PC/ MP3/ CD Player Speakers on a budget


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fWord

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Jun 23, 2005
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Previously I posed a question here to ask about earbuds and headphones. Thanks so much to all who responded. Now I have a CK-7 plus an Xtra X-1, enjoying them thoroughly...and I'm quite a bit poorer. :bsmilie:

Currently I am no longer in Singapore but have shifted over to Australia to look for work. But because my room is rather bare I'm looking for a good set of speakers which can be hooked up to my PC, MP3 player or CD player. I'm not a gamer but I really love my music...primarily the Jazz and Bossa Nova stuff, occasionally Ambient and House. The speakers I currently use is an aged JBL Pro set (two satellites and one subwoofer) that came with a Compaq camera my Dad bought over a decade ago.

I did some searching in a couple of stores today and there were lots of Logitech speakers available. Are they any good? Creative, Altec Lansing and even TDK were on the shelves, but as with headphones, I am confused...is there any particular brand I should go for? I have a budget of around $100. But if there is an overwhelming recommendation for something, I may even stretch to $150 or so.

Are there any models or brands that you'd recommend for the purposes of music? My room is pretty small. Is there any reason to spring for 5-point speakers or should I simply stick to two?

Thanks, hope to hear your opinions on the matter.
 

since your budget is kinda tight, maybe creative / altec lansing is a good bet :)

do look for their specs, eg. how many watts of power in RMS (and not PMPO) and the frequency response.. preferably as close to 20Hz~20kHz as possible (thats the sound range a typical human can hear)
 

since your budget is kinda tight, maybe creative / altec lansing is a good bet :)

do look for their specs, eg. how many watts of power in RMS (and not PMPO) and the frequency response.. preferably as close to 20Hz~20kHz as possible (thats the sound range a typical human can hear)

Thanks for the advise. Yes, it's a common theme all the time...budget too tight. Or I guess it's just because I don't want to put too much money where it's not strictly needed.

During my hostel days, just about everyone would have told me to go for Altec Lansing, and they were the predominant one in stores as well. Now Logitech appears to be more common.

With headphones, I could go down to the shop to test everything. Now I simply have to buy based on what I read. :sweatsm:
 

With your budget, stick with 2.1 speakers. One suggestion is Logitech X-230. I'm sure there are other speakers out there just as good or better, but for around S$70, I feel it is quite good.
 

forget to emphasize a couple of points
1. number of satelites is not everything. i would rather spend $100 on a pair of wood material speakers that gives me more natural sounding audio than $100 on 4-5 plastic speakers..
2. also take into consideration whether you want a subwoofer or not (if your space is limited) or you need the extra 'bass' for your house music :)
3. seriously speaking, i would go for 'tried and tested' brands as they will probably give better support in case of equipment failure, but thats only me..
 

since your budget is kinda tight, maybe creative / altec lansing is a good bet :)

do look for their specs, eg. how many watts of power in RMS (and not PMPO) and the frequency response.. preferably as close to 20Hz~20kHz as possible (thats the sound range a typical human can hear)

Specs should only be used as a guide, but not as a deciding factor. Your ears is still the best judge.
 

With your budget, stick with 2.1 speakers. One suggestion is Logitech X-230. I'm sure there are other speakers out there just as good or better, but for around S$70, I feel it is quite good.

Hmm...that's one of the ones I saw in the store today. It's quite inexpensive for what it seems to offer. If I remember correctly, it was about A$55 in the store.
 

forget to emphasize a couple of points
1. number of satelites is not everything. i would rather spend $100 on a pair of wood material speakers that gives me more natural sounding audio than $100 on 4-5 plastic speakers..
2. also take into consideration whether you want a subwoofer or not (if your space is limited) or you need the extra 'bass' for your house music :)
3. seriously speaking, i would go for 'tried and tested' brands as they will probably give better support in case of equipment failure, but thats only me..

Heheh...the difficulty is finding $100 wood speakers. The ones I saw today were probably all plastic, although the TDK felt much more solid and heavier. Maybe those are the wood ones after all?

I'd definitely like to have a separate subwoofer. Whenever too many things get crammed into one, the performance is compromised. Dedicated satellites and woofer would do a better job, I'm guessing. A little bit of convincing bass is nice to have, even in a small room. :D

Which are the tried and tested brands? TDK for example, has been around for ages, but I don't know how well they make their speakers. Not to mention that the models I saw weren't exactly cheap compared to the Logitech. One of the TDK's models is just a single cube, if I'm not mistaken. That's probably an all-in-one, but the company claims it provides 2.1 channel sound.
 

i bought my JBL Creature II at $138 some mths ago. sounds great. :thumbsup:

ttz if u dun mind d price & if still available. :sweat:
 

i'm still using the jbl creature as it's still rather okay.

i'm using 20Gb ipod photo with x1 + akg 271. depending what are your primary needs. for portable i think your ck7 and x1 is more than enuff unless u want something like uE or westone? other speakers around that budget won't give u much of a difference. unless u really know how to rig your stuffs.
 

i bought my JBL Creature II at $138 some mths ago. sounds great. :thumbsup:

ttz if u dun mind d price & if still available. :sweat:

Thanks for the suggestion. If a certain model is recommended by an overwhelming amount of people, I'd definitely expand my budget a little. $138 is still manageable for me.
 

i'm still using the jbl creature as it's still rather okay.

i'm using 20Gb ipod photo with x1 + akg 271. depending what are your primary needs. for portable i think your ck7 and x1 is more than enuff unless u want something like uE or westone? other speakers around that budget won't give u much of a difference. unless u really know how to rig your stuffs.

Heheh...the X-1 and CK7 is great for portable audio. But currently I'm looking for a set of speakers which I'll place in my room permanently. If it's not hooked up to my PC, it'll be hooked up to my MP3 player...it's nice to have a bit of music while I research, read a book etc.

Come to think about it, I might have seen the JBL creature in Singapore. Looks like an octopus isn't it? :bsmilie: When you say that "it's still rather okay", does that mean you're a little dissatisfied with it?
 

Heheh...the X-1 and CK7 is great for portable audio. But currently I'm looking for a set of speakers which I'll place in my room permanently. If it's not hooked up to my PC, it'll be hooked up to my MP3 player...it's nice to have a bit of music while I research, read a book etc.

Come to think about it, I might have seen the JBL creature in Singapore. Looks like an octopus isn't it? :bsmilie: When you say that "it's still rather okay", does that mean you're a little dissatisfied with it?

i'm not very particular in my pc speakers as i'm in camp most of the time. i'm just not fussy bout what i hear at my com cos i'm not exactly concentrating much on the music. but i'm particular bout my songs in my ipod and most of them are ripped out from cds at 320kb.

i'm getting these speakers.

i expect great sounds from my portable as im listening more to it when im outside. i might be changing my amp to a headamp ae2 as well.

ae2 which costs about 600 in sg =\ depending on budget anyway :cry:
 

i'm still using the jbl creature as it's still rather okay.

i'm using 20Gb ipod photo with x1 + akg 271. depending what are your primary needs. for portable i think your ck7 and x1 is more than enuff unless u want something like uE or westone? other speakers around that budget won't give u much of a difference. unless u really know how to rig your stuffs.

Im using the creature II as well... it's clear crisp and sharp and low and mid range, but once i push it, can actually hear the plastic tremos..

Doesn't work very well with heavy base

but other then that, so far so good for a small room for lounge, bossanova, jazz
 

i blur blur & dumb dumb, bought another set of altec lansing speakers as i thought my previous one (Creative) spoilt. i didnt check my adjusting of volume icon... thought why i could only hear 1 side .... now i have 2 sets lor. both work well for me :)
 

Im using the creature II as well... it's clear crisp and sharp and low and mid range, but once i push it, can actually hear the plastic tremos..

Doesn't work very well with heavy base

but other then that, so far so good for a small room for lounge, bossanova, jazz

eh, did u put d subwoofer on ur PC desk? try putting it on d floor by stacking 2 or more floor tiles (ceramics sounds gd, so does homogenous 1s) + rubber studs. 2 isolate d sub. :)

d tiles + rubber studs combo works v well for subs tt roar! :sweatsm:
 

eh, did u put d subwoofer on ur PC desk? try putting it on d floor by stacking 2 or more floor tiles (ceramics sounds gd, so does homogenous 1s) + rubber studs. 2 isolate d sub. :)

d tiles + rubber studs combo works v well for subs tt roar! :sweatsm:

OH

its on my floor, marbled maybe its my table shaking from the base! haha
 

i'm not very particular in my pc speakers as i'm in camp most of the time. i'm just not fussy bout what i hear at my com cos i'm not exactly concentrating much on the music. but i'm particular bout my songs in my ipod and most of them are ripped out from cds at 320kb.

i'm getting these speakers.

i expect great sounds from my portable as im listening more to it when im outside. i might be changing my amp to a headamp ae2 as well.

ae2 which costs about 600 in sg =\ depending on budget anyway :cry:

Man...sounds like you've got deep pockets. Look at those speakers! :bigeyes:

That's true. In the past I was mostly on the road as well, so portable audio is a lot more important to me. Now that I've had a change of routine, I might be driving around, being at the workplace most of the time and only returning home in the evenings. That's when I find a stable job of course.
 

Im using the creature II as well... it's clear crisp and sharp and low and mid range, but once i push it, can actually hear the plastic tremos..

Doesn't work very well with heavy base

but other then that, so far so good for a small room for lounge, bossanova, jazz

Hmm...seems there's a number of votes for the Creature. I'll need to keep my eyes peeled for it. Have not seen it in shops at the moment.

Yes, I don't really listen to bass heavy music. But I would definitely like to hear it if it should be present. I find that bass really gives things like bossa nova and jazz a sense of 'presence'. Like I'm in a lounge in front of a live band.
 

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