[chanwhk]

I am looking for 2.0 or 2.1 speaker for use with my desktop. Price range is about $200 usd.

Unfortunately, for my location, I can only have the chance to listen to Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 at bestbuy. So I hope you have heard much more then me~~

I listen to Classical, RnB, Jazz

From my readings the Audioengine A2, and Creative T40 II sounds pretty good. As well as Swan D1080MkII and Swan M200MkIII. I'd love to know these compares to each other. For 2.1, I'm not really sure what to get.

I am currently only using onboard sound card, so I'm going to spend around $100 for a sound card/DAC.. I know very little on this part except for the uDAC everyone is recommanding. Would DAC be a better choice then good sound card?

Thanks

 

[UncleFestive]

I'm using a pair of M-Audio Studiophile AV-40's. They're very well detailed and airy in their presentation without any thinness or harshness. Sibilance is non-existent. Overall, a very true and balanced reproduction of the source down their freq limit. If you're a basshead, these will never do. They run out of steam at about 90-80HZ and around that freq you can really hear the resonation that seems to be the by-product of any speaker system using such a small enclosure. There is a bass boost on the back, but I never use it. Check out the price at Provantage, good CS and quick ship.

I can't comment on the other spkrs you called out as I haven't heard them.

As I can afford it, I'll be upgrading to the Audioengine A5/S8 combo for a more complete sound, but the AV40's are quite satisfactory for now. Good luck!

 

[Bill St. Clair]

As you can see below, I've got the M-Audio AV40 speakers and a NuForce µDAC ($100). Very happy with my setup. From what I've read, the AudioEngine A2 is similar to the AV40. I chose the M-Audio version because it has a front volume control and headphone plug. But that was before I got the µDAC. Now I use its headphone jack, to avoid the amplifier in the speakers.

I see lots of AudioEngine A5s in photos of people's computers setups. They're popular. And similar to M-Audio's BX5a. But probably out of your price range.

I've been drooling over the Adam A7 and Dayton UA701C, but it'll be a while before I can spare $600-$800 for better speakers. And in that price range there are lots and lots of choices, requiring, for me, listening before buying.

 

[darcyb62]

I had a pair of Creative T40s and ended up giving them away as I really didn't care for them much.

 

[muad]

Well from your musical tastes you probably don't need a lot of base? Then I'd have to second the av40s or the the audioengine a2's. I was originally gonna pick up the av40's but they seem to have quality control issues (balance is way off etc). So I ended up buying the audioengine a5's instead. Its's kind of a tricky price range you're in. The Swan D1080MkII seemed to have mixed review and the audio engine a5 and Swan M200MkIII are considerable over your set budget. The Edirol MA-15D also get some pretty good reviews but aren't very pretty imo. In your shoes I'd probably go for the a2's or the Swan D1080MkII.

When it comes to dacs I don't have much experience with different types. I bought a maverick d1 for around 220 and have been extremely happy with it. Sound card seem to be pretty popular around here but the recommended ones are all over $1oo.

I started off with a similar budget a couple of months ago. I ended up more than doubling it. I kinda figured I only have to buy this stuff once and its good quality stuff so it should last a long time its worth it.

Either way, good luck and i hope you enjoy whatever you buy!

 

[Armaegis]

I had the Creative T40's (1st gen) and thought they were ok, but felt the T20's were a much better value at half the price. I'm not sure what the 2nd gen brings to the table though, although reviews seem to indicate improvements across the board. I would wager that the T20ii is still probably the better value. (edit: although series two seems to have narrowed the price gap, making the T40ii more competitive)

I've had the Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 speaker set for years and have really enjoyed them (easily the best bang-for-your-buck set in it's time period). I recently picked up the AV40s and feel they were an excellent purchase. Definitely an upgrade from my Cambridge speakers, except for the lack of sub. I think M-Audio speakers are also more prolific, making it easier to find sales (I can find the AV40's for $130, while the cheapest I've seen the A2's is $200)

 

[daouda]

Based on reviews I would say AV40 for 2.0 or Gigaworks T3 (more audiophile-orientated and much better than any other creative stuff) for 2.1 + uDAC would be your best bet.

@bill
Quote:

I chose the M-Audio version because it has a front volume control and headphone plug. But that was before I got the µDAC. Now I use its headphone jack, to avoid the amplifier in the speakers.

Really? So the headphone amp in uDAC is enough to power shelf speakers??
I would have thought the best option should have been using uDAC line out --> AV40 line in. Its surprising that uDAC headphone amp would be better at powering the AV40 than their own integrated amp.
EDIT
Oops, thinking just a little bit further it seems obvious that you rather meant that you now use the uDAC HPO for your headphones instead of the AV40 HPO.
My bad. But the way you said it can be confusing for stupid noobs like me.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armaegis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had the Creative T40's (1st gen) and thought they were ok, but felt the T20's were a much better value at half the price. I'm not sure what the 2nd gen brings to the table though, although reviews seem to indicate improvements across the board. I would wager that the T20ii is still probably the better value. (edit: although series two seems to have narrowed the price gap, making the T40ii more competitive)

The current full retail price of the T40ii is $150 versus the T20ii's $100. This makes the T40ii worth the incrementally higher price tag although the T20ii is better than most 2.0 powered speaker systems at its price point. (Bose, anyone?

) And no, I'm not trying to claim that the Gigaworks 2.0 systems are anywhere near the best out there under a certain price point (of course, there are better 2.0 compact powered speakers at those same price points, but they're not at all widely available); it's just that they are good values relative to the other big-box-store-bought brands out there. (Also, I didn't think the M-Audio powered speakers at the same price points as the Gigaworks are sufficiently better to justify the more difficult hunt - in fact, IMHO they are merely a sideways-step in overall sound quality from the Gigaworks models despite their substantially larger footprint.)

And even the very best powered computer speakers can sound like you-know-what with improper placement and/or positioning - and they can also sound like a hammered who-knows-what-went-through-them if the material that they are sitting on resonates a lot. If you place any speaker system on an easily resonant surface, such as a metal shelf or even a computer desk made with relatively thin wood-based materials, then yes - no speaker system will sound good unless a great deal of acoustic damping material is placed between the speaker system and the shelf or table that the system is sitting on.

Also, if you're neither going to place part of the speaker system on the floor nor place some acoustic damping material on at least some of the places that you're going to set your speaker system on, I would rule out anything with a bass module ("subwoofer"). This is because some 2.1 systems assume that you'd be placing the "subwoofer" 10 to 15 feet away from your listening area but the satellites less than 2 feet away (and these particular systems designed this way will sound muddy if the "subwoofer" is placed anywhere closer even with the bass control turned way down) - and many such systems do not come with (and some won't even accept) wiring that's long enough to reach. Also, a lot of 2.1 and multichannel speaker systems have poorly matched crossover points which end up making the midrange sound either weak or shouty (some Logitech systems are guilty of putting a simple low-pass filter for the "subwoofer" at such a high frequency and a high-pass filter for the satellites at too low of a frequency, making the lower midrange sound shouty).

 

[unl3a5h3d]

I don't know if I can really help as I have heard only the Klipsch Pro Media 2.1, like you, at Best Buy. But I plan on getting a nice little desktop speaker rig soon. Here is what I plan on getting.

uDAC
HLLY T-Amp from eBay
Swan D1080MkII