[tedman633]

Hello everyone i am not sure if i am posting this in the right place so please forgive me if I am not. right now i have an asus g74sx republic of gamers laptop, audio technica ath m50 headphones, and i am about to buy the audioengine a2 speakers. Is there anything else i should get for my first set up? i can only cough out another $100 so is there anything else i should buy with this hundred? Also if you know of speaker better than the audioengines that are cheaper or the same price($200) let me know please.

Thanks all and happy listening

 

[jazzman92]

You considered looking on ebay for speakers/amps? I got a decent amp and speakers that although aren't exactly new (from around the 80s/90s) for around 50/60 GBP. Just do a little research and go for the best deals...

 

[cel4145]

I'm jealous. I've always wanted one of the Asus gaming laptops 

 
Since you are coming from the M50s, you might be disappointed in the A2s. The small drivers won't have any decent bass output. If this is mainly for gaming, I'd consider the Corsair 2.1 set first since it has a sub. If you are into music more and have room for them, I'd pair up larger passive speakers with a Lepai 2020A t-amp. You an get some really good sound that way, and speakers with larger drivers will have better bass, such as Polk Monitor40s or Energy RC-10s. With either of those, you'll get reasonable mid-bass output down to 60hz or so. 

 

[tedman633]

this is mainly for music cel. i was considering getting the fiio e7 how does that perform?

 

[cel4145]

I haven't heard the E7. 
 
What kind of room do you have for amp unit? If you go with passive speakers, pick up a $100 used AV receiver on Craigslist. I believe you have both mini toslink and HDMI out on that laptop. 

 

[tedman633]

just a regular old college room desk. and yes i have hdmi but i dont know what this mini toslink your talking about is

 

[cel4145]

Many laptops now have optical out through the headphone jack. Yours might have it. worth checking.
 
Then you would need an adapter like this to use with a regular optical cable, or an optical cable with that special kind of end to hook up a DAC with optical input. 

 

[mkegan]

No matter what hardware you have don't forget that things will sound much better if you use lossless files.