapest system on the roundup, it offers an unbeatable price-to-performance ratio. Trust us, for a mere $110, this unit is worth every dollar you spend on it. 

For the gamer who lives night and day in a world of EAX and A3D, shooting down, err, whatever it is that you like to shoot down, we recommend the Labtec ATX-5820. This had slightly better gaming sound that the Microsoft Digital Sound System 80 and when you’re using this unit at high volume, performance is quite impressive for a $160 unit. So hardcore gamers may want to look this way for once, without spending your last dollars on a new graphics card. After all, it’ll make your gaming experience sound better than ever, something you can’t reasonably expect from a Voodoo2 SLI setup. 

Finally, for you audiophiles who demand the absolute best. We know you people don’t let the price stand in your way. (So what’s a mere $399, then?) Look for none other than MidiLand S2 4100. These babies pack a big loud punch with excellent overall performance. If you turn this thing up the neighbors are bound to call the cops, so bribe them first before purchasing this unit. What’s more, we found the audio quality of this unit to be slightly better than a $950 home theater system, which came as quite a surprise for all of us, I can tell you.

OK, so there you have it. Eight speaker systems put to the test with three winners divided into the three main categories. Remember, we judged these systems on the way each unit performed in each category, not to mention the price tag. After all, we have to be realistic, and no speaker system is absolutely perfect on all platforms.

Hmm. Now since the roundup is over, who’s getting the MidiLand? Maybe I should just grab it before..... Hey! Where’s...ohhhhhhh great. There goes $400. Oh, well. Something’s gotta give.