Just saw one today at Best Buy. Went there because my daughter wanted to buy some ipod headphones. She keeps losing them. It was just there and I didn't even think about it but there it was.
Anyhow, only the 2 speaker one was offered at the store I went to. I played with it a bit. Can't believe how heavy that sucker is. I mean, incredibly heavy. The strap -- I dont' know if it's real leather or not, but it looks real and the stitching is real thread. What throws me off is the edges which looks manufactured. Maybe the edges are coated with a rubber type compound to prevent separation or moisture intrusion. Anyhow, it's strong as heck and can probably support 10 of these. The end clips insert and remove easily and are made of metal, not cheap plastic. The front looks like acrylic but I can't tell if it's plastic, glass, or polycarbonate. My guess is probably polycarbonate since the surface feels more durable than acrylic. Doesn't seem like it would scratch easily. In fact, I tried my best with my ragged fingernails to introduce a scratch -- nothing doing.
There are 2 main knobs. The volume control does feel like a familiar volume pot and turning it all the way to the left extreme clicks it off. The tuner captured FM fine inside the best buy store, which isn't always easy if you ever tried to play with a radio inside warehouse sized stores before. I would miss all the function switches and knobs of classic audio gear but once you get used to using it -- I imagine you can do anything you need. Just watch the kids navigate their ipods with the simple click wheel interface and you'll quickly understand that device familiarity allows you to master all the features and do it quickly. Still, I would miss the level of individual sound shaping ability of knobs and sliders. The tuner itself is simply ingenious. You tune it with the familiar tuning knob so no up/down buttons are necessary. The tuner display with give you the digital frequency readout as you tune, but also a position representation of where you are on the tuning dial. In other words, the frequency display shifts left or right along the span of the display to give you an idea (think Sanyo M-X820). Sound is terrific. Very very solid audio quality to be absolutely proud of. There was not the 3-speaker version to test but if this is any indication, the 3-speaker version would be totally beetchin. I mean it sounds real good already. Adding a subwoofer would be like... that's it!
Anyhow, on to the speakers. I know we've heard some grumblings about no grills. After handling the boombox, I think I can say that while true grills would still be preferable, I now feel better about the no grill thing. The speakers have strong rubber surrounds and the cone feels like woven kevlar, carbon fiber, or some other form of woven fiber. But what looks like a dust cap is actually a staticly mounted tweeter with REAL METAL GRILLS. It does not move and fingers will not dent it -- I tried. The cone is actually hollow in the center and moves in/out along the tweeter pedestal (1.5 +/-" shaft). In otherwords -- think SEX. And when you really crank it -- think HOT SEX! Anyow, back to the boombox.....
So... is this a take it or pass thing.......... I can only speak for me. I wouldn't buy it for MSRP at best buy since $399 is a bit hard to swallow, but this is definitely something I want to add to my collection. I have a weak spot for quality and this thing is definitely quality. Unlike some guys that grumbled about the price -- given the quality and comparing it to other electronics -- I think the pricing is in line with the quality. I never owned or saw the altec locally but I think given a choice, I would take an upright any day over the lower squatty looking boxes.
So that's my review of this boombox. Another perspective for you guys to chew on.
Anyhow, only the 2 speaker one was offered at the store I went to. I played with it a bit. Can't believe how heavy that sucker is. I mean, incredibly heavy. The strap -- I dont' know if it's real leather or not, but it looks real and the stitching is real thread. What throws me off is the edges which looks manufactured. Maybe the edges are coated with a rubber type compound to prevent separation or moisture intrusion. Anyhow, it's strong as heck and can probably support 10 of these. The end clips insert and remove easily and are made of metal, not cheap plastic. The front looks like acrylic but I can't tell if it's plastic, glass, or polycarbonate. My guess is probably polycarbonate since the surface feels more durable than acrylic. Doesn't seem like it would scratch easily. In fact, I tried my best with my ragged fingernails to introduce a scratch -- nothing doing.
There are 2 main knobs. The volume control does feel like a familiar volume pot and turning it all the way to the left extreme clicks it off. The tuner captured FM fine inside the best buy store, which isn't always easy if you ever tried to play with a radio inside warehouse sized stores before. I would miss all the function switches and knobs of classic audio gear but once you get used to using it -- I imagine you can do anything you need. Just watch the kids navigate their ipods with the simple click wheel interface and you'll quickly understand that device familiarity allows you to master all the features and do it quickly. Still, I would miss the level of individual sound shaping ability of knobs and sliders. The tuner itself is simply ingenious. You tune it with the familiar tuning knob so no up/down buttons are necessary. The tuner display with give you the digital frequency readout as you tune, but also a position representation of where you are on the tuning dial. In other words, the frequency display shifts left or right along the span of the display to give you an idea (think Sanyo M-X820). Sound is terrific. Very very solid audio quality to be absolutely proud of. There was not the 3-speaker version to test but if this is any indication, the 3-speaker version would be totally beetchin. I mean it sounds real good already. Adding a subwoofer would be like... that's it!
Anyhow, on to the speakers. I know we've heard some grumblings about no grills. After handling the boombox, I think I can say that while true grills would still be preferable, I now feel better about the no grill thing. The speakers have strong rubber surrounds and the cone feels like woven kevlar, carbon fiber, or some other form of woven fiber. But what looks like a dust cap is actually a staticly mounted tweeter with REAL METAL GRILLS. It does not move and fingers will not dent it -- I tried. The cone is actually hollow in the center and moves in/out along the tweeter pedestal (1.5 +/-" shaft). In otherwords -- think SEX. And when you really crank it -- think HOT SEX! Anyow, back to the boombox.....
So... is this a take it or pass thing.......... I can only speak for me. I wouldn't buy it for MSRP at best buy since $399 is a bit hard to swallow, but this is definitely something I want to add to my collection. I have a weak spot for quality and this thing is definitely quality. Unlike some guys that grumbled about the price -- given the quality and comparing it to other electronics -- I think the pricing is in line with the quality. I never owned or saw the altec locally but I think given a choice, I would take an upright any day over the lower squatty looking boxes.
So that's my review of this boombox. Another perspective for you guys to chew on.
Especially with the probability of at least thinking of hot sex... 
