Send to KindleTweet    Sound is truly amazing. A lot of people make a huge fuss over the speed, the image quality, and the physical setup of their home office. But after purchasing the Harman/Kardon Sound Sticks III, I’ve really seen what sound can add to your desk set up. The Sound Sticks III are a three-part sound system, consisting of a subwoofer and two Sound Sticks. The Sound Sticks, and for the most part, the entire system, are incased by a firm, clear plastic called acrylic. The internals of the Sound Sticks III are made to match the current Macintosh color scheme (black, silver, etc). The Sound Sticks II, however, include yellow, and navy blue but provide the exact same sound. The individual speakers are very nice looking. The base of them is a doughnut shaped, rubberized, weighted disk. This is attached to the acrylic body by a hinge, which enables the speaker to rotate 90 degrees. On the bottom of the Sound Stick there is an air intake, and on the right one, there are volume buttons. Each stick has four speakers on it, each providing individual sound, which really gives nice real-life effects. Overall the speakers fit very nicely into my desk setup, and I think that they would fit just the same into yours. The subwoofer can only be described with one word; beast. It out preforms Bose subwoofers selling for two hundred dollars more. The Sound Sticks subwoofer is what is called a ‘down firing’ subwoofer. This means that instead of projecting outwards like a speaker would, it projects downward onto a flat surface. This makes sure that an even coating of bass is spread out everywhere. The subwoofer’s design is very interesting. It is so abstract that your bound to have your own opinions on it. However personally I think the design is nice. It fits nicely right behind my monitor on my desk and lights up with a white LED when on. It’s a nice attention drawer, and could even be mistaken for an abstract piece of art. However, I do think that Harman/Kardon could have maybe make it a little boxier or more subwoofer like. Overall, I think the design of these speakers is very nice. I wouldn’t say that they are the most good-looking speakers I’ve ever seen, but they certainly keep up with my desk standards. The one thing I’d have to complain about are the wires. The physical appearance is nice, with silver wires. However, the problem is the quantity. Below I’ll list the wires… 1. Wire going from right speaker to subwoofer 2. Wire going from left speaker to subwoofer 3. Wire going from subwoofer to computer 4. Wire going from subwoofer to powerbrick 5. Wire going from powerbrick to outlet For me this is way to many wires. I happen to have a pretty nice under-desk wire management system, but I’d have to say that if you usually just run wires across the top of your desk [...] Read more »