Suggest a nice 2.1 system for my PC

[DarkTXKnight]

I have an old logitech z5300 5.1 that's starting to have issues and I think Id like to go to a new 2.1 system. I mostly want to listen to music and movies with some medium gaming. Can anyone suggest something in the ~ 100 to 150.00 range? Right now the audio is coming through an MSI-870A G54 MB. If anyone has an opinion on whether to add a sounds card or not Id appreciate it too.

 

[Childs]

Klipsch ProMedia 2.1?

 

[DarkTXKnight]

i didnt think of those - i have am 8 year old promedia system that i used to use before something started going wrong with the connectors. are they still as good as they used to be?

 

[fralexandr]

the klipsch promedia 2.1 are still a good set.
i think newer sets are supposed to have fixed some of the issues causing aged klipsch promedias to fail

the swan m10 are also good. You lose out on a lot of the bass the klipsch puts out, but get noticeably cleaner/clearer sounding audio. For gaming and movies, explosions and other low frequency audio don't sound as impressive/loud though. Also, blue LEDs are annoying, I have to cover the volume adjust knob to sleep at night, heh .
http://www.theaudioinsider.com/prod...top-loudspeaker-system,-white&products_id=89&
apparently (if you don't like the white face) they also have a black set now, but there isn't a picture for it
they also have a refurb with full warranty for $100 + shipping (shipping is ~$20)

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you might want to look into getting a 2.0 set like the m-audio AV-40
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details

 

[Childs]

I never had the 2.1 set, but I did have the 2.0 and I liked them.

Do you really need 2.1? M-Audio has those AV40s which people seem to like.

 

[DarkTXKnight]

well i had never thought of NOT having a subwoofer... would a 2.0 system deliver the same level of bass?

 

[fralexandr]

you're not going to get as much bass out of the M-Audio AV40s as you would from the klipsch.
If you want comparable bass, but better sound quality you'd have to go with either the M-Audio BX5 (~$200) or go with a passive speaker + speaker cable + amp and some way to connect the amp to PC (usually 3.5mm to 3.5mm, but can be edit: RCA to 3.5mm)

you can get much better sound quality for the price with an amp + speakers, but it'll take up more space
something like this is often recommended
amp ~$20
http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai...rds=stereo+amp
speakers ~$50 (the pioneers may be weak on the bass though)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...bles-_-na-_-na
maybe you can find some infinity primus near you (you'd need to buy 2 as it's $50 each)
http://slickdeals.net/f/4937978-Infinity-P153BK-bookshelf-speaker-49-99-Frys-B-M

speaker cable ~$13 (including shipping)
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10239&cs_id=1023903&p_id=2822&seq=1&format=2
3.5mm male to 3.5mm male cable ~$4 (combined shipping from speaker cable)
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10244&cs_id=1024407&p_id=5496&seq=1&format=2

 

[richaron]

I would also go bookshelf speakers & amp but that's just me. Having more components gets a bit messy tho, & takes up more space.

For something easy/compact(/prebuilt) @ $100 I would seriously consider the creative gigaworks T40's. For ~$150, like people said, the M-Audio AV40s are awesome. As above; these are both lacking in sub-bass, but still very nice (easily enough bass for normal music & gaming).

I wouldn't bother with a sound card...