In my struggle to find decent speakers to use with my computer while watching a movie that isn't supposed to be available yet, I came across these monsters in the basement. They haven't been used in about a decade, and they were old when we got them then. I wasn't sure if they'd even work, much less sound halfway decent, but when I plugged them in, much to my surprise and delight, they sounded AMAZING. We're talking home-theater quality sound. I've never heard a computer sound this good or this loud before, except when using an expensive headset. The writing on the front says "Toptek Multimedia Hi-Fi Stereo Amplified Speaker", and on the back it says "Super Hi-Fi Speakers" and lists a frequency response of 20 to 20000 Hz. I was curious just how old these were, so I did several searches of the brand, the name, and every combination of words on the front I could think of, but to no avail. I couldn't even find another image of them, which leads me to suspect they're either very old, very obscure, or both. Can you guys recognize them?:



The design has a decidedly 90s feel, and they connect to each other through clamped wires, which I haven't seen on anything that was less than 2-decades old. What do you guys think?

(the composite audio cable in the lower right picture is a fairly modern one I'm using to hook these to the TV)

Toptek is a somewhat vague manufacturer name (it seems there are several far-Eastern companies that currently trade under that name). I agree that the design is distinctly early-to-mid-1990s and there was a company called Toptek Multimedia that sold an ISA sound card (the "Golden Sound") in that period.

Your photos are a little out of focus but I wonder if the purple triangle matches the logo found on this 1993 sound card? (Marked "Toptek Micro Computer").

Finding information about modern Taiwanese companies and products is hard enough, I don't know how well you'll fare with one from 20 years ago!

I'm glad they sound good, but I don't think I've ever seen an audio product that lists anything but a 20Hz-20kHz frequency response, so that specification doesn't mean all that much. What other speakers have you tried? They may sound better than other cheap 2.0 speaker setups as they seem to have a reasonable enclosure design and multiple speakers, but you may find modern speakers somewhat outperform them (and for watching films a meaty subwoofer always helps).

As far as desktop computer speakers go, I have a mid-90s pair that are still pretty awesome as well.

I can't really tell from that photo, but it looks like they might have mini-subs - is one of the three knobs on front for controlling bass? If so, I would guess these are a 2.2 setup (turn it up with some beats and see if you can feel it moving the air column in front of any of those three openings).

One of the knobs does control bass, and I turned it almost all the way up for the movie(which was part of why it sounded amazing).

I hypothesize that, because we cut out a lot of the higher and lower frequencies to compress our music, most multimedia speakers made in the last decade don't have the range of ones made in the 80s and 90s, which is a shame. I think today's kids are really missing out.

EDIT- This is the trademark on the front:

http://www.trademarkia.com/toptek-74671701.html

It appears it was filed in 1995 and registered in 1996, and cancelled in 2003. It was used as early as 1986.

The last four digits of the serial number amuse me...

Missing a "D"

I have the same speakers hooked to a computer now. They are excellent. They must weigh 20 pounds so not a cheap product.

Bought mine in 1993 right after buying a new condo. Needed something small, but a good sound. No idea what the wattage is.

A is where it's really at.

I feel B is rather unappreciated. Captain Cameron tries really hard.

@Diantane- Thanks, that was precisely what I was looking for.