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iMac 21.5" Speaker Quality

A

AshGSmith

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
31
0
Burntwood, UK.
Another thread from me! Just wondering what the speaker quality is on the new iMac's? I know they're never going to rival independent speakers, but I've been really impressed with the speaker quality on my new 13" MBP and wondered whether the iMac was just as impressive?

I don't really play my music excessively loud, I just like to have a nice crisp, clear sound.

Thanks in advance :)
 
They're not good but not that bad either. Certainly better than a MacBook.
 
I"m finding the speakers are more than adequate but I've got 15 yr old Bose speakers I'm considering as they're just gathering duest and the sound on them still beats the hell out of most computer speaker setups (for plain jane stereo that is).
 
Badger^2 said:
$600 US on speakers? For you computer?

Can you even play music that loud in your flat without the neighbors complaining and pounding on the wall?

Sounds like a colossal waste of money?

These will put out more sound than you can imagine: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-2-1-overview/
Click to expand...

Yeah I've seen those before but can't seem to find a UK stockist of them. And the Focal's do have the inbuilt dock for my iPhone, which would be handy. Most of all though, I like to have a very good sound setup, and I haven't been impressed with the Bose speakers Apple offer.
 
iMac internal speakers is just the same quality as TV speakers. Are you okay with TV speakers? You can live with that without having to add external audio system? If you can, well then the internal speaker would be just fine for you.

Certainly better than Macbooks´ speakers. But if you feel the need of external, get yourself $150-$200 speakers, take Harman Kardon Soundstick, it´s excellent (for computer speaker)

Or if you by change put the iMac near your home audio/hi-fi (like me), you just need some cabling (preferably optical connection) to get the most of your iMac

That should be the best way of improve sound experience on your iMac. Buying speaker computer for more than $500 would be a waste. I´d better get stereo-amp and a pair of decent monitor such as Mordaunt Short for that money.

It would sound thousand times better, and they look nice too, truly ear and eye candy :p
 
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I use logitech 2.1 $30 speakers on my TV. I use another set for my computer. They sound great. No need to spend spend >$100 on speakers, especially if they're only 2.1.
 
You know you don't have to use the speakers that Apple offer on their site eh. Just because they are on the store doesn't mean they are better, any speakers will work on an iMac via a 3.5mm jack or the toslink optical jack.

Not hating, but everything, including accessories not made by Apple are pretty much over-priced on the Apple Store.

The iMac speakers are better than most/all built in speakers, but do not compare to an external system. They are much better than MacBook Pro's, especially the 13".

Logitech make semi good speakers for the money, and there is a large variety of them to choose from if you were looking that way. For the price of the Focal's, you could get decent optical surround + some money: http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/speakers-audio/home-pc-speakers/devices/speaker-system-Z906
 
Badger^2 said:
$600 US on speakers? For you computer?

Can you even play music that loud in your flat without the neighbors complaining and pounding on the wall?

Sounds like a colossal waste of money?
Click to expand...
Uhh. These speakers cost $600 because they produce great sound quality (hopefully, if not then don't buy them), not because they are loud.
 
Ilari said:
Uhh. These speakers cost $600 because they produce great sound quality (hopefully, if not then don't buy them), not because they are loud.
Click to expand...

Indeed. It's like when people think this monitor is better than that monitor because it's "brighter". :rolleyes:

Badger^2 said:
$600 US on speakers? For you computer?

Can you even play music that loud in your flat without the neighbors complaining and pounding on the wall?

Sounds like a colossal waste of money?

These will put out more sound than you can imagine: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-2-1-overview/
Click to expand...

Audiophile - Wikipedia
 
Not sure if the iMac can even put out sound quality to make your $600 speakers sing.
Essentially, Apple uses onboard audio.
On the PC side, if you were to use a discrete sound card (eg. Asus Xonar,) you could notice the difference, methinks.

I use Logitech Z-2300s and Z-5500s on my Macs. They are very good speakers for the price (got the 2300s for $150 a few years back, 5500s for about $350.) Not sure if the extra $250 will give you an extra 40-50% extra audio quality, but your ears may be better than mine. Mind you, you think that the 13" MBP's built in speakers sound good...

Do the smart thing. Get the Logitech's, or get some other ones that are recommended by others for about $200-ish. The extra money you save, buy yourself an iPhone dock.

Keep in mind, all the modern Intel Macs do digital/analog audio in/out over their 3.5mm ports. So maybe the 5500s are the way to go for you. They have digital input (TOSLink to miniTOSLink cable or adapter will do,) so there's no signal loss/distortion to the system.
 
tsugaru said:
Not sure if the iMac can even put out sound quality to make your $600 speakers sing.
Essentially, Apple uses onboard audio.
On the PC side, if you were to use a discrete sound card (eg. Asus Xonar,) you could notice the difference, methinks.

I use Logitech Z-2300s and Z-5500s on my Macs. They are very good speakers for the price (got the 2300s for $150 a few years back, 5500s for about $350.) Not sure if the extra $250 will give you an extra 40-50% extra audio quality, but your ears may be better than mine. Mind you, you think that the 13" MBP's built in speakers sound good...

Do the smart thing. Get the Logitech's, or get some other ones that are recommended by others for about $200-ish. The extra money you save, buy yourself an iPhone dock.

Keep in mind, all the modern Intel Macs do digital/analog audio in/out over their 3.5mm ports. So maybe the 5500s are the way to go for you. They have digital input (TOSLink to miniTOSLink cable or adapter will do,) so there's no signal loss/distortion to the system.
Click to expand...

I found the Harman Kardon Soundsticks III for $129 $40 cheaper than manufacturer over at B&H Photo
 
Icy1007 said:
They don't produce better sound quality thats worth $570 more than a set of Logitechs...
Click to expand...
Clearly they're not the right speakers for you then. Many people can hear the difference and are willing to pay that much for the sound quality.
 
tsugaru said:
Not sure if the iMac can even put out sound quality to make your $600 speakers sing.
Essentially, Apple uses onboard audio.
On the PC side, if you were to use a discrete sound card (eg. Asus Xonar,) you could notice the difference, methinks.
Click to expand...
Those speakers connect to the iMac via USB and they also feature a DAC. That means that the iMac's analog output quality doesn't matter.
 
Ilari said:
Those speakers connect to the iMac via USB and they also feature a DAC. That means that the iMac's analog output quality doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

Assuming that he uses the USB port. There is still an analog audio port for it.

Again though, after seeing him say that the speaker quality on the 13" MBP was impressive to him, I couldn't take his claim seriously re: audio quality. The iMac has terrible speakers, and the MBPs are even worse. Given, they aren't really there for the quality, but more for the function.
 
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