Could someone recommend good computer speakers?

[sheletal]

I am in the market for a new set of computer speakers. I had just purchased these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836150086 but I am returning them for defects and the mid-range sounded horrible. They should be 2.0 or 2.1, price should be ~$100, bonus if they are under $50.

Thanks.

 

[ubercake]

Altec Lansing makes good speaker systems:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836113027

If you don't mind spending a little more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836113033

Both have uniquely-designed speakers. Pretty innovative stuff for under $100.

 

[sheletal]

The polk is a home theater speaker, center channel. It does not have a 3.5mm input, just standard speaker wires so it's not an option. Also, it's not amplified.

The Octane set is looking like the best option so far, the other altec set has reports of sounding very "tinny" which was one of the problems with the last set I had, no mid-range to speak of.

Thanks for the suggestions, keep em coming although personal experience with a recommendation goes a long ways.

Aren't there any budget audiophiles in here?

 

[ubercake]

How about these at $50?:
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Inspire-T3100-2-1-Speakers/dp/B000IVL3DE/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1311968362&sr=8-9

Tons of good reviews from customers.

These are $100 and seem to cover the mid-range but have no ".1":
http://www.amazon.com/Bose-Companion-multimedia-speaker-system/dp/B000HZDF8W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[sheletal]

Bose are horribly overpriced. They are known to blow all their money on marketing and none on development/materials. I listened to some in Best buy yesterday, they are nice but I wasn't impressed for the price tag without having a subwoofer.

The creatives do look like a good prospect. bass control would be nice but I may be able to patch in a potentiometer. I need to see if I can find a set to check out locally. Thanks!

 

[edifice]

I have been looking at Corsair's SP2500 which are 2.1. They are quite expensive though the cheapest I found them to be was £169. But from what I understand they are meant to be EPIC!!

The bass unit is meant to be a similar size to a microwave oven, and the satellites are very sturdy with an excellent crisp range!!

A lot depends as to what your mainly going to use them for I suppose, as most people have all their music stored on their PC's nowadays too. Either way I hope to get some in the not too distant future?!

Check out the following link, I found it on Tech Radar, and they gave a very impressive review. http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/peripherals/speakers-and-headphones/speakers/corsair-sp2500-921279/review

I hope that this helps in some way?!

 

[ubercake]

Seriously, though, if you are that much of an audiophile, I'd look at a budget of at least $300 and pick up some flat-response studio monitors. I have these speakers on a digital audio workstation and nothing compares to the sound:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Rokit6G2

They have the 5" edition for $150 a side, but I haven't had experience with them personally:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Rokit5G2

They have a little less power than the 6s, but offer almost the same frequency response. On my 6s, though, the sound you record is the sound you hear back. Great speakers.

 

[sheletal]

It's not that I'm a hardcore audiophile, I have been burned on wasting 50 bucks on garbage speakers so many times and I know there are some decent ones under $100 so I want to get the most for my money.

I was just hoping somebody else in here had a set they were impressed with for the price.

I think you're right though, I'll just have to save more.

 

[sheletal]

I think I have it narrowed down to Swan M10 speakers or Klipsch Pro Media 2.1

I can pick up the klipsch at best buy right away and the Swans are hard to find from what I hear.

Any last thoughts?

http://www.lockwaresystems.com/swanm10-89.html

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO

 

[sheletal]

Well, just got back from Best Buy, I've now had the Klipsch set bumping some metal and dubstep for a half hour.

For $129 (best buy matched the online price), this is a damn good set. If you want bass, this is probably as good as it's gonna get for under $150. The sub is a beast and the satellites aren't bad either, seperate tweeters and mids definitely help give music a full sound. I have always gone the cheap route ($50 or less) and I'm glad I finally dropped a little more money, the difference is phenominal.

I am still thinking about picking up the Swan set also because I found a cheap used set, then I'll just sell off whichever I don't want. Between this forum, head-fi and a couple others, a large majority of people end up going with the Swans so I'm curious about how much better they really are.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

 

[ubercake]

Well, just got back from Best Buy, I've now had the Klipsch set bumping some metal and dubstep for a half hour.

For $129 (best buy matched the online price), this is a damn good set. If you want bass, this is probably as good as it's gonna get for under $150. The sub is a beast and the satellites aren't bad either, seperate tweeters and mids definitely help give music a full sound. I have always gone the cheap route ($50 or less) and I'm glad I finally dropped a little more money, the difference is phenominal.

I am still thinking about picking up the Swan set also because I found a cheap used set, then I'll just sell off whichever I don't want. Between this forum, head-fi and a couple others, a large majority of people end up going with the Swans so I'm curious about how much better they really are.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

Yeah. Once you break that $100 barrier, the quality improves by leaps and bounds. The Swan look more novel. That's probably why they are selling a lot. They don't have the same bass frequency response as the speakers you picked up. I don't see any advantage with the Swans other than they look pretty cool.

 

[sheletal]

Good point. I read forum posts from a person that bought both sets and stuck with the Swans but for all I know it could be for aesthetic value. I'll stick with these for the moment because they are way better than I thought they'd be.

Only downside is there is no power switch to this set. No way to turn them off to save power. I may have to rig something up or get another surge strip.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[hang-the-9]

The most musical and true sounding PC speakers I have used for around $100 are M-Audio AV40. http://reviews.cnet.com/separate-speakers/m-audio-studiophile-av/4505-7869_7-32381162.html?tag=also You can find a bunch of these for about $120 on ebay.

I'm guessing the AV30 will be just about as good for cheaper.

They are fairly large, but the sound is some of the best of any speaker set. The only system I liked better due to more low end is the Logitech Z5500 or Z560 series which are much more expensive and have a sub. Own 3 speaker sets, the AV40s, the Z560 since new and also a set of the classic Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 speakers where were the top $50 or so set forever. Those also sound amazing for the size and price but are harder to find. For clear sound, AV40s are my pick out of all of those.

 

[sheletal]

Best answer selected by sheletal.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey