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What speakers to buy?
- Thread starter jive
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znih said:
In my experience, a 5.1 setup in a small room is too much, add on the fact that you don't watch movies or do any serious gaming, a 2.1 looks more like what you need. Since a 2.1 will suit your needs, then analog will be what you are looking for. There is no need to go optical unless you want a 5.1 setup with surround sound.
btw, its harmon/kardon soundsticks and klipsch promedia 2.1
My vote is for the klipsch, it's my current setup and it's powerful.
®îçhå®? said:
The headphone jack has both stereo analog output and optical output. The optical output will give you the surround sound you are looking for.
I'd recommend staying away from the Soundsticks. They are overpriced and not very powerful. If you crank them up, they start to distort at high levels. That's not good. Add to that bass that's being forced rather than sounding natural and you have an expensive, yet average, computer speaker system.
If you're in a dorm though, they might be fine, as the treble that comes out of the towers is great.
I would say for roughly the same price, go with the ProMedia 2.1's. They are super powerful, massively loud, and gorgeous bass. The treble on these is sparkling and the mids are, for the most part, right where they need to be.
If you're in a dorm though, they might be fine, as the treble that comes out of the towers is great.
I would say for roughly the same price, go with the ProMedia 2.1's. They are super powerful, massively loud, and gorgeous bass. The treble on these is sparkling and the mids are, for the most part, right where they need to be.
imo, the best speakers soundwise for a 2.1 set are clearly the cambridge soundworks. they are much cheaper than the Klipsch, and sound better.
they are not very imaginatively styled however, but the sound quality is stunning.
http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=mul_speakers&item=c1swzzzzz
they also have an outlet store online which will give open boxed items for even less. enjoy.
they are not very imaginatively styled however, but the sound quality is stunning.
http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/store/category.cgi?category=mul_speakers&item=c1swzzzzz
they also have an outlet store online which will give open boxed items for even less. enjoy.
thumb said:
Anandtech's comparison review of the 5.1 versions of both sets is here:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=1060&p=3
Very close review, Klipsch edges out the SoundWorks in overall power and sound quality, but the SoundWorks is better equipped.
I bought some JBL Creative 2 speakers, Silver in color and they rock. You can get a nice white set and have it match(like My ACD, Mac Mini and JBL creative 2)
gloss said:
reviews of both look good. i have never looked at either's 5.1 setup. at 2.1, i just dont think you can been cambridge's $50-70 price range.
but i have no strong loyalities to either, and any mac user is likely to put a premium on style for something, so getting the right "look" might be important as well.
cheers
zap2 said:
I've just bought some white Creative II speakers. Unfortunately, I let my superficial side dominate me and bought them mainly because they'll fit in nicely with my white Macbook (although not my ugly 'midnight grey' 24" monitor
). Hopefully the sound quality is up to it to
thumb said:
Very true. I'm a bit of a Klipsch whore, probably, so I'm biased.
Also, I got my THX Promedia 2.1s for $60. ^.^
They're spectacular speakers, though. After about 8 hours of break-in, they have pretty unbeatable high-end (dedicated horn tweeters) and the bass, while not as huge as some of the big Logitech systems, is far tighter. Very clean.
I haven't personally listened to the SoundWorks, so I can't comment, but they do seem very, very well reviewed. Especially for that price.
gloss said:
Well I purchased the Klipsch THX Promedia 2.1s, but for much more than $60.00, don't know where you found them that cheap.
So far I am very impressed. The subwoofer is very solid, nice deep rich sound. And the other speakers are very clear.
Only concerns I have with these speakers is that there isn't a way to control the treble / midrange output and the power switch on the subwoofer.
Thanks for the recommendations that everyone made. It makes it much easier to make a purchase when there is some good feedback from previous buyers.
Reply
I prefer the Bose Companion ll. I was looking for speakers and was stuck between the Bose and the Creatures. I went to CompUSA and listened to them both for a few minutes and decided the Bose had much better quality. They have amazing quality, like you wouldn't believe. I can crank them up very loud for being semi small speakers. I got them for $99 in store but I'm sure you can get them cheaper online.
Kevin
I prefer the Bose Companion ll. I was looking for speakers and was stuck between the Bose and the Creatures. I went to CompUSA and listened to them both for a few minutes and decided the Bose had much better quality. They have amazing quality, like you wouldn't believe. I can crank them up very loud for being semi small speakers. I got them for $99 in store but I'm sure you can get them cheaper online.
Kevin
The problem with all these computer speakers is that they are computer speakers and nothing more. They were designed to work with PCs and play 128 k music downloaded from iTunes, maybe a few games and the odd MSN sound, nothing more...
If you really want to get decent sound, use studio monitors with your Mac like I do. I use Samson Resolv50a speakers, but they have just bought out the 40a which is even smaller (the 50a is pretty small anyway).
By having a seperate sub/sat speaker, you end up with a huge frequency gap between the two speakers. I don't like 2.1 systems one bit. Stereo should mean stereo, not "the treble is stereo but the bass & lower midrange isn't because it's undirectional and you can't hear where it's coming from". That's WRONG and you will ALWAYS be able to hear where the subwoofer is. Put it in the corner, it will sound like it's coming from the corner (as well as make enough bass to wake people from a coma), put the sub to the other side of you and that's where you'll hear the sound come from....
no no no, 2 speakers has worked fine for the past 50 years, no need to change it now. Someone else mentioned a pair of M-Audio studio monitors, which are even better than the Samsons. Any decent studio monitor will do, just PLEASE don't be one of the MP3 fans who decides they don't really care that much about sound. 2.1 systems are too much of a compromise on sound quality...
If you really want to get decent sound, use studio monitors with your Mac like I do. I use Samson Resolv50a speakers, but they have just bought out the 40a which is even smaller (the 50a is pretty small anyway).
By having a seperate sub/sat speaker, you end up with a huge frequency gap between the two speakers. I don't like 2.1 systems one bit. Stereo should mean stereo, not "the treble is stereo but the bass & lower midrange isn't because it's undirectional and you can't hear where it's coming from". That's WRONG and you will ALWAYS be able to hear where the subwoofer is. Put it in the corner, it will sound like it's coming from the corner (as well as make enough bass to wake people from a coma), put the sub to the other side of you and that's where you'll hear the sound come from....
no no no, 2 speakers has worked fine for the past 50 years, no need to change it now. Someone else mentioned a pair of M-Audio studio monitors, which are even better than the Samsons. Any decent studio monitor will do, just PLEASE don't be one of the MP3 fans who decides they don't really care that much about sound. 2.1 systems are too much of a compromise on sound quality...
znih said:
I worked at a computer store and we had a returned set yellow-tagged, so my manager gave me half off the already reduced price. Lucky, I know.
I hope you enjoy them. They'll sound a little warmer once they break in - the tweeter can be harsh to start out with. Midrange/treble has never once been an issue, very balanced. I've found that if you put the sub just a hair under the recommended level it sounds best.
Killyp said:
It's not nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. Especially the frequency gap. And keep in mind they're THX Certified.
This is coming from someone who has Klipsch Forte IIs, Klipschorns, and Magnepans.
My favorite multimedia speakers are the JBL Invader Speakers.
I bought them off like an eBay store for $80 like two years ago. It comes with 4 speakers and a subwoofer and seriously the sound quality is incredible. They don't make them anymore, but if you find them somewhere on the internet I'd definitely get them.
They're also the same silver color as the powerbook/macbook pro/powermac...they're gorgeous.
good luck.
I bought them off like an eBay store for $80 like two years ago. It comes with 4 speakers and a subwoofer and seriously the sound quality is incredible. They don't make them anymore, but if you find them somewhere on the internet I'd definitely get them.
They're also the same silver color as the powerbook/macbook pro/powermac...they're gorgeous.
good luck.
Killyp said:
As the poster below you said and as the guy who posted the reco for the M-Audios, I would also have to say it's not as bad as you make it out to be in many cases but it is true as I said before that a lot of the .1 component of a 2.1 system just offers totally undefined 'boom' and that there IS a gap between the mediocre upper-bass offered by small satellites and the 'boom' of the subs. And cheap subs still can't do lower bass than many decent bookshelf-size speakers anyway.
The Cambridge Soundworks speakers are rather good if unobtrusiveness is key. The satellites are pretty small yet do a fairly good job of delivering clean sound, and the sub can be tweaked sufficiently not just to 'boom' but to offer a slightly increased mid-bass presence to compensate the relative anaemia of the satellites just so. But it can't ultimately compare to even compact studio monitors in terms of overall frequency response and a connected feel throughout the frequency range, not to mention accuracy.
As I said before, I highly recommend the M-Audio DX4's over cheaper sub'd systems unless you're after 'gaming boom'.
Well, my JBL Creatures II arrived today, and they're pretty impressive. For such tiny little speakers, they really impressed. So far I've only played 128kb/s MP3's on them, nor have I spent much time setting them up, so I haven't performed any expert testing of them yet.
What does strike you about them when you first get thim is the tiny size of the speakers. I was filled with dread when I first saw them, thinking that they'd be far too tinny. But I've been playing them in a pretty big room, and they fill it very well without even troubling the higher volume settings. The only think that does worry me is that there's nothing infront of the actual speaker itself - no guard - so you have to be careful around them. Also, if you're an absolute audiophile, they're probably not for you. They do make a compromise between size and fullness of the sound. But as I live in an overcrowded, old house with 7 other people where sound carries a lot, that doesn't concern me. I used to have a real separates hifi system, but everyone complained about how much vibration my speakers would give off, so this is the perfect compromise.
Oh, and they look really cool .
What does strike you about them when you first get thim is the tiny size of the speakers. I was filled with dread when I first saw them, thinking that they'd be far too tinny. But I've been playing them in a pretty big room, and they fill it very well without even troubling the higher volume settings. The only think that does worry me is that there's nothing infront of the actual speaker itself - no guard - so you have to be careful around them. Also, if you're an absolute audiophile, they're probably not for you. They do make a compromise between size and fullness of the sound. But as I live in an overcrowded, old house with 7 other people where sound carries a lot, that doesn't concern me. I used to have a real separates hifi system, but everyone complained about how much vibration my speakers would give off, so this is the perfect compromise.
Oh, and they look really cool
.
JBL encounter. I picked them up on ebay as refurbs straight for Harman for $33 bucks. They look cool and sound great.
http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=ENCOUNTER&cat=HMM&ser=HMM
http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=ENCOUNTER&cat=HMM&ser=HMM