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iWoz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 12, 2009
686
0
East Midlands, U.K
Well I bought my first iMac last Sunday, Only to find the built in speakers were amazing. I have a pair of Logitech speakers that I used with my macbook pro previously, But the sound quality coming out the iMac is just as good.

:D
 
Well depends on what you want really. If you think it's good enough for you, then so be it. I have tried the speakers on the 27" at the Apple Store, and even with all the noise in the background, the speakers sure do sound good. But if you have better speakers, why not?
 
Typically speaking the speakers you have will be just fine. Many use their iMacs for music and movies. That's when you may consider external speakers. For casual listening and such I find the iMac's speakers to be real decent.
 
the updated speakers have most definetely had a very big increase in sound quality and overall volume, but for me they just dont cut it. i ma bit picky with sound i guess
 
I think I'll be buying some external speakers too.
On my macbook, the speakers are very low at volume, but indeed the new 27" speakers seem to be much louder.

When I recieve my iMac, i guess i'm going to check out the sound first. Almost all the time I'm working on my mac I have music on the background, and I love to turn it loud. Since I ruined my current speakers (yeah.. metal fan) I guess It may be safer to just buy some externals, just because i don't want to ruin the internal ones ;)
 
I think I'll be buying some external speakers too.
On my macbook, the speakers are very low at volume, but indeed the new 27" speakers seem to be much louder.

When I recieve my iMac, i guess i'm going to check out the sound first. Almost all the time I'm working on my mac I have music on the background, and I love to turn it loud. Since I ruined my current speakers (yeah.. metal fan) I guess It may be safer to just buy some externals, just because i don't want to ruin the internal ones ;)

same boat as you. love loud music (kinda a metal fan myself, but your dutch so i think you win ;)). i have my logitech x530s at the moment but they are a little under powered for me. i will be upgrading to some logitech 5500s soon :D

the imac speakers are pretty loud and great! but they dont have the bass response and stuff.
 
And THAT's exactly where you convinced me to look for external speakers ;)
Maybe I'm going for a nice logitec set too! :D
my vote is for the x530s, nice bass and they really accentuate the drums (if your into metal, your into drums lol).

The new iMac's speakers are actually VERY good. Much better than before.
oh yes most definetely! i watched the last LOTR on a friends 21.5" and the sound was pretty amazing!
 
Is there a way to enable internal and external speakers? The built-in speakers are nice, but drivers that small can never produce the good bass you can feel with a proper powered sub on the floor.
 
Is there a way to enable internal and external speakers? The built-in speakers are nice, but drivers that small can never produce the good bass you can feel with a proper powered sub on the floor.

you want both internal and external playing at the same time? i recall an application that could do that. i dont think that OSX itself can do it though, if it could do it, the settings would be in System Prefs->sound.

*checks*
 
I like to get my desk neat. That's why I prefer not to have external speakers and I am thinking about buying the Airport Express, to plug it on my hifi system.
 
Is there a way to enable internal and external speakers? The built-in speakers are nice, but drivers that small can never produce the good bass you can feel with a proper powered sub on the floor.

Yeah, i'm also wondering the same thing
 
you want both internal and external playing at the same time? i recall an application that could do that. i dont think that OSX itself can do it though, if it could do it, the settings would be in System Prefs->sound.

*checks*

From what Ive read, the only way to accomplish this is to get a set of USB speakers. Then there is a way to trick OS X into playing both outputs. I would also like to be able to do this. But I bought a pair of Bose companion IIs for my iMac, so I dont think its an option.

By the way, Im not a Bose fanboy by any means. But for a pair of computer speakers, these Bose sound excellent. Very surprised at the low end response without a sub. FWIW.

DoF, I was considering the 550s too but my wife said hell no! I showed her how big the sub was and she flipped. I have 2 SVS subs powering my HT and those are GIANT, she said no more subs!
 
I'm very pleasantly suprised at how good the internal speakers are on the 27" iMac. However, I already have a set of awesome full-range M&K speakers & a separate stereo amp in my office, so I figure I might as well use those so I can crank up the music when I play my electric guitar along to iTunes songs.
 
At first, I wanted to get myself the Swan M10. But I just went to the store, and tested the speakers. Seems real good to me! Sounds better then my laptop connected to my Sony Radio :). I will certainly use the internal speakers, and my Seenheiser wireless headset for "3D" games, where sound position is important.
 
If you are fine, that's all that matters... by no means are they going to be as good as some of the others here, but as long as you are satisfied - that's all that matters. With that being said, for internal speakers, they are quite good.
 
I have the Harmon Kardon sidesticks II i think. There are great and well worth it for my 24" iMac. I am waiting for the 27" to get to me, I keep hearing that the speakers are great built in but I imagine that I will continue with the HKs so that I am the same as before. Too much change scares me!
 
It sounds like the 27" speakers are quite a bit better than the speakers in the 24" iMac. I am about as impressed with the speakers in my 24" as I am with the speakers in my MBP. I have a pair of Creative Gigaworks T20's on a shelf above my desk and am very happy with them.
 
i got me self a sennheiser headphone for $220.
Very nice :)

Which ones? Just curious, because when I went to get myself a pair, I tried everyone I could find (didn't even care about price) and ended up liking the HD280 Pros the best. In fact I like then better than others costing more.

Regards,

G.
 
the updated speakers have most definetely had a very big increase in sound quality and overall volume, but for me they just dont cut it. i ma bit picky with sound i guess

Since your picky (me too) I am curious what your using?

I also wonder...seems people really like the Logitech and even heard Swan mentioned a few times. I don't have any of the above, but are they that good? I am currently using a Yamaha 2.1 setup...pair of HS50 with HS10W run through an Apogee Duet.

I know speakers are really really personal preference, and I sometimes wonder if some of the other things people are using might suit my taste better.

Regards,

G.
 
Since your picky (me too) I am curious what your using?

I also wonder...seems people really like the Logitech and even heard Swan mentioned a few times. I don't have any of the above, but are they that good? I am currently using a Yamaha 2.1 setup...pair of HS50 with HS10W run through an Apogee Duet.

I know speakers are really really personal preference, and I sometimes wonder if some of the other things people are using might suit my taste better.

Regards,

G.

I would never recommend that set-up for solely enjoying music. The HS50 and their big brother the HS80 are both great and incredibly flat, but for solely listening that's def. overkill and probably not the best of solutions, especially at the price.
 
I would never recommend that set-up for solely enjoying music. The HS50 and their big brother the HS80 are both great and incredibly flat, but for solely listening that's def. overkill and probably not the best of solutions, especially at the price.

Yea that is a good point. Certainly a different target audience with flat studio monitors. And I should clarify, I use them for some audio/video editing and mixing...hence the "flat" selection. But unfortunately the same machine sometimes gets relegated to music "listening" duties...and your right, for that, not the best setup.

Regards,

G.
 
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