Decent 2.1 speakers

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:12 pm

My daughter's speakers blew out last night. She uses them primarily to listen to ITunes and YouTube, with an occasional game thrown in. I'm looking for a replacement set - not more than $150 but preferably less. I'm interested in suggestions for the best quality set I can get in my price range.

sorenbro · Post by **sorenbro** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:06 pm

The Logitech X-230 seem to be very popular and offer excellent value for money. They are very cheap too (=$40)

If you step it up you can get the Logitech Z4, which I have very good experiences with, my girlfriend actually uses them as her stereo, and they can even handle a party!

I my self have the Logitech Z2300, which are within your pricerange, but I think they would be overkill, and you would hate yourself, when you are woken from your sleep by the thunderous bass.

christopher3393 · Post by **christopher3393** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:45 pm

Cambridge Soundworks Microworks II : http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/stor ... m=c1mic2tc
Just within your budget and great clarity. I directly compared them to similarly priced Klipsch and found the Microworks system to have less powerful bass but much better nuance and differentiation. They're well made and will last for years. Check out their Clearance link, you might find some there--lower price, same warranty,but I know a lot of people who have purchased clearance items from them (including myself) and have never heard of problems.

nightmorph · Post by **nightmorph** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:50 pm

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:34 am

I recently bought a set of X-230s based on the glowing recommendations everywhere, and I was very disappointed - the bass is soft and much too heavy even with the subwoofer turned down to minimum, truly deep bass is absent, general detail is noticeably lacking, female vocals sound sort of "dirty" (and not in a good way)... not a particularly pleasant experience.

Also, the (captive) cables are stupidly short, making the speakers unusable in many setups.

I realise you can't expect miracles from speakers costing <Â£30, but I was hoping for more after reading all the favourable reviews. Probably OK for games, watching videos etc, but best avoided for music IMHO...

djkest · Post by **djkest** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:57 am

I've had some Klipsch Pro-Media 2.1s for nearly 5 years, and they have worked all this time. Very capable of high volumes, although it can get a little unpleasant at high levels. Speakers also have a headphone jack on the speaker w/ the volume control.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6836119008

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:00 pm

Thanks to all of you for the tips.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:09 am

Bah, PC speakers... they're all the same inside the price categories of value(which are crap), budget(which only suck) and premium(fancy, but nothing special). Creative, Cambridge and Logitech have worked the best so far, in that order. Logitech was the least convincing, although Cambridge sets aren't much in the way of looks.

If you've got 150 USD to spend, suggest a pair of proper speakers and a PC amp.

I got tired of the little plastic buckets and their thin sound and got a Sony amp and scavenged a pair of old stereo speakers. World of difference, can actually hear the dialogue in movies properly!

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:50 am

Das_Saunamies wrote:Bah, PC speakers... they're all the same inside the price categories of value(which are crap), budget(which only suck) and premium(fancy, but nothing special). Creative, Cambridge and Logitech have worked the best so far, in that order. Logitech was the least convincing, although Cambridge sets aren't much in the way of looks.

If you've got 150 USD to spend, suggest a pair of proper speakers and a PC amp.

I got tired of the little plastic buckets and their thin sound and got a Sony amp and scavenged a pair of old stereo speakers. World of difference, can actually hear the dialogue in movies properly!

I'd had a decent Marantz stereo reciever..yardsale $10. Got a great upgrade to a NAD 302 low power but "accepted" by the snobby audiophile cult as legit if "entry level" for it's quality.....$35 yard sale!

I built a pair of speakers..scavanged JBL crossovers, 4" sheilded Tang Band woofs,Dayton Titanium dome sheilded tweets...parts from Parts Express, about 10" x 6" and about $50 for the drivers. The result was Near Field monitors accurate and detailed enough for DAW purposes.
I have a pair of 3 way Bogens with JBL tweets,10" woofers I can switch in too---but I usually don't bother. Rather surprised the small bass reflex boxed 4" Tang Bands give enough bass-as my livingroom sub tower has a 12",2 10" and an 8".

If I intended these small monitors to be used alone as general listening I'd have gone with 6" woofs. I wanted in close and maximum detail,figured the Bogens would add more bass,as well as a wider soundfield. I tend to "listen for pleasure" to the bigger rig in the living room,so these serve very well for their main role as mini-monitors when I'm doing stuff in soundforge or Wavelab or prepping a downloaded bit torrent live concert for CD or DVD burn.

For many folks....whatever decent used stereo amp or reciever you score cheap will be WAY better than the little units in those plastic "computer speakers". Likewise...any good quality stereo speakers from a reputable brand like JBL,Advent,Boston,Polk,should be an upgrade. GOOD 2 way car speakers in a simple bass reflex box would top the typical puter speaker.

SHEILDED speakers are important if within 2-3 ft of a CRT monitor or HDD's. Not sure if it matters with an LCD screen.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:04 pm

My speakers are unshielded(very, very old), no ill effects with my TFT.

I had considered building some speakers out of a pair of leftover 2-way car speakers, but luckily I found these from my grandma's attic.

And if at this point someone's thinking "it's just their daughter, she might not need much for iTunes etc." then think again: everyone else in the house will have to listen to the same set of speakers. Better quality serves everyone, and will last longer. Never heard of proper stereo speakers blowing out unless grossly mismatched with source.

mexell · Post by **mexell** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:16 am

I can only renommend Teufel, which is a small german producer who only does direct marketing. For example, for 119â‚¬ you'll get a fully shielded 2.1 system with 2-way satellite, remote control, additional USB in which sounds just stunning for a system of that size. It would be worth checking whether they ship to your location...
Link

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:36 pm

Klipsch 2.1 100%

they have better midrange and therefore clearer vocals than the logitechs. some dont notice that though. Also, they look respectable and have a solid weight to them.

skeeder · Post by **skeeder** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:08 pm

In my experience Simple Logitech's did the tricks. I beat you don't care about any of clarity since they aren't for you. From what I gather, the young generation often doesn't know what music is.

awolfe63 · Post by **awolfe63** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:25 am

djkest wrote:I've had some Klipsch Pro-Media 2.1s for nearly 5 years, and they have worked all this time. Very capable of high volumes, although it can get a little unpleasant at high levels. Speakers also have a headphone jack on the speaker w/ the volume control.

I use these as well. They are very good and not too expensive.