Best 2.1 Speakers - Anything better than the Klipsch iFis?

Hullo,

I'm now back in the market for 2.1 speakers after my Klipsch iFs died a year ago. I bought them refurbished on eBay from Klipsch's own reseller back in 2006. I would like to know whether there are any 2.1 setups that can match or beat the iFis for sound quality for under $250. The closest match I've seen is the BX5A deluxe+subwoofer setup.

 

That great if they lasted pretty long and they were refurbished. Did you blast them really loud sometimes? The best 2.1 setup is again klipsch's lol. Pro media 2.1, its right in your range of 150, best buy, amazon sells them.

 

Nope, didn't blast 'em. I read somewhere it has something to do with a problem found with many 2.1 speakers out there, which is the receiver burning out after 3-4 years. My brother replaced the internal fuse twice and would find after an hour or so of use that the fuse had burnt out again. I got tired of repairing the speakers and tossed them.

So there's nothing better out there?! It's been 5 years since they were first introduced! Have the electronics makers decided that the desktop speaker market isn't worth pursuing? In this day and age of rising internet speeds, I've ditched my TV and I now watch all my movies and TV shows on my 24" monitor!

 

But i would consider the logitech Z2300 you can some good refurbished ones for also 90 bucks. It has a large 8 inch sub compared to a 6 and a half inch one for the pro-media. Yeah mine was repaired also by a friend due to a friend of ours coming back in a wheelchair and it must of hurt too hard on the cable and well that broke off and what i don't like about klipschs the most is the pins it also became broken because i was pushing in the wrong way and my friend also pushed it in, its fine now but the problem is i can never move the the setup around alone. It has best buy warranty for two years though i should get it replaced.

 

Yeah, there's a deal right now for a new set of Z-2300s for under $100. Kind of makes me sad to be downgrading from the iFis.

 

That aside, would you recommend any EXTERNAL sound cards for my laptop I should use alongside whatever speakers I'm planning to buy.

 

I'll vouch for the Z-2300; I've been happy with mine for years. The Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 is another solid choice.

 

Yes both are very good, just if you want extra bass then go for it, but since your budget is 250 would you think about upgrading to a 5.1 setup? The Z5500s? You can get them refriburb for 300 bucks

 

Hehe, I'm going to pass on any 5.1 setups. Takes up too much space. I'm rooming in a 1-room studio starting July and I'm planning to also run a dual-monitor setup with my laptop and 24" monitor. It'll be tough crapping 4 satellites, 1 laptop, and 1 monitor onto a desktop.

 

BTW...

After some more realistic budgeting, I've decided to settle for the Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speaker set. Figured I might as well pair with an ok sound card and upgrade 3-4 years down the road.

What I would like to know is whether either of the sound cards listed below are supported by my laptop's OS, Windows Vista x64 and whether either card is preferable over the other for playing music and movies. Are there any issues I should be aware of?

X-Mod Card

Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook

Further info: From what I've read in Creative's forums, there is limited software support for both. People seem to have mixed experiences with them.


Thanks!

 

What laptop do you currently have anyway, its the soundcard in your notebook that makes a difference you can always use certain software anyway. I have never used that one before the X-mod, i have the soundblaster just not that one, the more portable one. It should work fine but your not going to see much of a difference. Good you decided to settle on that. I been thinking of upgrading to a Z5,500, i have space that can be needed just will blow away my grandma lolz. You should upgrade to windows 7

 

G50VT-X5

Nope, I'm not upgrading to Win7. It runs hot on my laptop.

 

Bought the X-Mod from Amazon.com for about $32 after taxes. I'm not expecting it to make a world of a difference with the Logitech Z-2300 which I've opted for. I've decided to go strict budget mode even on my toys until my school debt is all paid for.

 

Alright well i had the G50VT horrible cooling you should consider cooper modding it. Good Choices i would like to see some video reviews of the two new toys your getting lol. Yeah it is hard to not get some new tech with it all coming out, it truly is a great time being a freaking Geek, Revenge of the nerds! lol.

 

Hah. Well, I'm trying to keep my G50VT going strong without doing any unnecessary modding. I don't game often as I used to and the thermal paste seems to be holding up fine. I plan to reapply the paste and blow out dust every few months.

And the Z-2300 aren't really worth bragging about. These are tough times, so I'm budgeting by going for these. Probably upgrade when I find myself swimming in cash and growing more money trees in my backyard!

 

I know you've made up your mind already, but I've been rocking the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1's for quite some time now and couldn't be happier. At one point I had the Logitech Z5500 and Z2300 in the same room and compared them side by side, and it was a pretty clear choice. Either way you should be pretty happy though =)

 

Dude. Use some freakin' punctuation.

 

Yeah, the ProMedia's are much nicer for classical music. But at the end of the day, the Z3200s were the clear winner. $88.54 after $25 easy rebate for Left4Dead 2 and watching movies. Cheapest I found the Promedia 2.1s for was $149.99 before California taxes and shipping.


Once again, I've become extremely budget-oriented. Once I get a real job 3 years down the road that pays for rent, bills, loans, food, and leaves me with plenty left for goodies, I'm definitely jumping on a $300+ rig.

 

i love my z2300s ever sense i got them

before i had creatives 7.1s which was nice but i wanted more kick which the 2300s has that.

i used them for gaming sense they hooked up too my gaming desktop and i stream music threw them mostly always and sounds nice.

and again they really loud lol the sub really kicks and when just turn up little up too half way and windows sound on around 20 or 30 it shakes my desk and shakes mostly everything in the house even some metals outside of the house lol

and and they really clear.


i might get a 2nd pair and used them for a home theater sense my coby budget 5.1 home theater just not powerful as i want it mainly the sub...


than i added a xrocker gaming chair with the 2300s hook up too it as my computer chair and sounds really nice together

i paid around 130 for mine at bestbuy months ago and was well worth it.

 

Trust me, you do not want to use the Z-2300's for a home theatre. They would sound extremely bad for that sort of use, where you have a distance. They don't market different configs of speakers to be aimed at the HT market and PC audio market for no reason.

What you want for a home theatre is some good bookshelves or floor standing speakers. They will give you the kick you want, particularly if you get a good amp, and shell out for some good speakers, and will have a much more balanced sound. The Z-2300's tend to be a bit lacking in terms of mids, and therefore a lot of the experience is lost, because they overall sound either too boomy or or too harsh on the highs.

Trust me, my JBL HLS615's sound much better than my Z-2300's, and they are relatively cheap floorstanding speakers.

 

It's sad, the I-Fis were about the best computer speakers ever made. The I-Fis were practically HT speakers packaged for a computer.

I have the Altec lansing MX5021s or whatever... they're pretty decent (but I know they weren't I-Fi quality).

Klipsch Ultras were also supposed to be pretty good, but they've seem to fallen out of favor.

I guess our only solution is to jerry rig an amp to the PC.

 

Seems to me the next best solution is buying 2 Quintet satellites ($99 each) and a subwoofer. It'll run over $300 altogether, but what can we do?

 

I did a quick experiment with that one day (I used my laptop and hooked it up to my HT receiver using a 3.5mm to RCA cable). The output was terrible... I still need to follow up on that experiment.

Update us if you get it to work properly.

Also, what are you going to use for a receiver?

 

To be honest, I've never tried it before.

I don't know a whole lot about speakers. But isn't the subwoofer or the soundcard supposed to act as the receiver? I'm currently on my Logitech Z-2300s with a Creative XMod soundcard.

 

hmm they sound fine too me when i watch movies on my pc when i sit about 6 or 7 foot from them.

ya i like too get floor stand speakers and a better amp and a sub but that will have too wait sense im very tight on money right now but the z2300s should easy replace the coby home theater i have now that says its 1000 watts which isint really true..

but usely when i watch movies with my z2300s all i got too do is turn down the bass if its too boomy and its fine.


but ya mainly what the coby is lacking very bad is the boomy which i like in my movies or games and the z2300s has tons of that.

maybe i should try a nice sub with the coby.

 

can u just hook up a sound bar w/ wireless sub to yur laptop via headphone jack?

 

Edifier S530 or Edifier S730?

Unfortunately im not quite sure of the price,

Z2300 work fine for movies and games, you don't need shelves or floor standing for that unless you really wan't to go past the z2300 level, the lack of mids will only really effect music but the 8 inch sub in the 2300 makes up for it.

Adjustments to EQ levels will help counter any sharp highs or overly boomy lows,

 

i'm about to pick up some klipsch promedia 2.1's since i've had so many logitech products already. i wanted to change it up and a bit and see if the promedia's live up to some of their reviews. i really wanted the z-2300 for it's nice bass cuz i will be using it for games and HD anime/movies, but we'll see.