[luckyeights]

Currently i have logitech z623 speakers which have served me pretty well but they are far from perfect.  Right now i am in on the swans m50w deal on massdrop.  But i am wondering if there would be a better option?  What ever setup im pretty sure ill need a sub of some kind as I like bass.  I also dont have alot of room on my desk for anything huge like say audio engine a5s (dont know how any of you find room for these huge things).  Well i could find room but are they really necessary?  Iv also heard that with the larger speakers (A5s, YU5s, 5 inch monitors ect) you have to turn the volume up higher to get the finer details out of them?  If true that wouldnt be good for my situation either.  So is what i picked pretty much the best option for my situation?  
 
I have considered building my own 2.1 system but coming up with the right pairings powered speakers or unpowered and buying an amp ect all became a little over whelming and frustrating trying to figure out what speakers would pair well with what sub.  Was looking for speakers and a sub with frequency cut off settings so i could make sure there were no frequency holes.   Its surprising how many setups out there have 20-40hz frequency gaps. 
 
So what are your thoughts.  Budget under $400 preferably under $350 to be more precise $400 is a stretch.  And i would say for me a sub would be required as iv listened to bx5s and jbl 305s ect at guitar center and they def did not have enough bass for my needs.    

 

[bigx5murf]

I was using a klipsch promedia 4.1 as a 2.1 system for many years. That's very similar to your logitech speakers. Even with the klipsch, I noticed a big improvement in sound quality just getting an external DAC. Especially in the bass, it was much tighter. Clarity improvement was across the spectrum. But the vocals sounded a bit flat. I wonder if that was because I was using a DAC designed to be used with headphone amps.
 
Anyway, I came in possession of some stuff people were getting rid of. A phillips dvd player/amp, where the dvd player was broken, but the stereo amp still worked. As well as a pair of energy take satellite speakers. I hooked them up in place of my klipsch, and was shocked how much better it sounded. Went on craigslist, and found an 8 inch energy sub that's commonly paired with the energy take5 speakers, and picked it up cheap. I much prefer this hastily cobbled together system over the klipsch setup I was using before. I'm currently waiting on a tpa3116 amp to replace the phillips.