[gallardo88]

Hi.

I recently bought an akai mpk with accompanying software (reason), and I'm having some fun making tracks, although I am a somewhat new to the whole thing and not very good yet.
Anyways, i'd like some speakers for my computer for the previously described activity and just to listen to music and watch movies.

I have little experience with speakers, but here's what I'm looking for:

I'd be very interested in buying speaker/sub kits. I saw some of the bookshelf speaker kits on parts-express which seem within my price range; I didnt find many other options (kits) to compare to though. Maybe you guys can give some other options.?
Ideally I want a Sub, because bass is pretty important for my usage.
I'm looking for medium/large bookshelf speakers/studio monitors.
DIY not a necessity.

As far as what sound I'm looking for:
I need something precise/detailed to pick out single instruments/etc. But not overly so where it could make it bad for listening to music for pure enjoyment. Don't need something very bassy as I'm hoping the sub can take care of that.

Now, I'm not sure whether I should be looking for powered speakers or not, because I have no experience with speaker amps. Also, I'll be running these out of my computer, so I would need a DAC because my soundcard is pretty bad. Is there any way to combine the two?

So, basically:
bookshelf speakers
sub
amp/dac (or a way to connect to my computer with decent quality)
all for under 700.

is this possible? how to make it all work together and suggestions for individual components? thanks a lot.

btw this set up will be temporary, so if I upgrade itll be starting from scratch, which means I'm not really interested in saving up for something thats marginally better,

again, thanks

 

[mminutel]

It's possible but you are pretty limited. Look at the designs from Zaph Audio if you want to do DIY. You can get the kits from Madisound. May I suggest cutting the sub out for now? Most bookshelves that you build should be able to get down to 55Hz or maybe even lower. For music, they shouldn't lack in the bass that much, but movies would be a different story. I think it would be hard to meet your budget with the sub, though.

If you don't want to DIY. The Energy RC-10s are on sale at Vanns.com for $300 and I got a free speaker stand out of them. They are great speakers for the price.

What kind of sound card do you have in your computer? The dac/amp combo could be a lot, too, depending on what you go with. I decided to go the vintage route and saved some money. That doesn't appeal to some people, though. You can get something from the Marantz 22** line to drive them. I have the 2235B and can only set the knob to about 1/3 of a turn before they are too loud so the 35 watt version has enough power. Like I said, though, this may not appeal to you. I can't recommend any new amps for you though as I don't know about them. As for the DAC, you can get a budget dac with usb inputs and have what I consider "decent quality".

 

[driftingbunnies]

I think it's possible. Get a HK3390, find a pair of used paradigm speakers like atoms or titans, and then look through craigslist for a sub. DACs can be upgraded later so something like a musiland DAC should be good enough for now. While a sub can be important if you deal with a lot of bass, the subs in this price range wouldn't be that accurate anyway so having asub might not be as important as you think. However, sometimes you can find great deals on craigslist so ymmv.

 

[RicHSAD]

Another vote for the RC-10. They seem to be what you are looking for. If you want a matching sub, you can get the Energy ESW-V8 for $225 @ wwstereo. It is a great little sub for listening to music. Then you'd just need an amp/receiver of some kind.

 

[Kitarist]

Hm i wanted to go with wharfedales now i'm really not sure what to get lol

 

[ScarlettD]

Yup, I also think that RC-10 is a great option to have