Computer Speakers

By sammy2
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Grand Master

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Loud and quality cost.  You can get a $2-300 set and probably be happy.  But you will only know what your definition of happy is.  Some people want a 3'x4' cabinet style speaker system to be happy being that they gererally house high quality speakers and they power that with a $5000-15000 preamp reciever and amplifier setup.  Budget will dictate quality and/or volume (you can have volume without quality, and you can have quality without volume...the two don't necessarily go together).  Myself I am quite content with my HTIB samsung HT-E6500, while it may not be high quality it works good enough for me. 

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sammy2

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Bed room mostly. .. But living room at family parties.  

What kind of room? Please go back to my post and answer all the questions I asked. You don't get the same speakers for putting on your computer desk for yourself or in a living room for 5 people. Also we need an idea of your budget.

 
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Grand Master

Andre S. Veteran

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For under 200$ I suggest the M-AUDIO AV 40. I use it for own living room, although it's actually meant to be used on a desktop; it does well in both scenarios I think. It's quite accurate and very powerful for its diminutive price; the amount of bass is impressive. It's not very balanced IMO but you're not going to get anything powerful AND balanced at that price range. They'll still absolutely cream whatever Logitech or Creative cheap 5.1 setup you were using. You can find them for 100$ if you get a good deal. 

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Grand Master

Andre S. Veteran

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In my opinion, at your price range you shouldn't be looking at 5.1 systems. Many people buy cheap 5.1 systems and just throw the rear monitors wherever they'll fit in their room and everyone gets a terrible listening experience; 1st because all the speakers in the system are bad, and 2nd because they're haphazardly placed. It's neither easy nor cheap to setup a room for a good surround sound experience; it's also hard to properly place a system with lots of small satellites and a subwoofer. What's cheap and easy is to put 2 good powered speakers next to your TV. Then you get full, rich, balanced sound, it's not "surround" but it actually sounds good and that's the most important thing.

 

Also if you'll be moving the system between your bedroom and living room, I think you'll appreciate only moving 2 speakers instead of 5.

 

Some stores will let you try the speakers for a while and return them, and AV 40s are very common, so perhaps you can try them before you decide.

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Grand Master

FiB3R

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OK, so here is a crazy setup...

 

PC connects to this...

 

$_12.JPG$_12.JPG

Which connects to this...

 

DSCN1863.jpg

DSCN1865.jpg

 

Which connects to this...

$%28KGrHqZHJDoFGqM7o4h2BRsE+ZORHg~~60_3.

 

Which connects to these...

 

audioengine-a2-3.jpg

 

Plus a subwoofer of your choice.

 

 

 

Breeze Audio ASIO DAC (if you want to get 192KHZ/24bit audio via USB, otherwise, skip it). ?30

AUNE X1 MK2 Mini USB DAC & headphone amp & preamp (24bit/192K via Optical/Coaxial) ?125.50

Dolby DTS 5.1 Decoder  ?37.65 <--- This could be the weak link in a very good sounding setup

Audioengine A2 Speakers ?165 per pair (x3 = ?495) I didn't think this through lol.

Subwoofer ?? The Speakers are known for their great bass though, so this could wait.

 

Total: ?688.15

 

Reeeeeeally didn't think this through :rofl:

 

I have a pair of these speakers, and they are great. The Breeze Audio is on it's way to me, and I'll be getting the Aune some time soon, so that's what lead me to think of this crazyness.

 

http://archimago.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/measurements-adaptive-aune-x1.html

http://darklordreviews.com/2011/10/09/aune-x1-dac-follow-up-review/

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Grand Master

Andre S. Veteran

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Breeze Audio ASIO DAC (if you want to get 192KHZ/24bit audio via USB, otherwise, skip it). ?30

AUNE X1 MK2 Mini USB DAC & headphone amp & preamp (24bit/192K via Optical/Coaxial) ?125.50

Dolby DTS 5.1 Decoder  ?37.65 <--- This could be the weak link in a very good sounding setup

Audioengine A2 Speakers ?165 per pair (x3 = ?495) I didn't think this through lol.

Subwoofer ?? The Speakers are known for their great bass though, so this could wait.

 

Total: ?688.15

 

Reeeeeeally didn't think this through :rofl:

Why do you need all those devices for a pair of powered speakers? For that kind of money you could get way better speakers to begin with, i.e. something with at least 5" woofers. I got Yamaha HS80Ms for about that price.

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Astra.Xtreme

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I was series when I said you should get the Klipsch 2.1 speakers.  They have a powerful amplifier, so they will get extremely loud and the bass booms.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386716156&sr=8-1&keywords=klipsch+2.1

 

You can get a wireless version also:

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Wireless-Computer-Speakers/dp/B002VK7L04/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386716208&sr=8-2&keywords=klipsch+2.1

 

Trying to hook home theater components to a PC is a really bad and expensive idea.  Don't bother.

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Grand Master

FiB3R

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Why do you need all those devices for a pair of powered speakers? For that kind of money you could get way better speakers to begin with, i.e. something with at least 5" woofers. I got Yamaha HS80Ms for about that price.

I only have 1 pair and it really is down to their size and the space I currently have, which is very little. And the fact that they sound amazing :)

 

Doesn't hurt that they are half the price, ether...

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-HS80M-Studio-Reference-Monitor/dp/B000QPHCB4

http://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-Premium-Powered-Desktop-Speakers/dp/B000VKEFN2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386716235&sr=8-3&keywords=Audioengine+A2

 

To get the best out of them, I wanted a decent DAC + headphone amp, with lots of inputs, and the AUNE X1 MK2 fits that bill.

 

But I also want it to be able to play 192KHz / 24bit HD audio via USB, leaving the other inputs free for my Xbox 360, Xbox One, ect., but it can't do that, because it uses adaptive USB1, opposed to asynchronous USB2.

 

I can't seem to find a suitable alternative at that price point, so that's where the little Breeze Audio box comes into play.

This is just for sitting at my PC, which is very cramped, and my current living arrangments mean there is **** all I can do about that. :/

 

I'm also in the market for some decent headphones.

 

EDIT: After reading these...

 

http://www.headfonia.com/full-size-headphone-recommendations

http://www.headfonia.com/bass-to-the-power-of-two-pro700-mk2

 

I have decided to go with these first...

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Techncia-ATH-PRO700MK2-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B004KCLIFA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386368798&sr=8-1&keywords=Audio+Technica+Pro700+Mk2#productDescription

 

Then I can take my Sennheiser HDR 140 up to my room, where they are very much needed.

Sorry for the thread hijack, sammy :)

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Grand Master

FiB3R

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I was series when I said you should get the Klipsch 2.1 speakers.  They have a powerful amplifier, so they will get extremely loud and the bass booms.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386716156&sr=8-1&keywords=klipsch+2.1

 

You can get a wireless version also:

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Wireless-Computer-Speakers/dp/B002VK7L04/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386716208&sr=8-2&keywords=klipsch+2.1

 

Trying to hook home theater components to a PC is a really bad and expensive idea.  Don't bother.

Well that is just not true. At all.

 

I did have, and hopefully before too long, will have again, a PC hooked up to my Denon AVR-1911 amp + KEF KHT2005.2 speakers.

 

Expensive? Depends on your budget. Idea? ######ing awesome :)

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Grand Master

FiB3R

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If you graphics card has hdmi, then use that into the amp, then from the amp back into your monitor.

 

If not, then if your pc has digital coaxial, use that.

 

If not, then use use the optical out.

 

If you don't have any of those, your gonna need a sound card. I think any cheap one with digital out will do, as the amp will be doing the work.

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Grand Master

FiB3R

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Apparently they can be pretty good, but I think you'd need to be sitting a fair distance from it, for it to work it's magic.

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mrmomoman

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Have you looked into Cambridge Soundworks?

 

The 2.1 Microworks one. It is on sale for $209. US.

 

http://store.cambridgesoundworks.com/b/2858427011

 

I listen to mostly FLAC music. I have two systems one for the PC ( the Cambridge 2.1 Microworks ) with the upgraded MC155's and they sound amazing for the money. Even the compact one they have in the bundle for the $209.00 sounds really good.

 

My Mac setup gets a little fancier but to be honest if I had to do it all over again it would be the same setup for the PC.

 

You won't be disappointed.

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Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

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Well that is just not true. At all.

 

I did have, and hopefully before too long, will have again, a PC hooked up to my Denon AVR-1911 amp + KEF KHT2005.2 speakers.

 

Expensive? Depends on your budget. Idea? ****ing awesome :)

Of course it's a bad idea.  She's primarily using these in a bedroom, so for one, it will take up a lot of space.  Two, they won't sound optimal because home theater speakers are tuned for large rooms.

 

She can buy PC specific speakers that will sound great and for many times less.  You can buy 500W+ PC speakers, so it makes no sense to blow a crazy amount of money to hack together speakers that aren't aren't meant for PCs.

There's nothing to gain and a lot of money to lose by going that route.

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Grand Master

Andre S. Veteran

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http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-108247-5-1-Channel-Theater-Speaker/dp/B007YLQUWK  

this seems like a decent buy no ?  

 

They will work fine with my PC right ? 

You'll need an amplifier to drive the satellites. Read the manual: http://www.monopricehub.com/files/manuals/8247_manual_110810.pdf

 

As to whether it's good, well, Audioholics said it's better than TV speakers. :p

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