Speakers!?!?!? I'm clueless!

Anyone know a thing or two about speakers?

So I've decided that I want some better sound than my laptop's built-in speakers. I picked some up the other day from Office Depot, got some Logitech Z313's for $50. And they're terrible.

The bass is nice and booming, and the trebles aren't bad, but anything mid-range is muddled and unclear. Re-balancing volumes doesn't help at all - these speakers are just physically incapable of providing crisp sound in the mid-range. They're so inadequate that my laptop's speakers are preferable.

Obviously, I need to take these back to the store and get something decent, but here's where the problem is - I have no idea what speakers are good. Obviously, I'm gonna get what I pay for to some extent, and I am a grad student, so $500 sets are out of the question. I'm looking for something around the $50-60 range, good bass is a plus, but it really needs to have good clarity. Maximum volume is low priority (woo! neighbors!).

And finding good speakers is made even harder by the fact that reviews from various speaker review sites contradict one another. One website will say that the Z313's are the best in their class, and the next will say that they're terrible. I can't figure out who to believe, and I haven't found one set that is unanimously lauded as a decent set of speakers for $60.

Can anyone recommend a good set of speakers, or a trustworthy website to guide me in my search?

 

It is a bit over your budget, but it's a far cry from $500...have a look at the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1. It's a stereo speaker + subwoofer set, and it's pretty solid quality for ~$100 if you can find it. Standard prices are well over that, but I've seen it as low as $80.

 

I have the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1. All I can say about them is: AWESOME

 

I own a set of these. VERY nice speakers with huge sound for the money.

 

I own Cambridge SoundWorks Amplified multimedia speakers (2+1) and love them, good bases, and overall great quality. Not sure if they are still available. I paid $80 for them.

 

Like everybody said Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 is a nice set of speaker at a cheap price.
Check out the MAudio AV40. With my limit sound taste, it beats the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 by a good margin. Lowest price I have ever seen is $100.

 

I like the Creative Gigaworks T40's. Not 2.1 but a nice balanced sound from a compact desktop speaker.

 

+1 to this. The Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's are legendary. Absolutely incredible sounding 2.1 speaker set that will blow away the sound quality from any "multimedia" speaker set in its class.

You can still find them new or used for around $80-$120.

 

I'm using the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1, but I'm thinking about trying out the MAudio AV40 next.

 

If you really want a bump in audio, try getting your hands on a pair of Swans M200. They also have the M200MKII and M200MKIII. They are the same design, with incremental improvements over the previous generation.

 

Speakers 101: Listen!

Sorry OP, but you don't always get what you pay for. In the speaker business, price doesn't necessarily equate to a better sound.

For one thing, some manufactures don't always spend money on quality sound material. Instead, they may spend it on aesthetic or improving convenience of hook-up/mounting etc. The only foolproof way you have of knowing which speaker is good and which are not, is to listen to them. Just pull out your favorite CD, and look for the stores that will let you do just that.

Never buy a speaker without knowing what it sounds like. If you do, you could be setting yourself up for a great disappointment.


Note: I'm referring to speakers $100+. The cheaper ones don't need that much attention.

 

Be careful about places like Best Buy...they usually have plenty of speakers up for demo, but it's impossible to get a good impression of what they really sound like because of the acoustics. Best Buy is essentially a single giant empty room with lots of open space. Speakers will sound nothing like the way they'll sound in your home, presumably in a bedroom or office.

 

i've actually been considering a set of swan speakers for a while now. i might pick up one of their nicer 2.1 systems to see how well they compare to my promedia 2.1's.

 

I haven't tried some of their 2.1 speakers, since they came out after I got my set of Swans M200's. At the time (back in 2006), a very popular combo among top-end multimedia speakers was a pair of Swans M200's ($300) and a Dayton 10" subwoofer ($99).

But in any case, I think that you'll be happy with Swans. Swans speakers are hot .

 

Looks like all of these suggestions are a bit over my price range. The cheapest I've found the Klipsch speaks for is around $120, which is, like, a month's worth of food (or a week's worth of beer).

I feel like it shouldn't be that hard to substantially exceed my laptop's speaker quality. I'm also thinking I may have to purchase online, based on the poor quality of local electronics stores and the poor selection of the local BestBuys/Department Stores. I will probably have another look at the stores first, though.

 

If you are looking for high-quality audio on the cheap, have you considered a nice set of headphones / earphones? You can often find headphones that have sound quality that rival speakers that cost 5x - 10x more than the headphones.

For under $100, I would easily recommend Etymotic ER-6i, Shure SE115-K, or Klipsch S4i headphones. Those are all the hotness.

 

Generally, people who ask for speakers want speakers.

If you want sound that's accurate with a clear midrange, I hate to say it, but...You should look into studio monitors, since they are designed to have a flat response.

 

Recognizing good quality in speakers is an art. And like all arts it takes some amount of time and training to recognized what's good and what is not. Speaker experts are like connoisseurs of fine wine: without significant training--which 95% of the public does not have--all you can do is buy what you like based on what you know.

You should also keep in mind, the fundamental quality of all speakers is to reproduce the sound as close to the original as possible. And while no driver can do this consistently across the entire spectrum, the best speaker are those that can approximate that sound to produce the straightest line possible. That take a lot of technical knowhow, good materials (usually expensive), and fine craftsmanship to put it all together.

Getting all these things right is why you pay a premium for the best speakers. If sound is your primary interest, then you start with speakers. Otherwise, you set a budget, and get the best speaker at that price.

You should also know that speaker come in various categories depending on your taste. That's why some speakers produce more bass (ugh!) in exclusion to all else.

 

I would save toward the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System (Black), or even consider used, speaker unless they treated them bad should be fine.

Else i would consider heaphones, like Audio Technica ATH-AD700 or Audio Technica ATH-A700

 

I think I may settle down with what I've got now: Insignia NS-PCS41. Thanks for your input everyone.

So I took back my Logitechs, only to discover I had been swindled by Office Depot - they don't allow returns, only exchanges. So now I've got a $50 gift card for Office Depot that I don't want. I... guess I'll buy a new office chair, or something. Or maybe a boatload of printer paper.

After searching this city, I was rather disappointed in the selection in most stores. BestBuy had the most variety, but even they were pitiful. And they wouldn't let me test anything. But they do have an actual return policy, so I went ahead and grabbed the least sketchy-looking thing in my price range (actually I splurged with $70 on these things - I can just stop eating for a week to make up for it).

I hate buying blind like this, but I was low on choices. I've now unpackaged them, and blasting some Rachmaninov and Sibelius.

So far: I'm not exactly blown away by these speakers, but I am far from disappointed. The sound is about a thousand times less muddled than from the Logitechs. Mid-range is clear, treble isn't bad, and while bass isn't exactly booming (that was the one high point of the Logitechs), it is noticeably there, and remarkably clear.

Oh, and there are bass and treble controls! Brilliant!

Best of all, when I unplug these speakers, my laptop's built-in speakers sound tinny and fuzzy by comparison. That did not happen with the Logitechs.

I've got BestBuy's return policy's 30 days to decide, but so far these speakers are not losing.