Monitor speaker or Bookshelf speaker

[LionOfJudah]

Hello guys, I am thinking of changing my speaker(Bose Companion 2 Series II) to a better one. It will be use mainly for gaming and watching movies and some music. The Bose was given to me last Christmas. My budget is low $120 but I know it is possible to get a nice pair of speaker on that price. Lower is better.

Right now, I have my eyes on Sony SS-B1000 5 1/8-Inch Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) and use Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply as the amp.

I dont know much about Hertz and things about speakers but as I read forums, it is also possible to use monitor speaker such as
M-Audio Studiophile AV40 Powered Monitor Speakers
M-Audio Studiophile AV30 MkII Powered Monitor Speakers
Behringer MS16 Powered Studio Desktop Monitors

I like the idea of the powered monitor speakers because i dont have to worry about getting an amp. I think I can plug it in directly to my mobo(ASRock MB-P67E4G3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard)

Which one is better? Should I really change my speaker? Will I see improved difference from my Bose speaker? Or should I just get a 2.1 or 5.1 speaker like the logitech z506 or z623?

Thank you guys for reading my question. I really appreciate the help.

 

[LionOfJudah]

Bump. I am thinking of getting the polk monitor30 with lepai. But still not sure if it's the right decision.

 

[ssddx]

i agree, powered speakers shouldnt require an amp. the main problem lies in that the plug on your motherboard combines the left and right front channels into one plug and your speakers have two wires each. i suppose you can use a 3.5mm splitter but i'm not sure if the 3.5mm port for the motherboard has 2 channels (4 wires) to the plug or if its just a single channel (2 wires).

personally i prefer my home theater speakers over regular speakers but i use unpowered satelite speakers with an amp (inside a receiver).

the pc speaker systems by logitech also arent a bad value for the money if you stay in the mid ranged units which range from $40 through $200. i wouldnt get the cheapest units for obvious reasons and the higher end speakers at $500 starts to get you into the realm of thinking about ht systems.

 

[LionOfJudah]

i agree, powered speakers shouldnt require an amp. the main problem lies in that the plug on your motherboard combines the left and right front channels into one plug and your speakers have two wires each. i suppose you can use a 3.5mm splitter but i'm not sure if the 3.5mm port for the motherboard has 2 channels (4 wires) to the plug or if its just a single channel (2 wires).

personally i prefer my home theater speakers over regular speakers but i use unpowered satelite speakers with an amp (inside a receiver).

the pc speaker systems by logitech also arent a bad value for the money if you stay in the mid ranged units which range from $40 through $200. i wouldnt get the cheapest units for obvious reasons and the higher end speakers at $500 starts to get you into the realm of thinking about ht systems.

so powered monitors need two plugs on my motherboard? I am pretty sure front channels are stereo. I am using my Bose speaker on it. Is that it?
If you were me, is it worth it to get powered monitor or bookshelves with amp? I am leaning on polk monitor 30 but I am not sure what amp I can get to power it up. Is Lepai mini amp enough? Should I spend more on amp? Thank you!

 

[ssddx]

the confusing part of this is that since that pc 2.0/2.1 speakers use one 3.5mm plug and 5.1 speaker systems use three 3.5mm plugs....and home theater speakers normally use two bananna clips or bare wire leads.

obviously if you want two speakers you arent going to plug them right in.

the part i'm not sure about is how to transition between the two. you might want to look this up. i'm not sure if a 3.5mm splitter will work. perhaps instead of running on two channels (like my ht speakers do) you combine the wires into one plug and run it single channel. again, i'm just making a guess here so you will want to look this up on google.

using an amp may give you an integrated way to take 3.5mm out and seperate it into the 4 wire clips you need for those speakers. to determine the amp size look at the output rating on the speakers you want. keep in mind the maximum values.