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Recommendation for Speakers

M

Mr. Pedantic

Diamond Member
So, exams have finished and I'm free for 3 weeks, so I decided to treat myself to some decent speakers and get on with watching all those blu-rays that Ive wanted to watch for 3 months. I don't have much money, $100 is the absolute max (and I'd prefer it if it were kept down to $75 or so, but I can be a bit flexible).

Seeing as I live in New Zealand and my prices and available selection will probably be a lot more restricted than anywhere in the States, I thought I'd just post up a list of what I can buy and ask you guys to help me choose.

http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?m=s54451312&o=produkt_pris_inkmoms#rparams=m=s54451318

Preferably I'd like 2.0, but I also like a strong-ish bass, and if I can't get that with 2.0 speakers then I'd like 2.1.
 
PC speakers? or do you have a receiver you're hooking these up to?

$100 isn't much to spend on "decent" speakers, but we at least need to know what kind of speakers you're looking for.
 
I don't know, I'm not very good with this kind of thing. I plan on having the speakers go directly into my PC audio jacks, what do you mean by a receiver?

Seriously? No computer speakers are particularly good.
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What would you suggest I do then?
 
A receiver is an audio component that combines a radio tuner, an amplifier (for powering speakers), and a preamplifier for switching among various input sources, usually combined with surround-sound processing hardware. The typical form factor is a metal box 17 inches (43cm) in width, 6 or so inches in height (15cm), and 10 to 12 inches in depth (25cm to 30cm), usually black or silver in color, with a large volume knob and a LCD readout display on the front, plus other buttons and knobs for various controls.

A decent receiver ($200-$300USD) from a major Japanese brand (Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer, etc.) with a pair of decent bookshelf speakers ($200-$300USD) from a major American, British, or European brand (e.g.: Infinity, JBL, B&W, KEF, Polk Audio, Klipsch, Mirage, NHT) will blow away pretty much any computer speakers, including THX-certified ones, in terms of loudness and sound quality. This will come, of course, at the price of weight and size, and thus portability. If you are a student in a dorm room, for example, perhaps you will still want computer speakers.

Unfortunately, being in New Zealand, you undoubtedly have different choices as to what brands and models are offered than what we have in the States; but surely you can find something along the lines of what I outlined above.
 
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A receiver is an audio component that combines a radio tuner, an amplifier (for powering speakers), and a preamplifier for switching among various input sources, usually combined with surround-sound processing hardware. The typical form factor is a metal box 17 inches (43cm) in width, 6 or so inches in height (15cm), and 10 to 12 inches in depth (25cm to 30cm), usually black or silver in color, with a large volume knob and a LCD readout display on the front, plus other buttons and knobs for various controls.

A decent receiver ($200-$300USD) from a major Japanese brand (Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer, etc.) with a pair of decent bookshelf speakers ($200-$300USD) from a major American, British, or European brand (e.g.: Infinity, JBL, B&W, KEF, Polk Audio, Klipsch, Mirage, NHT) will blow away pretty much any computer speakers, including THX-certified ones, in terms of loudness and sound quality. This will come, of course, at the price of weight and size, and thus portability. If you are a student in a dorm room, for example, perhaps you will still want computer speakers.

Unfortunately, being in New Zealand, you undoubtedly have different choices as to what brands and models are offered than what we have in the States; but surely you can find something along the lines of what I outlined above.
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That sounds all good and stuff, but I just don't have that much money. And bear in mind also that as a very general rule of thumb for things like this a US$200 product should cost around $350-450 in New Zealand dollars - our stores don't have the purchasing power parity that American companies do. So a setup like that would cost me anywhere from NZ$700-900, and while I'm sure that the sound quality would be a lot better, I'm sure you can appreciate that the amount of money involved is also a big step up from $100.

op is in New Zealand.
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Surprisingly those are actually in stock, and they're pretty close to my ideal price. I don't think my space would work well with 5.1, there's just nowhere to put the other speakers. So the 2 would go on either side of my main monitor and the 1 underneath my desk? How does that sound?
 
Sounds perfect. I have mine lying on their sides, tweeters outward. The one on the right is on the top rear of my tower, just above the power supply. The one on the left is on the document feeder cover to my printer, about eight inches below it and about two feet to the left of it. The sub is under my desk, directly below the right speaker. Sound is IMO very good and it sounds like it's coming directly out of my monitor. Of course, you can't push the sub super hard.

Remember you can wall mount the satellites with a single screw each. If you do that, there's really almost no such thing as no room for them. In fact, based on the prices I'm seeing on Newegg, I think I'd go ahead and get the 5.1 setup even if you don't plan to use it all right now. You've got backup speakers if one goes bad, and who knows when you might find a way to use 5.1. You can step down from 5.1 to 2.1, but you can't go the other way.

Whatever you decide, let us know what you get and how it sounds!
 
I had a look at some reviews and asked a friend, and in the end I decided to go with Logitech X-230s instead of the T3130s - I read several reviews saying the Logitechs had stronger bass, which I think is quite important, and plus, in my opinion they look better.

As for 5.1, frankly, it's kind of impossible. I have a window taking up an entire wall, shelves taking up half of another, and 2 doors taking up most of a third, so really, the only wall that is actually free is to my left, and that's about 3 times further away from where I sit than the right wall. So I don't think I was exaggerating when I said I don't think they would fit. It also means I can't mount the 2 satellites I ordered on the wall either, since 10cm above the desk it turns to window that doesn't stop until it's about 30cm from the ceiling.
 
Logitech's do indeed have a lot of bass. The rest tends to sound like pure crap IMO, but it does have a loud muddled thump to it.
 
I would buy some secondhand "hi-fi" speakers - if you can find some Paradigms or Monitor Audio products, you'll be pretty happy. You can get a decent little Tripath amp for $25 on eBay.
 
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