Audiophiles: best powered speakers for computer under $300

[erikiksaz]

<< Files on a computer that aren't in a lossy compression (IE: MP3's, which sound like complete garbage on most audiophile systems, as you pointed out) are still as musically accurate as a CD - they should be as accurate as a CD in all respects since there's no loss associated with digital formats. For all practical purposes, files in a wav format should be identical to the musical files on an audio CD. >>



Another limitation...the sound card. You can forget about "audiophile" speakers if you don't have a true audiophile sound card. With that, chances are that the music will still sound like crap compared to a standalone cdp.

 

[RanDum72]

As for the sound card, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz would be the card to beat with music playback.

 

[jteef]

I dont think the sound card is an issue. $300 isn't going to buy you anything that is going to be significantly better than the sound card in frequency response consistency, extension, THD, etc. It will probably be significantly worse. The only card i've heard that I can say has hindered performance noticably through my headphones(mdr7506) is the sound blaster live value. There could have been other circumstances in effect during that test as it wasn't a controlled experiment.

If you want a better sound card, the M-Audio "audiophile 24/96" at $150 is one of the better cards for the money.

jt

 

[flood]

<< Personally, I think the Monsoon MM2000's are the best you're going to get south of three hundred bucks, from a "quality" perspective. .... >>



Very well said, I agree completely. I use some nice headphones, but have monsoon MM-1000's for general use. No cone based computer speaker can really match them when it comes to accuracy and clarity. my comparably priced headphones do however blow them away.

 

[Huma]

I haven't heard the newer monsoon stuff, but my brother has the monsoon mm-700s and I find them pretty weak. Clear and fairly detailed, but they sounded unbalanced. The bass was weak, and I'm not the type that loves exagerated bass. Not a very full sound is maybe the best I can describe it.

 

[Jinny]

I would DEFINATELY go for the Diamond Audio 4100s, they are hailed as audiophile quality computer speakers and go for about 180 on their website (the last time i checked).

 

[Fenix793]

Get yourself a nice receiver and whatever bookshelf speakers you can to go with it. Even cheap home theater speakers (like mine...Yamaha NS-A738 3 way speakers) sound much better than computer speakers. Of course the quality comes at a price. The cost of a good receiver and some speaers plus cables will probably be over your $300 limit but the beauty of doing it this way is when you're ready for new speakers you can just upgrade your speakers. Add a powered sub and you'll be in business. I love my setup since it handles normal PC audio and it decodes DD 5.1 and DTS tracks from dvds. Now that I've experienced this there's no going back.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I'll second the BA7800s for $250.