2. pc-audio
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$250 Computer Sound

Recently the crappy speakers my computer came with bought the farm, and now I'm in the market for new ones. I know computer speakers (especially cheap ones) are notoriously crappy, but as a teenager with little income I'm just not willing to spend more than about $250 for a complete audio solution.
I've read up on this stuff for a few days and it seems like there are a few tears of PC-audio. Bottom of the barrel are the <$80 computer speakers. Then there are a few speaker systems in the $90-$180 range that cater to people who want "good" audio from a computer but still don't really approach mid-fi quality. Then, apparently one could get decent audio from a computer by using external amplifiers with mid or hi-fi monitors and eschewing the crappy "multimedia" speakers usually passed off on computer users. Is it possible that I could put together a decent system like that for under two or three hundred dollars?

I think the answer is going to be no, so my next question is which of the $90-$180 2.1 computer speakers is the best? I know they all suck relative to the stuff talked about here, but please humor me. The Altec Lansing 621's can be had for around $100. Is the %70 price increase upgrading to Klipsch Promedia 2.1's (at $170) going to yield a comperable performance increase? These two systems look like my top choices. Anybody have suggestions? Thanks.
patrickfwdb231

Showing 1 response by jc2000

jc2000
92 posts
 
I've also heard good things about the Monsoon.

Going with hi-fi speakers and amplifiers would possibly be the best from a sonic perspective. There's a lot of good, cheap, used equipment out there. However, it might take careful shopping and some time to get a good package for $250 or less. But, it might be worth it. For example, AMC had a amp once that allowed one to mix inputs (so you can use it for a CD player and a computer at once). I never heard it, but I bet that it would sound better than many/most/maybe even all computer speaker amps. As for speakers, you'd need something that could be used "near field."

I also wonder if headphones (possibly with a good amp) wouldn't be a good buy. They would give good sound, and could be used in other applications.
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