Noobie want to know about budget speakers

[jinp6301]

Hello, I'm in college right now and I'll be moving to an apartment next year so I can now start looking for some decent speakers because I wont have a roommate to bother

I'm looking for a budget 2 speaker system, something thats a great value like the Ksc75s. I've heard about the insignias from best buy and they seem to be getting some good press. Also, the budget polk speakers look good. I'll probably be running the speakers off a T-amp (because its cheap!) and the source is probably gonna be my mp3 player and maybe a decent NAD cd player in the future. I just want something that I can enjoy my music with that doesnt suck that much. Ideally I would want something that is at the sound quality level of my Grado SR-225s and Senn HD580s but thats probably not possible for speakers under $100. I'll probably get some cheaper Blue Jeans speaker cables to hook them up.

My budget is around $100 but less is better since books are getting more expensive every year.

 

[uzziah]

1. don't spend money on fancy speaker cable. either just use whatever cheap stuff you can get, or you can go to home depot and get an "outdoor extension cable" and use that, it's a bit of a funny stereo trick. but at your budget just get the cheap stuff

2. i have some polk r15's and their decent, i haven't heard the insig's but i doubt you'd go wrong either way, and i wouldn't stress about it. frys.com has the lowend polk's on sale now and again; you can set a topic-alert at fatwallet.com

3. yes, the t-amp is the way to go. i have one. you have to spend some money on a power supply though. i have an astron rs4a. if i remember correctly, you can get a relatively cheap supply from parts-express


ideally, you'd find an older pair of paradigm atoms

or some such, but that's probably hit or miss, and mostly miss


try the used forums here especially, and secondarily ebay. my polk's i have now i bought from a headfi guy for $40 shipped, which was a ridiculous price considering his shipping costs, but headfi used forums are best.

don't sweat it. you'll get a good sound.

t-amp: $25
psu: $25
speakesr: $50


you should be fine

what's your source????? uh oh, can of worms. let me guess? soundblaster???

if you want a cdplayer, there are cheap dvdplayers (toshiba i think) that are supposed to be good. on the PC front you've got the chaintech av710, not sure if there is anything that cheap that good, used forums again. $20 will get you one used if you're lucky

 

[jinp6301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. don't spend money on fancy speaker cable. either just use whatever cheap stuff you can get, or you can go to home depot and get an "outdoor extension cable" and use that, it's a bit of a funny stereo trick. but at your budget just get the cheap stuff 2. i have some polk r15's and their decent, i haven't heard the insig's but i doubt you'd go wrong either way, and i wouldn't stress about it. frys.com has the lowend polk's on sale now and again; you can set a topic-alert at fatwallet.com 3. yes, the t-amp is the way to go. i have one. you have to spend some money on a power supply though. i have an astron rs4a. if i remember correctly, you can get a relatively cheap supply from parts-express ideally, you'd find an older pair of paradigm atoms or some such, but that's probably hit or miss, and mostly miss try the used forums here especially, and secondarily ebay. my polk's i have now i bought from a headfi guy for $40 shipped, which was a ridiculous price considering his shipping costs, but headfi used forums are best. don't sweat it. you'll get a good sound. t-amp: $25 psu: $25 speakesr: $50 you should be fine what's your source????? uh oh, can of worms. let me guess? soundblaster??? if you want a cdplayer, there are cheap dvdplayers (toshiba i think) that are supposed to be good. on the PC front you've got the chaintech av710, not sure if there is anything that cheap that good, used forums again. $20 will get you one used if you're lucky

well right now its my toshiba gigabeat s60 with rca outputs which sound decent. Not great at all but its not that bad either. Will it matter that much with such a "low end" system?

I'll probably get a toshiba dvd/cd player (one went for 5 bucks at the nyc head-fi meet auction! but it was "broken" the guy who got it opened it up, blew out the dust and it started working again)

oh and I'm trying to get an alien dac off the forums but its proving difficult

 

[Uncle Erik]

Have you thought about building your own speakers? It's always the least expensive way to go and your dollar goes much further. For $100, I think you could pull off the Zigmahornet with some nice Fostex full range speakers:

http://www.melhuish.org/audio/DIYTQ12.html

If you're willing to spend a bit more, go for the Moth Cicadas. You can buy the drivers for $119 each through Eddie Current or Speaker City USA.

If you like the headphone sound, you'll probably like single drivers. One driver per channel, just like headphones, and you'll get the same cohesive, no-crossover, time-aligned sound that you're used to. Further, they're simple to build. No complex cabinets, usually just a box.

Best of all, you can run them with fleapower SET amps that have just a few watts. Those amps also power headphones quite nicely.

 

[Chiliman]

Uncle Erik, the Cicada drivers are nowhere to be found. Eddiecurrent is down and speaker city does not have them.

The zigmahornet, however, has me very intrigued. Do you personally have any experience with these speakers? For the price, I may just have to take the plunge...

 

[jinp6301]

i'll look into the diy ones but since I dont have any real materials here. It would be hard for me to construct one

 

[tstarn06]

I just picked up a T-Amp (thanks Uzziah), and have it connected to a pair of ancient KLH 24s (circa 1968), which a buddy gave me for free. The sound is awesome.

I see that on Amazon, a few T-Amp purchasers bought the BIC America DV62si Bookshelf Speakers, for $98, and rave about them for the most part. Another option if Athena's low end bookshelf speakers, but they are $149 a pair. Also, with the BIC's, there is a guy who can do some magic with the crossovers (you have to open up the speaker and send the crossovers to him) and it's supposed to be inexpensive. But even without the mod, they get good reviews in tandem with the T-Amp.

As Uzziah says, seeking out the used speaker sales is also a good idea. I am using an old Riovolt CD MP3 player as my source, but with no remote, it's a pain in the butt. May have to buy a cheap CD player so I can at least pause the CD from my office chair.

Postscript: Remembered I had an Apex DVD/MP3/CD player in the closet, and used an RCA to miniplug adapter to connect it to the T-Amp. It has a remote, but limited functionality (for example, no random play), but it sounds better than the Riovolt. An inexpensive upgrade (it was $30 at Best Buy).

 

[jinp6301]

should I just pay $200+ for for the Onix/av123 x-ls bookshelf speakers? Is it much of a difference?

 

[bundee1]

I subscribe to the theory that you should get one component you can build on, so when it comes time to upgrade you can build on that component. Id go for the Onix speakers. Try to get b-stock or used pairs from AV123.com. You'll need something better than a T-amp to drive them though. I think their sensitivity is low.

 

[jinp6301]

hmm, maybe I'll try to pick up a vintage marantz reciever?

 

[Buggs]

Here are a couple good deals on used small Polks. Check out CL and ebay. Shipping is about $25 on both pair if you go that way. The RT7 is a little larger.

Polk RT7

Polk RT35i

Polk RT25i

You can get them all for ~$100 pair off ebay, cheaper if you can ID them and the seller cannot (use the link for the picture). CL is cheaper by far.

 

[sleepkyng]

www.tsto.com has good mission speakers - they'll be driven by the t-amp fine and you'll be happy with the sound.

stick with the t-amp.

 

[jinp6301]

thanks guys I'll look into those!

 

[sschell]

Keep an eye on craigslist. Short of finding a pair on the street, its probably the best place to get speakers on a budget. My Boston A150s were free on craigslist, and my dad's KLH 32s were about $25 (with the matching receiver).

 

[Zenja]

From what it seems like to me, going DIY would be a really good idea.