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Multimedia Computer Speakers?

VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Why are modern speakers, like modern keyboards, so poorly-designed?

Pathetic wattage, etc.

Best I could find for PC usage at Newegg is Creative T10 and T20, but boy, are they expensive.

Looking for something for a relative that may be starting to lose their hearing. Mostly watching streaming video on their PC.
 
This is not really new. Years ago, I decided to use an external stereo amp and decent quality audio speakers (not PC speakers!) A decent amp from Radio Shack and some speakers w/sub-woofer from Costco did the job, and have been very satisfactory.
 
steal grandma's old amp a la Requiem for a Dream, and get, say, these.

hell, even these sonys are decent. scored a pair for $30 at Best Buy one Black Friday (just walked in at 3pm, and there were still stacks of them). also got some Polks for $45 another year, but they kinda lacked any bass whatsoever, so i gave them to a friend who already had a sub.
 
Stop buying crap. Seriously, just stop it. Or if you insist on buying crap, which you seem to do, do us all a favour and stop complaining about it.

Seriously, you think the Creative T20 is expensive? That is cheap junk. It is like buying a $100 computer and complaining that it doesn't run the latest games at high quality.

If you don't want to buy decent new equipment, buy a used stereo receiver and a pair of decent bookshelf speakers. They will be bigger than the typical crap computer speakers, but at least they will sound ok. And the receiver should allow reasonable volume without distortion.
 
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OlyAR15 said:
Stop buying crap. Seriously, just stop it.
Seriously, you think the Creative T20 is expensive? That is cheap junk. It is like buying a $100 computer and complaining that it doesn't run the latest games at high quality.
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It's friggen $100. You call $100 speakers cheap junk?
I remember buying Altec Lansing and Labtec speakers for half of that at computer shows in the 90s. And one set a booth had on display was blasting music loud enough that you could hear it over the din of the crowd, and it wasn't distorted. Back then, speaker systems for computers had "audio horsepower". They weren't diminutive cost-reduced pieces of crap, like you find in big-box stores these days.

I want something with "real watts", that has clean sound. Gotta crank up my Commander Keen real nice and loud on my SoundBlaster 16ASP, LOL.

If you don't want to buy decent new equipment, buy a used stereo receiver and a pair of decent bookshelf speakers. They will be bigger than the typical crap computer speakers, but at least they will sound ok. And the receiver should allow reasonable volume without distortion.
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Space is an issue too, as well as price.

Edit: Something like this:
http://www.thrillingaudio.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ADVENT+AV-570
I bought the "370" (I think, it's been a while) models of these speakers for $20 a set at a computer show some time during the 90s. They sounded great. I used them in my car for a while.

That's basically my yardstick. 35W/chan, good solid clean sound, and costs $20.


Edit: Let me guess, your speakers are connected with Monster Cables, because anything cheaper is "cheap junk". Like my $1.50 HDMI cables that work just fine...
 
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OlyAR15 said:
Stop buying crap. Seriously, just stop it. Or if you insist on buying crap, which you seem to do, do us all a favour and stop complaining about it.

Seriously, you think the Creative T20 is expensive? That is cheap junk. It is like buying a $100 computer and complaining that it doesn't run the latest games at high quality.

If you don't want to buy decent new equipment, buy a used stereo receiver and a pair of decent bookshelf speakers. They will be bigger than the typical crap computer speakers, but at least they will sound ok. And the receiver should allow reasonable volume without distortion.
Click to expand...

Douche much?
 
VirtualLarry said:
Why are modern speakers, like modern keyboards, so poorly-designed?
Pathetic wattage, etc.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware wattage was proportional to the quality of design... In fact I would say the opposite; it's a cop out and a marketing gimmick to throw more power into a product rather than improve design and materials for audio clarity. Obviously small speakers don't need a high wattage to reach the required SPL at the distances they're designed to work.

I would argue we have the best "quality" computer speakers available ever. Ever.

VirtualLarry said:
Best I could find for PC usage at Newegg is Creative T10 and T20, but boy, are they expensive.
Click to expand...

These are nice. The original Creative T20s (which I have owned for many years) were some of the first speakers in a "new" generation of premium consumer level 2.0s. And they get painfully loud for anyone, even loosing their hearing, if they're within a few yards.

Before them the mainstream brands were throwing more speakers at you, or more watts, but they were poorly designed and sounded horrendous. Or they fully cheaped out; I can't be the only one who used those awful tiny non amplified computer speakers from the mid 90s.

Anyway at the same time the big PC brands were increasing price/quality of their speakers, the smaller pro audio companies were reducing the cost/size of their studio monitors. These are not poorly designed, nor are they crappy materials (plus peripherals can be awesome for many years). So we now have a good selection of well "designed" speakers starting ~$100.

You don't want quality or design though, you just want loud. That's fine, but I can't understand how supposed tech enthusiasts can bash modern speakers (and keyboards for that matter) when during the last few years we've had the best choice in history.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Why are modern speakers, like modern keyboards, so poorly-designed?
Click to expand...
They aren't. Integrated ones are small, and cheap, and external ones are just cheap. Computer speakers are very much about style and brand recognition.
VirtualLarry said:
I remember buying Altec Lansing and Labtec speakers for half of that at computer shows in the 90s. And one set a booth had on display was blasting music loud enough that you could hear it over the din of the crowd, and it wasn't distorted.
Click to expand...
Your hearing or memory is wrong. While not as bad as cheap PC speakers since, all of those were very distorted. They sounded better than $200 home surround systems, sure, but that wasn't much of a benchmark to beat even back then.

Back then, speaker systems for computers had "audio horsepower". They weren't diminutive cost-reduced pieces of crap, like you find in big-box stores these days.
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Not many Watts, though. If not lying about it, the RMS wattage rating is really a peak current rating for bass transients. You can reach pretty high listening levels with 1-2W RMS, typically. Today, it's even less, since drivers will tend to be much more sensitive (Watts is not an amount of sound output any more than it is light output).

Is there room for something like this?

http://www.parts-express.com/pyle-pca2-mini-stereo-power-amplifier--310-2000
http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-io435b-4-3-way-indoor-outdoor-speaker-pair-black--310-030
http://www.parts-express.com/wired-home-35mrm6-35mm-to-rca-stereo-audio-cable-6-ft--181-434

Decent mids need big woofers, or many drivers. The Creatives are likely good for what they are, but small, sleek, and stylish is a lot of that $100.

You might even do better, price-wise, checking out local thrift stores and pawn shops.
 
Can you give us a price VirtualLarry?

And, are you looking to get something all in one box, or are you willing to assemble pieces? Is low range important to this person, or just volume? Is this person willing to go the headphone route?
 
I've got a set of Logitech Z150 speakers on order (2.0) to replace the ailing ones in our kitchen. I spent a while trying to find a set that were physically small (to fit in the required space) but packing as much wattage as possible and not particularly expensive. Hopefully they're reasonable. If you like I'll let you know what they're like.
 
Scoobyd00 said:
Love my 2.1 Klipsch

For 150 its a great sounding set up. No way would I go back to the cheap crap.

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO
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Wow. Didn't know that they still made those. I had that same setup ten years ago. Quality was garbage. Sound was way too bright (and I like it bright) and the bass was always muddy no matter how low you turned the sub down. I prefer accurate and tight over loud and blaring. When I got my Swans I was like, "Ahhhh..." finally some great sound.
 
ketchup79 said:
Can you give us a price VirtualLarry?

And, are you looking to get something all in one box, or are you willing to assemble pieces? Is low range important to this person, or just volume? Is this person willing to go the headphone route?
Click to expand...

No headphones, I don't think. It's for an older relative. I replaced their 15" HDTV / monitor (1024x768), that had some pretty-nice integrated speakers, with a 25.5" widescreen HDMI monitor (1920x1080) that has speakers, but they are less powerful, and smaller.

Some of the video content the relative watches, is recorded with low volume levels.

The relative wanted me to look at a pair of speakers that they picked out for $11 at Walgreens. I was like, "they are crap. put them back.". I asked why they needed speakers, when their monitor has speakers, and they said, "sometimes I can't hear my programs".

So I'm looking for a decent pair (2.0, no sub) of speakers, preferably with an AC-powered integrated amp, that sounds decent, is loud enough for them to hear clearly, and doesn't cost too much.

Lets say budget of $100, possibly $150, but that would be stretching things.
 
Hugh Jass said:
I have these and they are excellent IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-GigaW.../dp/B001RNOHDU
Click to expand...

As I said above, I have the original version of these and am very happy with them. There's not much in the way of "ooompf" or bass due to the small drivers and low power, but they get plenty loud, have a small footprint and sound great. If I was buying small computer speakers for myself these days it'd be a choice between the T20s the slightly larger/newer/more expensive Yamaha NX50.

On the 'studio monitor' side I'd consider the Behringer Media 40USB which will have much bigger drivers and much more power, plus newer tech. But they will be significantly larger and Behringer is generally considered lower end (for 'pro' stuff anyway). And I haven't seen reviews for them, but they should be pretty sweet. But if you wanted something slightly better quality and can stretch you wallet to $150, arguably the best 2.0s at that price (unless something has changed recently) are the M-audio AV40s.

Edit: These may all seem like overkill, and I would have an initial hesitancy myself to spend this much on speakers for someone else who may be loosing their hearing. But I am unaware of other options, plus personally I spend more on speakers knowing that a ~$100 set should still be 'good' in many years time.
 
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richaron said:
But if you wanted something slightly better quality and can stretch you wallet to $150, arguably the best 2.0s at that price (unless something has changed recently) are the M-audio AV40s.

Edit: These may all seem like overkill, and I would have an initial hesitancy myself to spend this much on speakers for someone else who may be loosing their hearing. But I am unaware of other options, plus personally I spend more on speakers knowing that a ~$100 set should still be 'good' in many years time.
Click to expand...
The M-audio AV40s look really nice. I would have gone for those, probably, partially because I know someone that works at Sweetwater, but my relative now says that they no longer need speakers. I turned the HDMI audio on their monitor up from 50% to 100%. I guess that they can hear OK now. Sigh. I was looking forward to picking up some speakers for them.
 
I have the AV40s and they are very nice bookshelf computer speakers for my needs. They would of fit their needs nicely.
 
I dug out a set of Advent Powered Partners, the AV270 model. Didn't have the power supply, back of speakers said 14V DC. Had a brand-new Netgear 12V 1.0A (12W?) power adapter. Hooked them up to my G3258 rig, via the front-panel headphone jack. Sounded a little on the muddy side, although, I think that these were the pair of speakers from my car, which were basically partially blown from cranking them way up. Turning the bass down made them quite a bit less muddy.

I didn't try cranking them up all the way, for fear I would burn out the Netgear power adapter. I think that these speakers are rated for 25W, and the power adapter is only 12W.

Still, at 1/4 volume on the speaker, and 100% in Windows 7 volume setting, they were plenty loud.

Might do in a pinch, and would save me $150. My relative kinda freaked out when I told them I was considering a $79 and a $150 set of speakers for them. They were like, "I should have bought those $11 speakers at Walgreens". No, no you shouldn't have.
 
The ONLY valid reason to buy MM speakers is if you like terribly inaccurate boomy fake bass. They are SO many better options from ~$100 Micca MB42x + T-amp to $300 JBL LSR305s that they make even sub <$50 cheap garbage look like ripoffs. People especially need to get that "passive speakers are a PITA to setup" myth out of their heads when it's not in 2015.
 
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