Best Computer Speakers

Heya,

Best possible?

Or just a good setup for the cost?

A good approach would be to not get something marketed for "computers."

For example: Inexpensive receiver with Polk Audio M60's and a PSW505 (which would be a really bang for buck 2.1 system that can expand to 5.1 in a heart beat for $570 new).

Very best,

I sort of went the MalVeauX route, but instead of a contemporary receiver, I picked up a vintage Harmon Kardon 330B and some Realistic Minimus 7 speakers. The HK was like $50 or $55 plus $40 shipping off ebay and the speakers were $26 with $15 for shipping and $39 for some adjustable spealer stands. Just got the speaker stands today. I picked up the HK to see how a vintage receiver worked as a headphone amp primarily, with the idea that it would be nice to have some speakers again too, The other speakers I was considering were some Infinity RS1's. There are a pair of those on ebay right now too. With a DAC or sound card you can turn your computer into a tape deck or turntable and plug it into some sweet vintage analog sound on the cheap. Otherwise those Audioengine A2's look pretty sweet.

Swans M200 MKIII... best computer/ desktop monitors especially for the price, nothing beats it. I went from z2300 to z5300e to z5500... dont know why I bought so many logitechs, probably because I wasn't being exposed to head-fi back again. But I'm never buying logitech speakers ever again.

Pioneer SX-1250 and JBL L100's.

Whatever fits in your room... The best bookshelves you can get your hands on and a receiver that can drive them. Since I mostly listen to stuff through headphones, I picked up a pair of Wharfedale speakers for $15 at a garage sale and I'm thoroughly enjoying them through a Marantz PM5004. It's lacking the bass the old Logitech z2300 had since I have no sub, but the quality is above and beyond the old speakers regardless. 

Here's a picture of one of them, Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 pro:

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipes 

Swans M200 MKIII... best computer/ desktop monitors especially for the price, nothing beats it. I went from z2300 to z5300e to z5500... dont know why I bought so many logitechs, probably because I wasn't being exposed to head-fi back again. But I'm never buying logitech speakers ever again.

Agreed. I had the MKIIs paired with a sub. They really do need a sub to really make them shine.

But then I replaced them with Anthony Gallo Reference Stradas.. These are like headphones for your desk.

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo10/strada.html

Although TBH, the Swans were better for nearfield due to the proximity of their drivers, but can't touch the Gallos for resolving power. To really eek out every last drop of the Gallos, I have to roll my chair back about 2 ft.

which sub did you get to pair with the MKs... The reference stradas are very unique in design, never seen something like that. Way over my league tho haha.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by clem24 

Agreed. I had the MKIIs paired with a sub. They really do need a sub to really make them shine.

 

But then I replaced them with Anthony Gallo Reference Stradas.. These are like headphones for your desk.

 

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo10/strada.html

 

Although TBH, the Swans were better for nearfield due to the proximity of their drivers, but can't touch the Gallos for resolving power. To really eek out every last drop of the Gallos, I have to roll my chair back about 2 ft.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipes 

which sub did you get to pair with the MKs... The reference stradas are very unique in design, never seen something like that. Way over my league tho haha.

I am using a Mirage BPS-150i, which is actually something left over from my 5.1 setup when I really into HT. To this day, it's still one of the most musical subs that I've ever heard, yet can go really low with the best of them. And also back in the good ol' days when Mirage/API stuff was still made in Canada! I paid almost $1,000 for mine almost 10 years ago, but I've seen them on Kijiji sometimes for $200 or less. A total sleeper of a sub at that price!!! They're absolute beasts though and need room to breath due to the pair of side firing woofers.

The only problem with the Swans is that you need a pre-amp and a crossover to get them properly hooked up. Even if your sound card has a sub out, there's no way you can control the level. So in my setup, my headphone amp was doing pre-amp duty as well, and I set the volume on the MKs and never touched it. And then this would feed into the sub through it's high level inputs, and then high level output from the sub into the MKII so that anything below 80 was filtered out. Or I guess the alternative is to use the speaker output on the MK, but then you'd only get single channel information to the sub (which is 99% of cases is probably fine as similar bass info is usually present in both channels). But then the MKs would be playing full range, which isn't fully desirable.

i see, i'll look into that. But as of now, i think the bass on my MKIII is quite a bit, nice deep and tight bass, sounds really rice and controlled. So im enjoying the speakers a lot now but if i ever needed a small upgrade, i'll get a sub haha. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by clem24 

 

I am using a Mirage BPS-150i, which is actually something left over from my 5.1 setup when I really into HT. To this day, it's still one of the most musical subs that I've ever heard, yet can go really low with the best of them. And also back in the good ol' days when Mirage/API stuff was still made in Canada! I paid almost $1,000 for mine almost 10 years ago, but I've seen them on Kijiji sometimes for $200 or less. A total sleeper of a sub at that price!!! They're absolute beasts though and need room to breath due to the pair of side firing woofers.

 

The only problem with the Swans is that you need a pre-amp and a crossover to get them properly hooked up. Even if your sound card has a sub out, there's no way you can control the level. So in my setup, my headphone amp was doing pre-amp duty as well, and I set the volume on the MKs and never touched it. And then this would feed into the sub through it's high level inputs, and then high level output from the sub into the MKII so that anything below 80 was filtered out. Or I guess the alternative is to use the speaker output on the MK, but then you'd only get single channel information to the sub (which is 99% of cases is probably fine as similar bass info is usually present in both channels). But then the MKs would be playing full range, which isn't fully desirable.