Looking suggestion for a nice set of High quality PC Speakers

JeffSpicoli · May 2018

Its been a long time since i i shopped for pc speakers , Im currently using Bose bookshelf speakers from about 7 or 8 years ago, i think? They cost at the time about 140 bucks...... Anyway what im looking for is sound clarity. I DO NOT want one of those kits with the Subwoofer thats going to giving booming bass when explosions in games happen. My main foucs would be something thats crystal clear and provides a good amount of depth and bass without the booming subwoofer. My price range world be 120-300 bucks? But if you have something really outstanding i might be open to spending more.

Ridelynn · May 2018

Look at M-Audio bookshelf monitors. They have various models at different price points - I’ve found even their lowest tier bests most traditional “computer” speakers

Cleffy · May 2018

I suggest not shopping for "PC Speakers" and instead shop for active/powered bookshelf speakers from a reputable home audio brand. Right now I am using Klipsch R-15PM that I bought on sale for $300. They are nice, but come with some drawbacks.
I suggest going for something with a USB interface since it reduces most noise that's encountered with analog.

Ridelynn · May 2018

I used a NAD receiver for a long time - sound was great, and you could pair it with whatever speakers you though sounded best (I have a set of Boston 5" bookshelves). The only drawback was how much room the receiver took up on my desk.

I replaced the receiver with a small class D 25W amp (Topping T21) - sounds just as good at low-moderate volumes that I play my computer at. I lose all the fancy input switching and surround processing, and I don't have a full 65W to throw at each speaker anymore, but I wasn't using any of that anyway.

My wife has a set of M-Audio 4" monitors (think it's the AV42, 20W) - sounds almost as good as my Boston setup, it's two wires to hook up (audio to computer, and power), and cost about half as much.

Receiver is the most flexible option - can do anything you want, and (arguably) the best audio quality. It's also going to be the most involved to set up, and can cost more money, as you have a few pieces and parts you need to buy to make the system work - what you need to listen to sound on your computer is not always in one box (and if it is, it's usually cheap junk to be avoided). You can certainly make it fit inside the budget, but I don't know that with this budget you'd be doing yourself any favors.

Discrete Amp + Speakers almost as flexible as a reciever. Fits more comfortably in your budget, and works very well with discrete DACs (some amps have them built in). Not quite as involved to set up as a full receiver, but a bit more than just plug-and-play. If you already have a set of speakers you like, I'd recommend this route.

Monitors are like... professional grade computer speakers. I like M-Audio as I find them to be good quality and value, but they aren't the only good brand out there (Mackie is another good name, Klipsch and Yamaha both have good sets, there are a lot more). They start inside your budget, and go all the way up to professional-grade budgets.

The old "bang for the buck" award was a Topping T21 (about $70) with a pair of older model Dayton B652's (about $65/pair, although I've heard around 2012 or so they changed the way they are made and aren't the same speaker any more), or more recently something like the Micca MB42 for speakers, not sure what they are pushing for amps right now.

Tiller · May 2018

As far as PC specific speakers Harmon Kardon Soundstick III are good and have a decent sub and great sound, even though they look kind of futuristic. Audio Engine are ok if you pair them with the sub. Also Logitech (which I'm not a huge fan of) just put out a of RGB speakers, the G560s, that I guess sound pretty amazing for a pair of PC speakers and include a sub.

If you are an audiophile I would look into a decent pair of monitor speakers like KRK ROKIT. Or like @Ridelynn said M-Audio, also Makie is cheap solution.

Quizzical · May 2018

Tiller said:

As far as PC specific speakers Harmon Kardon Soundstick III are good and have a decent sub and great sound, even though they look kind of futuristic. Audio Engine are ok if you pair them with the sub. Also Logitech (which I'm not a huge fan of) just put out a of RGB speakers, the G560s, that I guess sound pretty amazing for a pair of PC speakers and include a sub.

If you are an audiophile I would look into a decent pair of monitor speakers like KRK ROKIT. Or like @Ridelynn said M-Audio, also Makie is cheap solution.

Because nothing says "designed primarily with quality sound in mind" like RGB lighting.

Tiller · May 2018

Quizzical said:

Tiller said:

As far as PC specific speakers Harmon Kardon Soundstick III are good and have a decent sub and great sound, even though they look kind of futuristic. Audio Engine are ok if you pair them with the sub. Also Logitech (which I'm not a huge fan of) just put out a of RGB speakers, the G560s, that I guess sound pretty amazing for a pair of PC speakers and include a sub.

If you are an audiophile I would look into a decent pair of monitor speakers like KRK ROKIT. Or like @Ridelynn said M-Audio, also Makie is cheap solution.

Because nothing says "designed primarily with quality sound in mind" like RGB lighting.

Yeah, but they actually sound pretty good for what they are. Just shut off the RGB

Start at 3:00

3:56

Asm0deus · May 2018

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Plugged my PC in a home cinema receiver with 5.1 Jamo speakers. Never looked back. There's no comparison when it comes to immersion.
And a good subwoofer (as in a "home cinema" one) can be set to not make your windows blow at each explosion

This is my solution for pc speaker as well, the 5.1 home cinema part... got different speakers.

Tamanous · May 2018

Considering I am cheap, I bought a Logitech Z-5300 5.1 THX speaker set for my pc (several builds ago) way back at the start of the Windows XP era for $120(Canadian) in store. I still use my old Creative Audio sound card too only because they finally came out with a 64 bit driver version for Win10. I always test the onboard (now 7.1) sound chip, cringe at how poor it sounds by comparison, and go back to my old setup.

They still blow me away when used in smaller rooms. I can't even turn the sub up much or shake the entire house and piss off the neighbors.

I still to this day consider it one of my best purchases considering bang for buck. I do however want to buy a really good audiophile/gamer headset someday that I won't go cheap on.

Cleffy · May 2018

I never really liked the Harmon Kardon Sound Sticks II. The setup was not to my liking. I prefer to run my own cables since I can get rid of a ton of noise. The Sound Sticks come with long thin shielded cables directly attached to the speakers. You still pickup a bit of noise compared to using a shielded coaxial cable. The volume control is also a bit annoying. They tried to reinvent the wheel when it wasn't needed. The sticks themselves are tweeters, so you don't have the same range.

FlyByKnight · May 2018

Ridelynn said:

Look at M-Audio bookshelf monitors. They have various models at different price points - I’ve found even their lowest tier bests most traditional “computer” speakers

This. "PC Speakers" aren't a thing. Just get good speakers. If they're good enough for music and film professionals they're good enough for you.

Phry · May 2018

Its nice to have decent speakers, but unless you are also going to splash out on a decent sound card too then your likely not going to get the best use out of them, otherwise there is probably no real point to getting high end speakers if your just going to use the rather generic sound capabilities that comes with Mobo's these days

Phry · May 2018

t0nyd said:

Phry said:

Its nice to have decent speakers, but unless you are also going to splash out on a decent sound card too then your likely not going to get the best use out of them, otherwise there is probably no real point to getting high end speakers if your just going to use the rather generic sound capabilities that comes with Mobo's these days

Most sound cards offer little more than onboard sound. You basically remove your audio from onboard circuit noise and tbh there isnt much of it on good mobos. You are also stuck with the poorly shielded from IO connector unless you connect to the back of the pc or if your card comes with a dong.

To be honest I wouldn't touch a soundcard, waste of money. If you are using generic powered pc speakers onboard is fine. If you go balanced than something like a Scarlett 2i2 works well. For nice power hungry headphones there are a lot of external dacs out there.

True there are any number of 'cheap' sound cards out there, but the point i was trying to make was that why would you spend a small fortune on decent speakers and not have the hardware in your PC to make use of them, if i was going to spend a fair amount on speakers i would at least get a decent Soundblaster installed to support them.

JeffSpicoli · May 2018

Phry said:

Its nice to have decent speakers, but unless you are also going to splash out on a decent sound card too then your likely not going to get the best use out of them, otherwise there is probably no real point to getting high end speakers if your just going to use the rather generic sound capabilities that comes with Mobo's these days

I never even knew sound cards were still a thing interesting

wanderica · May 2018

I went through this a few months back. I had the old Logitech z-5500, and I thought they were fantastic. They have a small desktop receiver with multiple inputs, Dolby Digital decoding, and 5.1. I was pretty wrong about sound quality. Here's what I discovered.

For pure PC sound quality, nothing is going to beat a set of bookshelf studio monitors and a DAC. I ended up going with a set of Massdrop JBL Professional LSR30Xs. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-jbl-lsr30x-powered-speakers They are simply a rebranded set of LSR305s with a glossy finish for $199. I also got a Schiit Modi (DAC) and Magni (headphone amp). A soundcard isn't really necessary these days. but you will need a Digital-Analog Converter that connects via USB. If you go the studio monitor route, be sure to look for one that isn't also powered by USB as you will likely get buzzing from the monitors.

If you're looking for real 5.1, like Dolby Atmos, ProLogic, or DTS, then you'll need a receiver. The best sound is going to come from a quality receiver with quality speaker pairings, but this usually equals $$$$.

If aesthetics are the most important to you, then you can find acceptable sound from more PC oriented products like the Logitech speakers listed earlier or my old z5500. In the end, I don't miss the extra 4 speakers at all. The frequency response on these little monitors even means a subwoofer isn't necessary. I was blown away by the difference. GL to you. Listen before you buy if you can. All that really matters is that YOU like the way they sound.

Tiller · May 2018

thunderC said:

Phry said:

Its nice to have decent speakers, but unless you are also going to splash out on a decent sound card too then your likely not going to get the best use out of them, otherwise there is probably no real point to getting high end speakers if your just going to use the rather generic sound capabilities that comes with Mobo's these days

I never even knew sound cards were still a thing interesting

They are, in fact people are still buying old Creative Sound Blaster Audigy cards on ebay. There are windows 10 drivers for them, and they still sound better then some onboard cards to this day.

A lot of folks who use studio monitors also use AI such as Focusrite Scarlett, which allows you to hook mics, other sound equipment into.

Ridelynn · May 2018

Don’t usb dacs bypass sound cards?

Octagon7711 · May 2018

I ended up getting a soundbar with bluetooth subwoofer which has worked out well. Easy to setup and forget. Not bad for a system that doesn't cost a lot.
https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-SB2821-D6-28-Inch-Channel-Sound/dp/B01KI8XHTE/ref=sr_1_4?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1526329017&sr=1-4&keywords=sound+bar+with+subwoofers

Samiul · May 2018

I know that the built-in speakers of Laptop or monitor are rarely worthy of praise. Sometimes we want to make a big party in our home and for that, we need a quality speaker which will rock the party. That’s why we need a quality speaker system. I think these are some speakers which will fulfill your mind-

1.Aperion Allaire

2.Audioengine A2+

3.Logitech Z623

4.Yamaha HS8

5.Edifier E25 Luna Eclipse

Source:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-computer-speakers/

https://www.techradar.com/news/best-computer-speakers

https://technogearlab.com

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Looking suggestion for a nice set of High quality PC Speakers

Aloha Mr Hand !

Comments

Aloha Mr Hand !

"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey