[juswyq]

Hi all. I need a recommendation for speakers. Don't mind getting 2nd hand.

What I'm searching for is the MOST COST EFFECTIVE, best bang-for-buck sound quality for my 2.0 / 2.1 speakers.

Primarily used for music. If used for movies, will pair with my old 2.1 edifier speakers, will be using those as the rear speaks (Dont know if it's a good idea, but surround sound sounds good for movies)

Budget around USD200 to 250. Was looking at 2nd hand Audioengine A2/ A5s.. Aego Ms... Esi Near04s.... Those are the consumer models, but I'm wondering if there's any DIY options available that would have an unbeatable sound quality for ~250bucks?

From what I understand, DIY needs a power amp, 2 drivers, and capacitors (no idea what the caps are used for). But I'm totally at a loss at what components to get.

For a DAC i have a modded zero / compass / modded x-fi, while for a preamp I guess my darkvoice 337 would be more than suitable.

but then again USD200 seems like too low a price to get a decent set of DIY speakers, from what I've seen in buy/sell forums. So maybe I will just go for the A2/A5/esi04/aego M.

Any suggestions? Thanks much!

 

[juswyq]

Also, I need details on the audioengine A5.

There seems to be an old and a new revision: I could get the old revision for around USD200, used. However, I heard that the new revision has a sonic advantage; If this is true I'll hold on to my cash.

I've googled a lot on this old/new revision A5 but details are so sparse I can barely find any details on it.

However, if the advantage can be administered with some tweaking/DIYing, I don't mind getting the old revision and modding it.

 

[Alai]

D1080MKII from Audio Insider + 2ESW-8 (refurbed ESW-8) from Audio Advisor

 

[Xan7hos]

I whole-heartedly recommend the Tekton 4.1 Full Range speakers. I picked them up for about $225 shipped off ebay (you can maybe get the 3.1 version to fit your budget). They take a while to burn in properly, but once they do they sing. Clarity and imaging is phenomenal, especially vocals. There are also a lot of Full Range speaker makers out there that use Fostex drivers, but Tekton probably makes the most well built and well priced of them all.

Edit: These are passive speakers btw, and aren't active like the AudioEngines. I run my Tektons via a T-amp

 

[juswyq]

Thanks for the recommendations, they're exactly the kind of opinion I was looking for. I'm located in Singapore so it's quite hard to find, but I'll search for those drivers and maybe DIY my speakers.

When i asked for recommendations, they gave me answers like creative gigaworks t3, klipsch gmx 2.1 edifier s2000, etc.

Not that they suck, just that I want the best value for money speakers, and i dont want to pay for all the advertising and marketing that these manufacturers would have factored into the cost of the products.

I was thinking my best bet would be to DIY my own, but this might not be cheaper either.

Will look into the fostex drivers you mentioned, I can't find a distributor for tekton in singapore. Thanks!

 

[evu325]

I'm not sure if you can get Swans in Singapore from China, but some people have been able to purchase the top-of-the-line T200B for extremely reasonable prices (~$300), or if not then you could probably get the M200 MkIII which isn't available here yet for a lower price. I have heard the T200B and it is extremely pleasant to listen to and the 45 wpc amps in each speaker are more than powerful enough. They're not so bad to look at either =P. I am a huge fan of Audioengines but I'd say the T200s sound better, at least to me.

 

[ChroniCali]

http://www.av123.com/

I would recommend a set of ELT525Ms or if you can, grab a pair of X-LS's for around $200.
They had some B-stocks for the ELTs for $179 recently, but I guess they're all gone now.

Fantastic speakers for the price, sounds like speakers that are a LOT bigger.

 

[juswyq]

Really nice recommendations... I'm looking at the tekton designs. His unconditional guarantee that there's nothing better you can buy at that price point is a plus factor. However, the 4.1 has a frequency response starting from 63Hz and the 4.5 at 55Hz. Theoretically (if i'm not reading it wrongly) it seems to be lacking the lower ranges of bass. Would I need a separate subwoofer?

Also, the shipping for tekton kills. It's ~USD129 for shipping to Singapore, but Eric at Tekton still assured me, with shipping factored in it's still the best speaker you can get at that price point. I don't know if it's simply marketing but it does sound tempting.

Now I just need to know if a cheap T-amp running on a TA2024 (only 8W into 8ohm per channel) can power it decently. Otherwise I might get a balanced b22 to double up as both a headphone amp and a power amp for the speakers, though I'm not too sure how well the b22 performs as a power amp.