Super low budget for PC Speakers (UK) ~£50

[Ulti]

Dear Head-Fi,
 
I know £50 is not much, but I'm not really willing to spend more on speakers as I'm a student, I know around 3 years down the line I'll definitely be willing to spend over £100 for speakers though.
 
I've had a couple of different sets, currently using the Creative T3130 and they sound really crap and have a problem with the cable in the back becoming loose easily (my desk is also a mini workstation so it shakes a lot) so I'm trying to get them refunded by Scan as it's really annoying me to fidget around with the cable at the back. Now I've not really got much space on my table, it's about 39" long and my monitor is about 22.5" long with my PC about 3 inches thick (I can't build a Sandybridge desktop thinner than 3 inches) which means I've roughly got 13-14 inches to play with.
 
The speakers I remember using were Altec Lansing FX3022s and I actually quite liked the sound from them, I love clarity and vocals the most, probably followed by highs but I do like my lows to exist too but when I read a review of the highs dominating the other ends it puts me off getting them.
 
I've come to a choice between Creative T20s and Altec Lansing VS4621s. The Creative T20s are 2.0 speakers so do not come with the sub, that way I won't have to worry about the lows overpowering but I have to worry about them not existing, reviews seem to say they're "ok" ish though. It would also give me more space on my desk and won't take up all the space on it. The VS4621s however don't have many reviews and the ones that exist say they have muddy mids sometimes and underpowered satellites which puts me off them. However, I've had a good experience with the FX3022s but sold them to a friend and another friend said try any 2.1 system and it'll beat the FX3022 but obviously his advice was either wrong, his musical taste sucked or I just don't know.
 
The headphones I'm using are the Shure 440s with 840 pads and my IEMs are Xears XE200PRO. You can tell I'm a budget student
 
I know for PCs, getting used bookshelf/monitor speakers along with an amp would be best, but that's simply not viable with £50.
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[JRG1990]

If you can spend a bit more these are decent http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-Studio-R1600T-Professional-Speakers/dp/B0038JULWW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1318275341&sr=8-8 .
 
You can almost do amp and bookshelfs http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stereo-Watt-Audio-Amplifier-home/dp/B003ZLMFE0/ref=sr_1_sc_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1318275728&sr=1-9-spell , http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustic-Solutions-bookshelf-speakers-Black/dp/B001TJ1Q9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318275714&sr=8-1 , £55 total

 

[Ulti]

Well £75 is about 50% more, but when I look at that, it's about £25. I only get income of about £80 a week in which I need to set aside £20 for travel and it costs about £10 per day for food so I rarely save anything. Anyways, enough about my life.
 
Which would you recommend? The amp + bookshelf you listed or the Edifier R1600T? If I spend the same amount as the Edifier R1600T on bookshelf + amp, would I be able to get something more to my taste?
 
Also, I notice a lot of monitors and bookshelves are usually 2.0 up to about the £100 range, maybe even the same in a higher range. As I said, I don'tlike overpowering bass, just like it to be warm and there, will these systems be right for me or do I need a subwoofer. I do have to say the Altec FX3022s suited my music taste nicely (although I'm sure it's far from true good) and it was sort of 2.0/2.2 which I imagine these 2.0 systems will be the same as.
 
EDIT: Also, which is more important, the amp or the speakers? I don't mind spending a little more on the amp/speaker if it means I won't have to upgrade it in the future.

 

[JRG1990]

The Altec FX3022, have a 4" sub, the edifiers have 5" drivers and are designed to be low budget monitors so your get a flattish frequency responce but they have bass and treble controls on the side so you can adjust them to your liking there sound way better than the Altec's for any music, if you spend more on the passive set-up you could get some better speakers.

 

[Ulti]

The Edifier R1600T is £75 currently, and for something that I'll probably upgrade in the future I'm not really too tempted on grabbing, but would it better than what I could get out of a amp + speakers?
 
Would be great if you could answer in more detail to the questions I posted:
 
"Which would you recommend? The amp + bookshelf you listed or the Edifier R1600T? If I spend the same amount as the Edifier R1600T on bookshelf + amp, would I be able to get something more to my taste?"
 
"Also, which is more important, the amp or the speakers? I don't mind spending a little more on the amp/speaker if it means I won't have to upgrade it in the future."
 
Many thanks! I really appreciate your help!

 

[JRG1990]

For £75 you won't get an amp and speakers that betters the edifiers unless you buy secondhand off ebay or gumtree, With the passive set-up the speakers are the most important amps are solidstate eletronics and sound the same but some do pair better with certain speakers. The £30 T-amp will be fine for all small speakers with small drivers unless you want high spl, for larger speakers your need to spend more on a more powerful amp the next T-amp up is £60. Your need to spend atleast £100 to get some decent speakers you won't want to upgrade from or about £75 if you go second hand.

 

[Ulti]

Well I'm starting to get quite busy with uni work and life so I'm not going to have much time to fuss around with second hand although I'd like to.
 
I've ordered the R1600T, hopefully it arrives soon!
 
Thanks for your help once again!

 

[Ulti]

Loving the speakers! Another Edifier R1600T fan here! Tons better than the Creative T3130s! My room is a bit small though so I don't think I've got optimal speaker placement as they're just next to my monitor about 50cm in front of me, or rather on the side of me, but they give good enough sound! I'm very happy with it so I don't think I will upgrade for a lnog while, the looks are pretty good too as I've taken of the dust protector plastic thing.
 

 
Just enough space on my desk as you can see!

 

[mark2410]

they really are getting quite a lot of love from what ive seen.

 

[nagual]

Quote:

Loving the speakers! Another Edifier R1600T fan here! Tons better than the Creative T3130s! My room is a bit small though so I don't think I've got optimal speaker placement as they're just next to my monitor about 50cm in front of me, or rather on the side of me, but they give good enough sound! I'm very happy with it so I don't think I will upgrade for a lnog while, the looks are pretty good too as I've taken of the dust protector plastic thing.
 

 
Just enough space on my desk as you can see!

I´ve read in a review somewhere,  that there were 02 models of the R1600T, the standard and the "Plus", the last one with a stronger bass.
Which one do you get, and how about the bass ?

 

[Ulti]

Quote:

I´ve read in a review somewhere,  that there were 02 models of the R1600T, the standard and the "Plus", the last one with a stronger bass.
Which one do you get, and how about the bass ?

Ah I got the Plus and I've set the bass to 50%, it's plenty of bass at 50%, it's about going into basshead quantity IMO. Someone would think I've got an additional subwoofer hidden somewhere (well the bass isn't SO strong but it's pleasant and abundant). 
 
I've got the treble turned to about 70% ish and along with the bass it sounds great and very warm to me, I was worried that these were going to be a bit like monitor speakers (although I've never tried them) and not have enough bass but it can offer plenty, and I must mention it's nice super fast/tight punchy bass as opposed to muddy droning sort of bass. I'd say this definitely has more bass than my Creative T3130 (2.1) and sounds a bit similar to my Altec Lansing FX3022 but with much more clarity, slightly less mids and more bass for sure with more of a high and low end.
 
I'm an audionoob though so take my words with a pinch of salt!