Hi!

I am not real audiophile in terms of sound quality but I am looking better speakers than my Logitech X210 2.1 are. In work place my desktop has really nice Creative Gigaworks T40 speakers which sound really nice...

Problem is that original series is almost sold out and its price is rather steep 106 €'s. T40 Series II is around 116 - 132 €'s... bit too much for my liking in terms of money.

Creative Gigaworks T20 is around 59€'s and T20 Series II is starting from 77 €'s. Now that is price I could invest, but I am also looking other recomendations and / or experiences from Gigaworks T-series.

Logitech Z4-series might be worth of consideration but its quite expensive too, 85 €'s to 93 €'s.

I've got these and they are fantastic. Probably about 150 Euros but if you can stretch to that, well worth it. No comparison with anything made by Creative or Logitech in that price bracket. You won't regret buying them.
I've had mine for about 4 years; they are an earlier version and cost me £99, this latest model might be even better.

Hey thejamppa. I'd suggest looking around on Huuto for those T40's. Seems like best price with postage is about 65-70€.

I spy a set on there ending on the 15th which might go for that price Obviously it depends so much on the seller, but I recently bought a 5.1 set (Logitech z-5400) and had a really good experience.

I'm happy with my Logitech Z4. I think for the size speakers you are likely to want on a desktop, having a subwoofer is a must for decent sound. But I'm using them 5+ hours a day, so $80 was well worth it (I guess as usual EU price is much higher).

Thanks guys. I'll be checking things. I am not quite that sure if you really need active bass to have good music experience. Usually bass' are always too powerful in my taste and need to set almost minimum setting.

I'd be happy to take even more suggestions and such

If you can still find it (and if available to your country), I recently bought Speed-Link Gravity SL-8231 2.1.

Very nice reviews and ratings (most in Dutch/German though), some consider them ugly, for me they are just clean, nothing fancy.

Bought them at €44.

There is also an XXL version and a new NX follow-up.
The xxl has a tone gap though, and is more expensive.
Don't know much about NX, just that it is more fancy and more expensive.

Also from reviews on tweakers .net you can read that they went to the store with the intention to buy a Creative or Logitech set and ended up with the Gravity ^^.

In any case, I'm very satisfied with them. Although I can't really compare it with much else. In any case nice full warm sound from the wooden boxes, sound stays good without deforming at high volumes. Did tonal test and goes from +/- 30-40 Hz to 22kHz (even up, but most ppl don't hear it anymore there anyway, and it just hurts) without gaps.

Maybe negative points are the wires that are a bit low quality, and short, so really for a desktop setup. Also for some that there is a small overlap on sub and satelites (170-200Hz).

PS not much luck with googling non-dutch decent reviews so... maybe you find it easier. -> no link from me .
PPS deutsche Gründlichkeit ^^.

Yeah I feel the same way as well, so I ended up buying a pair of Klipsch Promedia Ultra 2.0 to use as PC speakers. Seems like for most PC speakers with a sub the bass really overpowers the mids and highs, but the Klipsch 2.0 are more balanced.

My main complaint with them would just be cheap pots. For example had them for a few years and the pots have really loosened up and crackle when you adjust volume (due to dust getting in the pots is my understanding). I don't think stuff like this is uncommon with lower end PC speakers, though. They are a bit large as well, if you get a setup with a sub you can probably get smaller satellite speakers.

I'd really like to get a nice set of bookshelf speakers (Swan M200MKII or something like that). They're a tad pricey, though.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Creative Gigaworks T20 or T40 for desktop PC speakers. These sets fall under the radar, but they are excellent quality and a good buy if you can find them on special. I have the original version of the T20. I specifically wanted a 2.0 set (sub woofer is not necessary for me), one with bass AND treble control knobs (most PC speakers only offer bass/tone, some have bass and treble but only via a digital menu) and of course with good audio quality. T20 met all my requirements while being space saving and having good design.

I will think of upgrading to T40 Series II in the future, but I am happy with T20 right now.

I think if you can find T40 Series II on sale for not too high a price, it would be a good choice. If you play a lot of games and want surround, then maybe 2.0 may not be suitable. You can read reviews of both first and second series here.

Considered T40 Series IIs, bought Behringer MS20s from Thomann instead, have not looked back since.

Especially the array of connections and two separately adjustable lines sold these speakers, and the sound is very nice. Old Sony speakers (150 euro set of two) with separate amp had better overall volume and were not as sensitive to direction as these, but for PC speakers the MS20s are solid. From a silence perspective: can be tuned down to very low volumes for night-time listening without losing clarity (dialogue understandable).

Before buying from Thomann I went to see the T20s and T40s at the local stores. They sounded alright, but the plastic and connectors were not convincing. Hated the bright blue LED on the series I as well.

Damnet, I've been busy and forgot to check this thread. those looked really good one. *grinds teeths' Too bad I bought alread T20 Series II from Anttila during their creative campaign and paid 70 €'s of them. Still they sound good but those Thomann wouldn't have cost much more and seemed truely a speakers...

You should always check your own threads . Anyway, I hope you are happy with your speakers. I also agree with Das_Saunamies those Behringers are good all around speakers but I would not classify them together with Creative Gigaworks series. Behringer MS are made for general audio monitoring duties for small home recording studios but also work well as desktop PC speakers. Creative are especially designed for desktop PC use and make no pretensions of being for studio use. For what they are, they are good. They take up little space and use little power.

Before I got Creative T20 I placed an order for a Behringer MS16 through a local music store but they never got back to me. So I waited for many months then ended up going to a PC store and getting T20 instead.

Behringer MS20 is very similar to Edirol MA-15D by Roland. It may be that Roland licenses many of its parts for Behringer to use. Edirol/Roland is considered a premium product whereas Behringer is a budget version with same or similar performance. One day I will also get a pair of these speakers, either the Behringer or the Edirol.

Oops... too bad I haven't found this thread earlier... For quality PC speakers you might want to consider Microlab Solo7C or Solo6C. The latter can be seen here:



They are generally superior in sound quality to anything Logitech/Creative have to offer.

Another brand worth considering is Swans & Sven, for example their Royal1 pair.



A cheaper but also nice option would be Vigoole C2138:



Of course, the choice of computer speakers should be made according to your needs/uses. If your primary entertainment is gaming and films, then Gigaworks are okay. If you're a music lover you need something better.

I'm getting somewhat annoyed with my B&W 302s... But unfortunately, I don't have money to replace them with something better

KadazanPL: those speakers look very nice. I've never seen those brands before; they are probably only available in Europe. Those type of music speakers are quite large and heavy for a computer desk that already may have 20"+ monitor, printer, stationary etc. on them.

That's why small slimmer speakers like Creative T series are a good compromise at a relatively affordable price. But if one could extend the cables and put larger speakers away from computer desk on a shelving of some kind, then it may be a worthwhile option. That's what I plan to do one day, but at the moment I don't have that much space.

Yes, those are European brands of limited availability, even in Europe. Actually, people tend to hunt them down at various sources. Those speakers have a strong reputation for delivering excellent sound quality, comparable to lower-end Hi-Fi sets. What is more, computers (and mp3 players) seem to often become the only music sources for many people these days. For them, these speakers can easily substitute a separate hi-fi set as they fill a room as large as 30 square meters with clear sound.

I just googled some photos of Microlab Solo7C, to illustrate your point that size IS an issue. Some people just buy them having no idea that they are almost as big as a standard ATX computer chasis. Here you can see a pair behind a large monitor.

http://img166.imageshack.us/i/s6300100qg5.jpg/

and here, beside a huge 21"CRT, which seems dwarfed in comparison:

http://img231.imageshack.us/i/obraz001jf9.jpg/

In my opinion, you can't trick the physics. A larger speaker in a wood box will generally sound better/clearer than a smaller speaker in a plastic enclosure. But it is a question of priorities, taste and... space available.

I, for example, wouldn't buy any of the speaker sets mentioned in this thread But that's only because my computer is hooked to a vintage Technics Hi-Fi

One more remark: the better the speakers, the sooner the shortcomings of the soundcard will emerge. It doesn't make much sense buying quality speakers and using them with an integrated audio.

KadazanPL, what is approx. price range of those speakers?

Solo6C and Vigoole cost about 80€ and the rest about 100€. They used to be a lot cheaper (ca. 70€ for the largest) but people quickly "discovered" those models and prices skyrocketed. Same old story as with Creative Aurvana Live! headphones and ATI HD4770 GPUs

That person obviously likes living on the edge.

That person needs to get a new office chair. Better speaker placement than first person though. And 21" CRT? My back is starting to hurt already.

I'm looking to buy a pair of speakers, to replace our old ones.

The reason why (which no one has mentioned strangely enough) is because they make a hum (low freq sine wave type sound) while on, and even when off.

Are there any speakers which don't give off any extra buzz/whine/noise, or maybe all modern speakers are okay in this regard? My pair is around 5-10 years old.

I live in the UK, and would rather the speakers be not overly big (less than 6-7 inches in depth), be too expensive or have too much bass. The sound from the Sennheiser HD 595 headphones would be a good thing to imitate.

I'd like the on/off and bass/treble controls on the front.

The Gigaworks T20/40 Series II are what you described. Bass, treble and volume with on/of control in front but so are Cheaper Logitech X-230 series speakers which have same qualities (even built quality is bit different as they are different price range ) in half price.

Thanks thejamppa, I take it those speakers are absolutely silent (on and off) when no music is transmitted?

Oh and just to reiterate, I don't want the bass to be overpowering if possible. The Logitech X-230 for instance 'suffers' from a giant speaker and two 'tiny' ones, so the midrange is disregarded.

Any more recommendations would be great, so I can look on reevoo/amazon/newegg for reviews etc. I suppose I'm slightly less bothered about the on/off/volume control on the front as long as there's no hum or other noise when the speakers are switched on (I have an almost silent PC, so it's easy for me to tell).

Are the little big speakers reviewed at SPCR silent as well?

T20 Series II I use are completely humming and noise free when I am not playing music and such. When I power down computer I hear snap thru them but not like X-210 I had when took the snap when I powerd on system. Since I kill all computer's power and not let it have any wake up power but all computer's are connected to extension cable which has a power switch.

But so far I haven't heard any white noise, humming or such from my T20 Series II's in integrated sound card or with discrete Sound Blaster.

Long shot, but don't know if anyone has the Creative Inspire T10 speakers.

Perhaps it's because it's the UK model, but one review of the *T20* mentioned a humming sound from the transformer.

Be interested to know if there is any noise/hum from the T10, since it apparently is cheaper than the T20, similiar in sound quality, and is generally rated very high from Amazon and NewEgg (I often go for the highly reviewed ones since the final rating will be more reliable).

twinbee, I own a Creative T20 (original version). I do not hear any humming, buzzing or whining from these speakers. The last set of (generic) speakers I owned were terrible in this regard. Sample variance and the individual user's setup can play a part in whether the unwanted noise is an issue. Of the mainstream PC speaker companies, Creative and Logitech generally produce speakers free of these issues. Altech Lansing and Klipsch have had some humming/buzzing problems in some of their speakers from what I have read in reviews and customer feedbacks.

If you can get to a PC store or even a big department store in the city who have speakers on display, you can then hear them for youself before deciding which to buy. Since no one in my city had the Creatives on display, I bought them on reputation and the excellent reviews they had received.

The thing I dislike about the T20 (and perhaps common among PC speakers) is the power supply "brick" that comes with it. It is bulky and gets in the way. Also, the cable that attaches the speaker to the brick is fixed and isn't as long as it should be. As a result, I have to position my speakers further back from arm's reach than I prefer. How one has their computer and peripherals placed, table height, power/UPS board's distance from wall socket etc. may determine whether this is an annoyance or not. In someone else's setup, it may not be a noticeable problem at all. And depending on the region you are in/purchase from, the power supply may well differ and you may be fortunate enough to get a less annoying one.

May as well conclude the story. Mainly because of price reasons, I chose the Creative Inspire T10 speakers. They are pretty silent, with no hum/buzz, and the pink/white noise is incredibly faint and effectively silent.

The sound quality is almost as good as my older ZyFi Pro speakers, though perhaps seems a bit more 'directional' (rather than hitting the ear more 'holistically' which I would prefer). Also, the volume doesn't go up to super loud levels, but is reasonable enough.

Thanks all for the input.