[Hayang]

I don't want to listen to my laptop speakers anymore!  Any good-value suggestions for under $150?
 
Some I've looked into:
 
Cheap Powered Monitor Pairs
  Behringer MS16 $80
  Akai RPM3 $115
  Alesis M1 Active $85
  Swan D1010 IV $140
 
Multimedia Speakers
  Creative Gigaworks T20 II $90
  Klipsch Promedia 2.1 $139
 
Bookshelf + Cheap Amp
  Dayton B652 + Lepai LP2020A+
  Any other bookshelves?
 
Which kind do you suggest?
 
I'm happy with a warm but clear sound, and don't need anything amazing hence the hard $150 cap.
I have good IEMS and these speakers are just for casual listening.  Please help~

 

[ferday]

easily my favorite ~$150 speakers i've ever heard are the paradigm atoms.  they are usually around $185 retail but if you can find a set withing your budget (shouldn't be too hard) you will not be disappointed!
 
edit:  they are not powered speakers, so you need an amp.  they are long term speakers though....from your list that you posted i would go with the daytons and a cheap amp

 

[Hayang]

I don't want to spend the full $185, but if you think atoms are good, I see some v3s and v2s floating around on ebay.  What about those?

 

[ferday]

Quote:

I don't want to spend the full $185, but if you think atoms are good, I see some v3s and v2s floating around on ebay.  What about those?

i'm not sure what the difference is between the versions to be honest...i think the new ones are simply v7
 
i've heard several different sets, i can imagine they were all different models but i never noticed any specific difference.  although it's certainly just an opinion, i'd have a hard time believing there is a better speaker for the price than the atoms.  superb!  i'm looking at a set to replace my old and beat up rear speakers 

 

[Hayang]

Well they certainly look amazing.  Seriously classy.
Looks like buying retail v7s is not an option for me though, I'll keep an eye on ebay.
 
Any other suggestions though?

 

[ferday]

unfortunately no other suggestions in that price range, but i do encourage you to look at standalones with an amp rather than powered / multimedia speakers.  while the quality isn't necessarily better (in your range at least), it does allow for upgrading in the future and is useful for a lot more than just your laptop 

 

[Hayang]

What do you guys think about the NHT SuperZeros?  The owner of Red Wine Audio suggested them to me along with the Hsu HB-1 MkIIs (which I chose, and they turned out to be AMAZING monitors)
 
They are small which is a plus.

 

[Neccros]

If you get a cheap amp, Fry's had Pioneer SP‑BS22‑LR for sale for $77 bucks for the pair.
 
I paid $99 for mine and paired with a Fiio A1 amp and they sound great as is w/o a sub (I dont want one).   The frequency range is from 55Hz to 20kHz so they go low enough to produce decent bass.   Supposedly designed by Andrew Jones, a speaker guru at TAD.  And I will say for the money, only a $250-300 pair of speakers sounded better than these when I tested them out.