Topic: top recommended pc speakers?

[Teen Wolf Blitzer]

From my research the best rated seem to be the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 or the Logitech Z2300.  And recs?  What are you all running?

[Gordon]

here's what I have and love them 

http://www.amazon.com/Edirol-MA-15D-Digital-Stereo-Monitors/dp/B0009HMRCI

[boojum]

In NASCAR they say, "Speed costs money.  How fast do you want to go?"

What is your price range on this, Mark?

[mattmiller]

These are absolutely awesome:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Certified-505-Watt-Digital-Surround/dp/B0002WPSBC

And the tech support has been really good.  For some reason, the backlight on the control pod starting dimming on me.  After trying a couple of troubleshooting ideas through Logitech, they sent me an entire new system, and only made me send back my defective control pod.  So now I've got backups of all of the speakers and sub in the event that anything goes wrong with any of them.

EDIT to add: Damn!  These are $350 now.  I just checked my old Amazon invoices, and the price was $215 (plus $40 shipping) when I bought them on 5/29/08.

[ghellquist]

PC speakers are not really made for mixing or mastering. They are made to make things sound good on a small budget for the mass market. This means that they probably have a very tailored frequency response, often with a typical bump in the bass drum region to make small speakers sound larger. As such they are very good when playing computer games and when listening to finished recordings. As tools for serious music production they are rather limited though.

What you really want to have when mixing and mastering music is tools that you can rely on to convey the bitter truth. A bad recording should sound bad, allowing you to fix it as good as possible. The effect of any fix should be easy to hear. There is a large market out there with "studio monitors" supposedly giving you that. They start at a price above the computer speaker market and goes into sky high. Again quality does cost. But there really is a large difference. They really should be connected through specialized sound card as the built-in sound card will not give you the full picture. Add to this that in order to be able to hear low frequency accurately you absolutely need to treat your room acoustically. It might however kill the joy you have in listening as you will start hearing a lot of "bad things" instead of the pure joy of music. Sorry, there is no free lunch.

// Gunnar

[Teen Wolf Blitzer]

Thanks for the recs guys.  I don't need these for mastering really.  I do most of my mixdowns with my Grados.  Just wanted something a bit nicer to listen to music on the pc than my stock Dell speakers.  I'm going with the Edirols me thinks.  About the top of my pricepoint.  I'm betting anything will be an improvement over the tiny Dell speakers.   

[Gordon]

I'm going with the Edirols me thinks.  About the top of my pricepoint.  I'm betting anything will be an improvement over the tiny Dell speakers.   

I was told the guts of those are the same as the ua5.  I do all my mastering on them.  they sound excellent.

[kcmule]

I'm going with the Edirols me thinks.  About the top of my pricepoint.  I'm betting anything will be an improvement over the tiny Dell speakers.   

I was told the guts of those are the same as the ua5.  I do all my mastering on them.  they sound excellent.

I've got a pair of MA-10D on my desk at work.  They are fine for here.
I used to have them at home (for mastering - meh/belch).  I've got a
pair of Alesis 520's now (still small and sound MUCH better)

[Fried Chicken Boy]

I have a pair of M-Audio DX4's which were the precursor to the AV40's.  While you can spend a small (or even large) fortune on studio monitors, the prices on the M-Audio ones are very reasonable.  I'm still using mine, they sound great and are perfect for my current needs.  My .02.

[KenH]

Based on recommendations here, I picked up a Class T Amp for $40 shipped and use it to drive 2 Klipsch KG 2.5's that I picked up used for 100 bucks.  It sounds fantastic imo!   

Here's the amp, which is tiny!   
http://cgi.ebay.com/MUSE-T-AMP-TA2024-Class-T-HI-FI-Integrated-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ280419111917QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414a4813ed

[sparkey]

Wilson Watt Puppies

[mattmiller]

I just checked my speakers on Amazon again and see that they're  now $385. 

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Certified-505-Watt-Digital-Surround/dp/B0002WPSBC

When I bought them the middle of last year, they were $215.  When I first responded to this thread a month ago, they were $350.  And now a month later, $385.  Is this common with Amazon or with speakers in general?  Do they normally fluctuate in price every time the weather changes?

[boojum]

Wilson Watt Puppies

Yup; they'd be good.  A little pricey, but really good.    ;o)

[jerryfreak]

i think youre money would be better spent on small powered studio monitors like krk, event, etc.

you can get a pair of krk rokits for a few hundred dollars. in fact i have a pair here thats not even being used. i think theyre the RP6, maybe RP8.

[newscane]

Anyone have any suggestions for speakers in the sub-$100 range?  I'm looking at the Altec Lansing VS4121 2.1 system: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836113017
(I've found them for less on Walmart.com... eeek.)  The Newegg reviews seem promising, but I'd really like to hear them first (haven't found them locally, yet) ... or get the opinions of this crew.  Anyone?