[ryder793]

Hello everyone, my first post on head fi, so forgive me for any mistakes.
 
I need to buy 2.1 Speakers for my computer and am stuck between these three choices.

Edifier S530 is the one that I favor most because it has enough power for my room and also looks elegant, both speakers and sub are magnetically shielded and made of MDFm with a good control pod.
The specifications are also good but I'm not very good with those, so experts please advice.
 
The promedia 2.1's are tried and tested but searching online has shown me that they have been cheapened and are a shadow of the older versions,lacking the famed quality and
are going bust very easily.The speakers are plastic but I think the sub is MDF Plus they look a tad too plain, but I can overcome this if the Audio quality is significantly better than the edifiers.
 
The SP2500 have rave reviews but something gives me the feeling they wont have as much quality sound as these other two and will be more emphasized on the bass and boom for movies
and games, and music quality will not be on par with the others, I also believe they have plastic housings which aren't as good as the others.

 

[cel4145]

First, what do you mean by the Edifiers have enough power? Going by manufacturer specs would make it very difficult to compare the max SPL (volume) output of those different sets. Manufacturers rate power output on amplifiers differently from each other, and then speakers have different sensitivity levels. Even if we could trust manufacturers to be accurate in the specs they list (which is often not the case), simply not enough information to guess that any of those sets are significantly more powerful than the other. All of them have pretty small drivers in the satellites and fairly small subs, so best guess is that any of them could have a higher maximum SPL than the other. Or they could all be about the same.

So unless you have heard the Edifiers and know that they will get loud enough for you, I would recommend focusing your attention on other considerations.

If quality sound is your main concern, why not get passive speakers with higher sensitivity rating and a t-amp and add a sub later? Check out this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/627161/my-very-low-budget-nearfield-desktop-rig-lepai-amp-and-dayton-audio-speakers

For example, a t-amp and these Cambridge Audio S30s would give you better SQ than those desktop multimedia speakers, with solid midbass response down to around 55 hz.

 

[Honkytime]

I heard the Kilpsch Promedia  2.1 set and own the SP2500 both are very close in sound quality. After a couple months of listening to them i'm still sure i made the best choice. They have brightened up quite a bit since i wrote my review for them and a little tweaking of the EQ.
But i do agree with cel4145 you will get a fuller sound from a "T" amp and some bookshelfs.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Hello everyone, my first post on head fi, so forgive me for any mistakes.
 
I need to buy 2.1 Speakers for my computer and am stuck between these three choices.

Edifier S530 is the one that I favor most because it has enough power for my room and also looks elegant, both speakers and sub are magnetically shielded and made of MDFm with a good control pod.
The specifications are also good but I'm not very good with those, so experts please advice.
 
The promedia 2.1's are tried and tested but searching online has shown me that they have been cheapened and are a shadow of the older versions,lacking the famed quality and
are going bust very easily.The speakers are plastic but I think the sub is MDF Plus they look a tad too plain, but I can overcome this if the Audio quality is significantly better than the edifiers.
 
The SP2500 have rave reviews but something gives me the feeling they wont have as much quality sound as these other two and will be more emphasized on the bass and boom for movies
and games, and music quality will not be on par with the others, I also believe they have plastic housings which aren't as good as the others.

I used the klipsch Promedia 2.1 for a few years, I would say they are a good value as sometimes Bestbuy sells them for $99 and you can get then used for under $99 (I bought mine used for $80).

 

[Kursah]

I was in similar shoes a few years ago...I wanted to upgrade from my old and coveted Logitech X-230's (we still use them on her PC) and ended up buying my own parts and making a better hi-fi (or mid-fi rather) setup.
 
I started with a Dayton DTA100 class-t amp for $100, a pair of Pioneer SB-21's for $60, and a Dayton SUB-100 10" Powered Sub for $110. Was AMAZING. The Dayton amp blew several months ago and I was looking into replacing it. Thanks to Cel a few posts up, I looked more seriously into receivers and ended up getting a Denon AVR-1613 refurb from accessories4less.com for around $230, it's 210 now with a 1-year warranty. Took what I thought sounded amazing and made it sound godly. Crisp, clear, the bass is amazing. I haven't even ran the EQ Audessy mic tuner it came with yet. The HP output is also very good, competitive to my FiiO E9 and better in some aspects. 
 
Combo's are good, and expensive ones are really good, but I can't imagine spending money on anything less than what I did. I suppose if budget is an issue then ya get a combo.
 
Here's a couple of my threads and posts, I try to share what I've done and found because I spent many, many, many hours reading comparisons, reviews, figuring my budget, reading more reviews, asking questions, etc:
 
My original upgrade thread: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/upgrading-from-logitech-x-230-2-1.161273 
 
When my Dayton Amp Died: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/class-t-d-amps-for-2-0-2-1-setups.193225/ 
                                          http://www.head-fi.org/t/687599/my-amp-died-need-suggestions-100-200-budget
 
 
One of my recent posts helping other members on TPU: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/a-worthy-replacement-for-the-z-5500.183989/#post-3042663
 
 
I've had a chance to hear quite a few expensive PC speakers, and man I'm here to say a receiver, a couple bookshelf speakers and a powered sub blows them all out of the water. Even saving $$ and going with Dayton 652's (research them...there's a ton of mods for these bookshelves to make them sound better too). Sure it all takes up more space, consumes more power, but you have so much more of everything sound-wise and capability-wise. 
 
Just some food for thought. Good luck on your choice! There's a lot of options, and I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice!

 

[ryder793]

What I mean by enough power is, I had a pair of Creatives with some 35 Watts RMS and that was enough for me, so any of these speakers would suffice.

And no thanks guys, I just want a multimedia system, plug and play, I'm from India, this kind of stuff is way more expensive here, and much harder to source. The Promedias go for 200 $ here, I want the convenience and compactness of these systems.  Im not looking to go for audiophile grade stuff, just something better than the everyday creative pc speakers.

 

[Honkytime]

  What I mean by enough power is, I had a pair of Creatives with some 35 Watts RMS and that was enough for me, so any of these speakers would suffice.

And no thanks guys, I just want a multimedia system, plug and play, I'm from India, this kind of stuff is way more expensive here, and much harder to source. The Promedias go for 200 $ here, I want the convenience and compactness of these systems.  Im not looking to go for audiophile grade stuff, just something better than the everyday creative pc speakers.

Pro medias are good, i enjoyed the sound out them. If you want more bass to bother the neighbors get the sp2500 the only difference is the sub woofer size and the pro media's have a tad more style.

 

[ryder793]

So the Sound quality of the Promedias is better than the SP2500?? Because I just need tight accurate bass, I dont need to shake the room.

What is also keeping me on the fence with the promedias is the reports of the newer versions having bad quality components and much worse output than the original.

 

[ryder793]

For example, a t-amp and these Cambridge Audio S30s would give you better SQ than those desktop multimedia speakers, with solid midbass response down to around 55 hz.

 
I wish I had the room and budget for such a setup, but my budget is capped at 200 $ sadly.

 

[cel4145]

What I mean by enough power is, I had a pair of Creatives with some 35 Watts RMS and that was enough for me, so any of these speakers would suffice.

Most likely these sets would get as loud or louder if you are upgrading from a much lower priced MSRP Creative speaker set, although maybe not if it's their more expensive Gigaworks model. Impossible to know for sure going off manufacturer specs.

Just be aware that wattage is only have the story. The other half is speaker sensitivity ratings, which is how efficient the speakers use the power. An 83db rated speaker would need 40 watts of power to put out the same volume as a 93db rated speaker that is given only 10 watts by the same amplifier--with these ratings, the lower rated speaker always needs 4 times the wattage to achieve the same volume as the higher rated one. Consequently, it's a mistake to use wattage alone to make these kinds of determinations without knowing sensitivity, especially given that manufacturers don't rate amplifier power using the same methods. Some audio manufacturers even grossly exaggerate (lie) about what kind of power output their amplifiers have..

 

[ryder793]

Most likely these sets would get as loud or louder if you are upgrading from a much lower priced MSRP Creative speaker set, although maybe not if it's their more expensive Gigaworks model. Impossible to know for sure going off manufacturer specs.

Just be aware that wattage is only have the story. The other half is speaker sensitivity ratings, which is how efficient the speakers use the power. An 83db rated speaker would need 40 watts of power to put out the same volume as a 93db rated speaker that is given only 10 watts by the same amplifier--with these ratings, the lower rated speaker always needs 4 times the wattage to achieve the same volume as the higher rated one. Consequently, it's a mistake to use wattage alone to make these kinds of determinations without knowing sensitivity, especially given that manufacturers don't rate amplifier power using the same methods. Some audio manufacturers even grossly exaggerate (lie) about what kind of power output their amplifiers have..

Your knowledge scares me. Thanks for the Info.

I see, well the set I have currently is the terrible Inspire T6100 and I guess it cant get any worse than that. So power wise any of these speakers will be enough.
Just need to be sure of the quality. Again the corsairs somehow give me the impression they would just be mostly focused on shaking bass, and the klipsch and edifier would have better sound quality.


The Budget is capped at 200 $ so Amp and bookshelves wont fit in the budget or my desk So sadly im limited to these three options even now.

 

[cel4145]

I used to own the Promedia 2.1. I would imagine that they would outperform those Inspires

 

[Honkytime]

 
Your knowledge scares me. Thanks for the Info.

I see, well the set I have currently is the terrible Inspire T6100 and I guess it cant get any worse than that. So power wise any of these speakers will be enough.
Just need to be sure of the quality. Again the corsairs somehow give me the impression they would just be mostly focused on shaking bass, and the klipsch and edifier would have better sound quality.


The Budget is capped at 200 $ so Amp and bookshelves wont fit in the budget or my desk So sadly im limited to these three options even now.

I don't think the sp2500 main focus is on the bass as they put a 2 speakers in the satelite giving them a little more of the high's in the sound than the promedia's. the bass is just there if you want it to be. I really think there about the same sound quality wise and either one you choose would be fine.

 

[ryder793]

Thanks for the help guys, decided to go with the promedias.

 

[cel4145]

Awesome! Come back and share how you like them