Cyber Acoustics CA-3602 Review: Great Value Speakers

Computer speakers are overly complicated, and honestly shouldn’t be. You traditionally want 2.1 Channels of audio, or 2.0 (no subwoofer), and just need a 3.5mm audio jack, and a volume control. That last one is optional, but thankfully the CA-3602 Computer Speakers from Cyber Acoustics deliver 2.1 Channels, volume control, and more, and some dang good audio quality.

In The Box

In the box, you receive exactly what you would expect:

• The Speaker System
  • One 5.25″ Subwoofer, built in a wood case. This is where all the cables eventually lead to.
  • Two “Satellite” Speakers, labelled L or R (Left and Right). They each have their own very long cable, but the cables meet up in one 3.5mm jack.
  • The Control Hub, which is a small circular plastic “control” for the speakers. It has the cable for connecting to the computer, and another AUX-in, as well as headphone out, and the top rotates for volume control. In the side is a control for the Bass, or subwoofer, to tune for the listener.
• Standard Documentation
  • Warranty, manuals, a rather helpful quick-start guide and warnings.

Overview

The speakers are a 30 Watt, 2.1 channel system. Not absurd, but honestly more power than the average user will likely ever need. If you don’t know what 2.1 Channel means, visit our article on Sound Systems Explained. The speakers are designed for use with a computer, in the sense that they’re marketed that way. They’re perfectly compatible with TVs, phones, tablets, and anything with a headphone jack.

Set Up

The speakers are very easy to set up. The control pod and satellite speakers connect to the subwoofer through basic, unique cables. The control pod utilizes a PS/2 cable (or similar cable) which is red, and connects to the large, red port on the back of the subwoofer. The satellite speakers are both connected to one “split” cable, so it only has one 3.5mm jack, but the wire can be separated down to where that jack is. It’s grey, and goes into the one grey 3.5mm jack on the subwoofer. Coming off of the control pod is a long, thin cable which ends in a green 3.5mm jack. This connects to the device you want to listen to, and functions exactly like headphones.

“The Rest” (A.K.A. the review)

The speakers are overall excellent. The audio quality is great, volume is incredible. I managed to fill an entire dining hall (of a respectable size) with music, at a great audio level. Maxed out, there is little to no distortion. The bass sounds nice and clean, and the highs are crisp. Granted, I am not an audiophile, but I was impressed.

The design of the speakers is rather nice. The subwoofer is a box, basically, but the finish is not ugly. It’s not designer, but it’s not painful to look at. For $40, it’s about what I expected. It’s not plastic feeling, and it’s nice and compact (5.25 inch speaker), standing at about a foot and a few inches tall, and just under a foot wide and deep. However, you’ll need space on the sides for the air intake (located on it’s front), and the speaker (on the side). That said, it fits nicely under my desk, or off to the side under a shelf. The satellite speakers are contemporary looking, and made entirely of plastic. This wasn’t all bad, however, because it still looks really nice on my desk, and has a small footprint. The plastic look isn’t awful, but it got fingerprints on it easily. The control pod, on the other hand, feels like it could use some work. It looks slick, with a nice circular design and blue lights within it to indicate on or off, but the plastic construction was a mistake in my opinion. The disk to spin to change the volume feels weak, and as the one part of the unit you make regular contact with, I wish it was made of nicer materials, or just more rigid construction. All things considered, it’s still nice to use, but it could be nicer. But for $40, I’m impressed so far.

The cables for the control pod, and the satellite speakers are sufficiently long, and reach just about anywhere. For smaller setups, you may even need to cable manage carefully to keep them organized with excess length. For my purposes, however, I love having the extra length for adjustment and complex setups.

The ability to adjust the bass is awesome too. Some songs (like songs with piano in them) sound great with the bass all the way up, while some Pop Music is better at about 75%. It’s a matter of opinion, and since it’s adjustable you have full control and can tune it to your taste.

All in all, the speakers are great, and I have no regrets about choosing them. That said, there are just a few cons:

• The control pod connection (PS/2) feels weak, or insecure. If the cable moves slightly a pop can be heard, but music keeps playing, so it’s clearly a minor connection issue.
• The control pod construction is somewhat cheap. But for $40, it actually is right where I would expect it to be.
• The black plastic satellite speakers look nice, but they get fingerprinted easily.

Other than that, I love them and can wholeheartedly recommend these speakers to anyone in the market for a great-sounding set of computer speakers, or just speakers for anything, at a low price point. Of course for more money, you can get better systems, but I honestly believe these compare nicely with more expensive options, and Cyber Acoustics is relatively well known for quality.

Conclusions

If this was a star system, I would give them a solid 4.7 out of 5. I love the sound quality, having the control pod is nice, and they simply work, sound, and look great. An added bonus is they’re small enough to move easily from place to place, if needed, but not really “portable” per say. Anyway, I totally recommend considering them if you need speakers for anything, and if these aren’t the right match, take a look at some of their other offerings. These are their “entry” level, and I’m pretty impressed.

Looking for more to read? Check out a similar audio product which impressed me just like these! The VMODA M80 Crossfade Headphones. Click Here for my review of them.

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