Best PC Speakers: From Budget to Audiophile Bliss

[OneMoreUser]

Your post went out the window when you brought up a $1600 pair of speakers.

Why, part of the headline for the "review" is literally says "From Budget to Audiophile Bliss"?

I think the TH is the problem here, they oversold their review big time.
It is nothing near a proper review of speakers and very far from including enough offerings to cover the market as well as being unlikely to provide audiophile bliss.

 

[JasonovichClone]

Why, part of the headline for the "review"Ive is literally says "From Budget to Audiophile Bliss"?

I think the TH is the problem here, they oversold their review big time.
It is nothing near a proper review of speakers and very far from including enough offerings to cover the market as well as being unlikely to provide audiophile bliss.

I've done the maths in my head. My Adams A series and Focal subwoofer costs about the same price. Some people will spend as much on GPU.
Gaming small thing, music big thing for me.
I agree with you about TH review, better substance and research would have been welcoming.

 

[Unolocogringo]

So where is the audiophile bliss?
I have the standard equipment.
Awia, Akai, Altec Lansing, Bose, Denon, Harman Karden, Infinity, Onkyo, Pioneer, Sansui, Sony, Yamaha.
7 Surround systems and 4 2.1 systems.
No Audiophile equipment on your list or mine, and mostly SUX as far as sound quality for music.
We need a better list.
And I know most computer speakers sound terrible for music quality.
A properly configured sub vanishes into the room. As stated above get your crossover point right on the amp and sub. place the sub in your main listening spot and then crawl arround your room until you find the loudest sub response.
Now move your sub to this spot and fine tune levels.
A sub is a filler for the low frequencies most speakers can not produce at high volumes. Not something that overpowers and rides on top pronounced.
Although the wife does like a thumping system.

 

[niceguy1]

edifier mr4 - better than many on list and on sale i got mine for $99, bonus as a reference monitor. def better than audioengine a2 and the audioengine speakers are twice the price.

 

[JasonovichClone]

edifier mr4 - better than many on list and on sale i got mine for $99, bonus as a reference monitor. def better than audioengine a2 and the audioengine speakers are twice the price.

The Presonus can be found also in the same price bracket, they're also very good. There's the Mackies, Alesis as well as the Edifiers.
It does appear TH missed the mark and I suspect they were playing safe or copying pasting from their sponsors.

 

[bit_user]

It does appear TH missed the mark and I suspect they were playing safe or copying pasting from their sponsors.

I gather there's an "e-commerce" team, which puts together some of the buyer's guide articles. I think the idea is mostly to try and get affiliate revenue from online shopping sites.

The way I see it, if someone at least derives value from these comments, then it wasn't a complete waste.

 

[JasonovichClone]

I gather there's an "e-commerce" team, which puts together some of the buyer's guide articles. I think the idea is mostly to try and get affiliate revenue from online shopping sites.

The way I see it, if someone at least derives value from these comments, then it wasn't a complete waste.

I suspect that is true, same could be said for the other site I frequent, What Hi Fi. They both belong to the same group Future Publishing Limited.

 

[colossusrage]

Besides the Audioengine speakers, the rest of these are terrible audio quality and not at all the best speakers at those prices. ELAC and SWAN make some of the best powered speakers from $80 to $400, they should be on this list replacing some of these plastic speakers.

 

[Joel02]

Sorry but when you are to review speakers and you give a " + RGB " on one of them... Your review went out the window for me... No credibility at all...

Clearly the plus points were to highlight the features that separated itself from the other devices.

But for my ears in the premium segment with no amp or extra electronics needed:
KEF LS50 Wireless II
Dynaudio Focus 10

Need an amp:
Piega Coax 411
Kerr Acoustic K300S MK3
Magico A1

Want to keep it simple and you like the sound of a horn loaded tweeter and it is a 2.1 system ready to go.
Then maybe Klipsch Heritage pro media 2.1 is the one for you. But Klipsch is kinda like Martin&Logan. You either love or hate the sound.

Nothing that you've listed would be considered a desktop speaker.
I saw your first recommendation of the KEF and just laughed. It's spent a solid amount of time around the charts for this and that, noticeably it's spectacular soundstage, which you wouldn't even be able to appreciate being that a desktop layout already perfectly aligns you up for an ideal soundstage.

Then you mentioned passive speakers, the idiocy...

 

[Joel02]

Besides the Audioengine speakers, the rest of these are terrible audio quality and not at all the best speakers at those prices. ELAC and SWAN make some of the best powered speakers from $80 to $400, they should be on this list replacing some of these plastic speakers.

I'm going to have to agree with you on this one, it seems like the writer only reviewed a handful devices that were in the office at the time.
In my option, the Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2 should have taken the slot for the best premium stereo in the category.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

Besides the Audioengine speakers, the rest of these are terrible audio quality and not at all the best speakers at those prices. ELAC and SWAN make some of the best powered speakers from $80 to $400, they should be on this list replacing some of these plastic speakers.

Are there any in particular that you would recommend around the $100 range?

 

[Unolocogringo]

These are about as good as you can get in the $100 +/- range.

The horns are about 3dba louder than the mid and sub, so can be fatiguing to some listeners.
Or if you have a good EQ program for your sound card they can be tamed and sound great for your budget.
https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProM...-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=ANO9SHL0H3C29&th=1

These would probably be my choice if you did not have space or need for a sub.
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Ref...d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

 

[bit_user]

if you have a good EQ program for your sound card they can be tamed and sound great for your budget.

This should be standard practice. After I setup time correction and EQ in my car stereo, the transformation was night and day.

Likewise, when I setup my home theater receiver using the included autoc-calibration microphone, my simple 5.0 speaker setup provided excellent imaging so good that you could sometimes close your eyes and pinpoint sounds coming from a direction that would be where there was no actual speaker.

Is there no automatic room calibration program for PCs? I've been in the habit of using my headphones at my computer, so I confess I've never looked into it.

Another thing I'd recommend is speaker stands. I'll bet there are some cheap ones that get you 90% of the way there, but you don't want speakers sitting directly on your desk, for the sake of resonance and reflections. Also, speakers tend to sound best on-axis, so pointing the speakers at your ears is a good idea.