[dclaz]

Hey guys,
 
Been interested in getting some decent PC speakers to pair with a Titanium HD/Xonar STX for a while now. Had my eyes on the Swan MK200III or the Audioengine A5+ or something, but from reading a lot of threads here I've gathered that these can be very directional (near field). Is there any recommendations for speakers that are both suitable for close listening and also filling a room with sound? in the $200-$500 price range....
 
Cheers
 

 

[TMRaven]

Nearfield speakers are still going to fill a room with sound. Usually when people mean they're only suited for nearfield purposes, they're talking about mixing, where imaging might be slightly more coherent and frequency balance might be slightly flatter in mix position. Nearfield monitors will still do a good job filling a room with sound, though.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Been interested in getting some decent PC speakers to pair with a Titanium HD/Xonar STX for a while now. Had my eyes on the Swan MK200III or the Audioengine A5+ or something, but from reading a lot of threads here I've gathered that these can be very directional (near field). Is there any recommendations for speakers that are both suitable for close listening and also filling a room with sound? in the $200-$500 price range.

I'm not an Audio expert....but.
 
Newegg has Polk Audio Monitor speakers on sale, like the Monitor 40s ($120/pair) & 50s ($160/pair)
And the Yamaha RX-V371 A/V receiver is selling for $180 with free shipping.
If your PC has an HDMI output and your monitor has an HDMI input.
You can run HDMI from PC to Yamaha to monitor and do not really need to buy a separate sound card.
 
 

 

[dclaz]

Quote:

Nearfield speakers are still going to fill a room with sound. Usually when people mean they're only suited for nearfield purposes, they're talking about mixing, where imaging might be slightly more coherent and frequency balance might be slightly flatter in mix position. Nearfield monitors will still do a good job filling a room with sound, though.

Ahh okey dokey. Just that I've read a few posts about how much difference it makes when you're not on the right angle/directly in front etc.

 
Quote:

I'm not an Audio expert....but.
 
Newegg has Polk Audio Monitor speakers on sale, like the Monitor 40s ($120/pair) & 50s ($160/pair)
And the Yamaha RX-V371 A/V receiver is selling for $180 with free shipping.
If your PC has an HDMI output and your monitor has an HDMI input.
You can run HDMI from PC to Yamaha to monitor and do not really need to buy a separate sound card.
 
 

I've thought about doing something like this, but it seems like you can't get anything with better DAC's than those soundcards without paying far more. Those soundcards have that AV receiver beat easily in specs, and I have no other uses for the receiver at my computer.
 
 
 

 

[obobskivich]

Specs that don't really make an audible difference.
 
The Yamaha is a good idea, and the speakers are a good idea too. You also get a remote. 
Quote:

I've thought about doing something like this, but it seems like you can't get anything with better DAC's than those soundcards without paying far more. Those soundcards have that AV receiver beat easily in specs, and I have no other uses for the receiver at my computer.
 
 
 

 

 

[astrallite]

Impossible to tell without seeing off-axis frequency plots and entry-level speakers are rarely reviewed by large publications.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Impossible to tell without seeing off-axis frequency plots and entry-level speakers are rarely reviewed by large publications.

The Polk Audio Monitor series has positive reviews from Consumer Reports.
The Yamaha comes with surround sound for headphones.
 
 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Quote:

I'm not an Audio expert....but.
 
Newegg has Polk Audio Monitor speakers on sale, like the Monitor 40s ($120/pair) & 50s ($160/pair)
And the Yamaha RX-V371 A/V receiver is selling for $180 with free shipping.
If your PC has an HDMI output and your monitor has an HDMI input.
You can run HDMI from PC to Yamaha to monitor and do not really need to buy a separate sound card.
 
 

I've thought about doing something like this, but it seems like you can't get anything with better DAC's than those sound cards without paying far more. Those sound cards have that AV receiver beat easily in specs, and I have no other uses for the receiver at my computer.

With HDMI your feeding a digital audio signal straight into the Yamaha A/V receiver.
Comes with full Dolby Digital
The Yamaha comes with Silent Cinema, surround sound for headphones.
Also comes with 192/24 Burr-Brown DACs.
The RX-V371 use to sell for $250, but is discounted to make way for the new RX-373.
 
 
 

 

[astrallite]

Quote:

The Polk Audio Monitor series has positive reviews from Consumer Reports.
The Yamaha comes with surround sound for headphones.
 
 
 

Let me rephrase. Reviewed by audio publications. A Consumer Reports review has no measurements and is little more than paid advertising with no objective data.
 

 

[dclaz]

Specs that don't really make an audible difference.
 
The Yamaha is a good idea, and the speakers are a good idea too. You also get a remote. 
Quote:

I've thought about doing something like this, but it seems like you can't get anything with better DAC's than those soundcards without paying far more. Those soundcards have that AV receiver beat easily in specs, and I have no other uses for the receiver at my computer.
 
 
 

 

The difference in SNR seems quite large, is it not noticeable when this high? Above 90 or so?

I will look in to a receiver and some speakers like those Polk ones, but I definitely can't get prices that competitive here in Australia.

 

[obobskivich]

No it won't really be a big deal - not to mention that we're assuming those specs are valid, which they may not be (or they may be highly inflated or done under "ideal conditions"). It's basically a meaningless number in this context. 
 
In Australia, from what I've been told, Polk is relatively rare. Not sure if that's true, or what you have available to figure out what's equivalent. 
 
Quote:

The difference in SNR seems quite large, is it not noticeable when this high? Above 90 or so?
I will look in to a receiver and some speakers like those Polk ones, but I definitely can't get prices that competitive here in Australia.

 

 

[Mauricio]

The term "near-field" has a technical definition of sorts.  The "near-field" is the area within which direct sound from the speaker predominates relative to reflected sound from the room.  The more narrowly dispersing the speaker, the more elongated the "field" because reflections are reduced.  The more widely dispersing the speaker, the more flattened  the "field" because reflections are increased.  To get an idea of dispersion characteristics, here's the dispersion characteristics of a mid-range active monitor that sells for $1,500/pair.
 
Vertical Directivity

 
Horizontal Directivity

 
Note that because different frequencies attenuate through air and reflect off surfaces differently, the "near-field" is not a constant singular value, but rather a dynamic function of frequency and angle.  A widely dispersing speaker that "fills the room with sound" runs the real risk of being a speaker whose sound is largely the reflected sound from the room, and whose stereo image and frequency response may be sub-optimal or inaccurate because of it.

 

[dclaz]

Wow interesting. I guess there's always some level of compromise

 

[Mauricio]

Quote:

Wow interesting. I guess there's always some level of compromise

Yes.  Always.

 

[ninjikiran]

I would stay away from the audio engine A5's.  I heard a pair of polks in a display room and everything is nicer on them(cleaner, no oscillations).  The a5's have this wonky horrible sound to them with bass I would compare with beats audio, boomy with no real character.