[familyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 Group buy anyone?

if i didn't just buy some monitors i would be in %100.

Where's Jahn, he must be tired of his wharfy's by now?

 

[brb9911]

Might I suggest you look for a used pair of Swans m200s? They are out of production, but sound absoultely fantastic. I'm using them here in my office. I go out of my ipod dock (lossles) to these and a set of the Klipsch 2.1 I had (I keep the volume low on these, and use them add a bit of treble and bass extension from the sub) and it sounds damn fine.

Got both sets used for under $250 US.

 

[skyline889]

The Swans are a bit bass shy and need to be mounted at least a foot from any wall to perform at their best, depending on the arrangment of his computer I'm not sure if these would be the ideal solution.

 

[brb9911]

The Swans are a bit shy on the bass, to be sure. The only reason the Klipsch 2.1's didn't get sold off is that I'm using the sub to compensate. The Klipsch are pure cr@p for music by themselves. I bet they'd be fun for gaming, though. They'll shake the floor, that's for sure.

But I am enjoying the combo of the two. Far from musically neutral, but a fun sound nonetheless, especially in my office. Pretty happy here for $250 total. I'm a big fan of well cared-for used gear!

 

[davidhw]

Best computer speakers I've ever heard for under $200 are the $60 RSL Digitial Fidelity Ones [ http://www.rslspeakers.com/ ]. They're sold out now, but there might be some floating around the web that folks wish to sell. They compete very nicely with computer speakers in the $200-$300 range.

There's a review here:

http://playlistmag.com/reviews/2005/06/rsldfo/index.php

 

[Voltron]

The OP disappeared from the thread a couple of pages ago, but I just picked up some M-Audio BX5a active monitors for my office setup today and I am very pleased with the results. I have been agonizing over the passive plus amp vs. active decision and just decided to give this a try. At $249 on sale at Guitar Center, it wasn't too big of a risk.

They are sitting on my desk, and are fed from either an iPod in a dock or my laptop in a bigger dock (s/pdif out), through my Headroom Desktop with Home Amp/DAC as a preamp. The speakers are bi-amped with 70 watts of internal power. One thing to note is that the inputs are studio-oriented, accepting either a mono TRS (tip-ring-sleeve, aka a 1/4" plug) or male XLR. I bought two mono cables with the male XLR on the speaker end and RCAs on the preamp end.

The sound is gorgeous and is actually better than I had anticipated--and better than the demo setup at GC. The clarity and crispness is exceptional, with the highs (especially) and mids sounding better than the deep lows so far. I think they need some time to stretch out, but I am also thinking about getting some of those Aurelex pad/risers to increase the bass performance. Right out of the box, however, they are quite good.

Somebody asked earlier about volume control and this is going to take some fiddling. For now, I have the speaker volume controls on about 7 and then I control the volume with the HR Desktop. However, when I am playing music from the laptop, there are multiple volume controls along the way: Real Player or Rhapsody plus the laptop's main volume control. I am not sure what is best, but for now I have those maxxed and just keep the HR Desktop in control. Any thoughts on this subject from experienced users would be appreciated, BTW.

All in all, I would recommend these speakers highly for a very simple and straightforward computer setup.

 

[familyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron The OP disappeared from the thread a couple of pages ago, but I just picked up some M-Audio BX5a active monitors for my office setup today and I am very pleased with the results. I have been agonizing over the passive plus amp vs. active decision and just decided to give this a try. At $249 on sale at Guitar Center, it wasn't too big of a risk. They are sitting on my desk, and are fed from either an iPod in a dock or my laptop in a bigger dock (s/pdif out), through my Headroom Desktop with Home Amp/DAC as a preamp. The speakers are bi-amped with 70 watts of internal power. One thing to note is that the inputs are studio-oriented, accepting either a mono TRS (tip-ring-sleeve, aka a 1/4" plug) or male XLR. I bought two mono cables with the male XLR on the speaker end and RCAs on the preamp end. The sound is gorgeous and is actually better than I had anticipated--and better than the demo setup at GC. The clarity and crispness is exceptional, with the highs (especially) and mids sounding better than the deep lows so far. I think they need some time to stretch out, but I am also thinking about getting some of those Aurelex pad/risers to increase the bass performance. Right out of the box, however, they are quite good. Somebody asked earlier about volume control and this is going to take some fiddling. For now, I have the speaker volume controls on about 7 and then I control the volume with the HR Desktop. However, when I am playing music from the laptop, there are multiple volume controls along the way: Real Player or Rhapsody plus the laptop's main volume control. I am not sure what is best, but for now I have those maxxed and just keep the HR Desktop in control. Any thoughts on this subject from experienced users would be appreciated, BTW. All in all, I would recommend these speakers highly for a very simple and straightforward computer setup.

Sweet mini review, you should do a full one for us all!!!

I was looking at m-audio's monitors but was worried about sq because they only have a few different models so i thought not much R&D into monitors, but i guess i was wrong!

 

[Voltron]

Hey Familyman. I am planning to take some pics of the office setup and do a little bit more on the sound out of the BX5a after I hear them for more than a couple hours.

There are some good recommendations of them if you search around here. Some trusted Head-Fiers had given them the thumbs-up, and my buddy who is an audiophile/musician gave them pretty good marks and pointed out that lots of musicians use M-Audio gear. Your Samsons were sound pretty sweet too, but I couldn't find any to audition and just plain got impatient. Right now I am happy I did.

 

[familyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron Hey Familyman. I am planning to take some pics of the office setup and do a little bit more on the sound out of the BX5a after I hear them for more than a couple hours. There are some good recommendations of them if you search around here. Some trusted Head-Fiers had given them the thumbs-up, and my buddy who is an audiophile/musician gave them pretty good marks and pointed out that lots of musicians use M-Audio gear. Your Samsons were sound pretty sweet too, but I couldn't find any to audition and just plain got impatient. Right now I am happy I did.

Nice, i'll be watching for those pics and comments! When i bought the r6a's i took a big chance on how they would sound, the guy at the audio shop said i wouldn't like them because of the kind of music i told him i listen to, he said they wouldn't have good base extension and they were the only monitors that they didn't have out of box to try. HA, he had no idea what he was talking about. they have AMAZING base extension and are great for all music IMO, i think this is because of how natural and uncoloured they sound, maybe some slight emphasis on mid-bass that i notice on two songs in my entire library, but that's just me being picky.

Of course, after i buy the r6a's, which i assume they just got in stock since i hadn't seen them there before, they have the r5a's, r6a's and lots of other new kinds out to demo

oh well i am very happy with them.

Question. is your office at home or at work? I bet your co-workers will love your new monitors

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

If you are willing to get seperates I'm pretty pleased with the Diamond Wharfedale 9.2s. You can find them in the "hot buys" section right now at Audio Advisor for $349, normally $499. The 9.2s have a slightly larger woofer than the 9.1s, which got some recognition from various HiFi publications for offering great sound for the $$.

You can also find active versions of Wharfedales last model, the 8.1 and 8.2 for pretty low prices.

 

[Voltron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by familyman Question. is your office at home or at work? I bet your co-workers will love your new monitors

It's in my office but I'm a partner in my firm, so they can all kiss my a**! Just kidding, I will mostly play it pretty low and I can close my door to rock out a bit during the day, and crank it up at night or on weekends if I happen to be there. The rig is so sweet, and the place is generally pretty quiet, so maybe I'll start hanging out there more often.

 

[familyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron It's in my office but I'm a partner in my firm, so they can all kiss my a**! Just kidding, I will mostly play it pretty low and I can close my door to rock out a bit during the day, and crank it up at night or on weekends if I happen to be there. The rig is so sweet, and the place is generally pretty quiet, so maybe I'll start hanging out there more often.

Excellent, this is a perfect reason to get some neat acoustic sound panels, for your employees sake of course

http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/p...nels/index.asp
http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/fo...ly_pyr.htm?d=6