so far, for some reason, my top pick is the cambridge 215 for $320. my hesitation are two fold: the two speakers are not originally made for computer use (no big deal), and if you backed out the prices, the subwoofer is much less expensive if you were to purchase their 213 system (which in my opinion, is likely going to have inferior midrange sound, just a guess, since i've never seen them). you can back out the price of the subwoofer by finding out how much each pair of the speakers cost separately.
215 is $320, but the 2 speakers without sub are $184, so that leaves around $135 for the sub.
213 is $400, and the 2 speakers without sub are $320, so that leaves around $80 for the SAME sub.
the dual midrange of the 213 are likely ineffective and superfluous for computer/close range use. that configuration is called the D'Appolito configuration, most often used for wider dispersion purposes. the extra cost of the 213 is due partially to the extra cost of the driver, extra cost of assembly, and their ability to "mark it up" because of the dual midrange (customers will tolerate a higher price just because they see 2 midrange drivers). the extra cost has little to do with practical pluses or minuses. Having said that, the 215's should really be around $265 because the sub (same sub for both) is only priced at $80 when purchased w/the 213. Unfortunately, the sub is NOT available for purchase separately. Really odd marketing by this company, most likely because they are no longer owned by an individual (formerly Henry Kloss), but now, owned by a much larger company: Creative. It's likely that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and they are having these "conflicting pricing" situations.
then again, having said all that, the difference between $265 and $320 isn't the end of the world either. $320 is still within range for what this combo is worth. having not listened to it yet, it's hard for me to opine. i'm tempted to try it out. i've always thought of that company's products to be medicocre but value oriented and decent. in this case, you can't really choose regular speakers as you need a sub with three power amps in it (for the sub, for the left and right speakers), connections that go from the sound card (via mini plug) to the sub, then connections to go from the sub to the speakers. so that really entails a specially designed sub for this very purpose. that leaves out almost all of the standard, fancier, higher fidelity speakers.
any comments, gents?
