Buying 2.1 computer speakers, your suggestions please

I have it narrowed down to Corsair SP 2500 vs Bose Companion 3 series.

Which is preferred.

Are there any others /brands I should look at? Links appreciated.

Thanks ^^
/ESA

I'm more a fan of buying separates and not systems, but if you're out for a pre-built set like that then the only other one I can think of is the Klipsch Promedia at about $140.

It's $50 cheaper than the corsair and the sub has a little bit better bass extension.

I second the Promedia 2.1. Best speaker set for PC I've ever bought.

The Promedias are one of the few computer speaker systems that don't suck. They're not great, mind. Their crowning achievement is that they don't sound bad at anything; they have good overall balance, and anything you put through them will sound decent, neither over-bassy nor over-shrill. In the computer speaker world, that is high praise, as the vast majority are terrible.

You can do much better with real speakers/sub and a small amp, though you'll pay a fair bit more. You can get speakers that sit up and sing, that sound awesome. But the Promedias, at least, don't suck.

Yeah, Bose is so massively overpriced for what you get I can't ever recommend pretty much any of their products.

I like the Sp2500's, they're pretty good. $200 good, I'm not sure, but pretty good. I actually got them because I wanted some good speakers without an amp or big ol' receiver on my already limited desk area. For my needs, they serve pretty well. I also like that I can have the computer and TV connected, as well as another MP3 player, and choose between any input.

I have no doubt that some quality speakers and receiver and/or amp will sound better, but the SP2500's are pretty good for what they are

ARISE THREAD!!

It's looking like my old Altec Lansing desktop 2.1 setup is on its way out, so I've been looking into something new. Nothing expensive (I figure a meager $50 upper limit), 2.0 or 2.1, as long as the bass can be felt when I turn it up on weekends. The other thing I'm hoping to find is a good setup that doesn't produce a lot of feedback when there's no sounds playing. My speakers now generally have a low, fuzzy hiss sound going whenever they're on. These stipulations probably make the audiophiles wince, but I'm also running on-board audio on my computer (which is actually surprisingly good, tbh).

So, any suggestions for an audio-pleb?

These have caught my eye, and I found favorable reviews of these, though for some reason I kinda want to avoid Creative. I admit, it isn't a reasonable aversion, but whatever-- there are options-- I should exercise them!

I know nothing about these, but those Genius speakers sure do look nice. How strict is the $50 limit? Genius also makes these which would give you a bit more oomph in the low end for just over $50 with S+H.

I was eyeing those, too! My real trepidation with any of these, really, is that I'd like to hear them for myself, but that's obviously not as easy as asking the Hivemind. I wonder if Tiger Direct or Micro Center have Genius speakers in stock...?

ETA: Nope. I've never seen Genius speakers in person, especially before I really started looking for a new set last night.

Maybe I should have posted it here, but I didn't see this thread. I basically want a set of sub-$50 speakers as well, but with a wireless remote to adjust the volume and turn it on and off.

I don't recall Genius making anything of quality, but those links to Genius speakers at least look like they would be of decent quality.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

I know nothing about these, but those Genius speakers sure do look nice. How strict is the $50 limit? Genius also makes these which would give you a bit more oomph in the low end for just over $50 with S+H.

There's no such thing as "oomph in the low end" with 2 inch drivers

And probably nothing with "oomph" for $50, either.

Thin_J wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

I know nothing about these, but those Genius speakers sure do look nice. How strict is the $50 limit? Genius also makes these which would give you a bit more oomph in the low end for just over $50 with S+H.

There's no such thing as "oomph in the low end" with 2 inch drivers :P

Sure there is! It's all about placement.

IMAGE(http://wiffdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/serious-gaming-with-speakers-taped-to-head.jpg)

Chairman_Mao wrote:
Thin_J wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

I know nothing about these, but those Genius speakers sure do look nice. How strict is the $50 limit? Genius also makes these which would give you a bit more oomph in the low end for just over $50 with S+H.

There's no such thing as "oomph in the low end" with 2 inch drivers :P

Sure there is! It's all about placement.

IMAGE(http://wiffdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/serious-gaming-with-speakers-taped-to-head.jpg)

Winning.

So Target's selection is crap. And Micro Center's demo setup lacks at least 1/3 the products they carry (though the missing demo systems were out of my price range anyway), so I went through what they did have on hand by plugging them into my phone and playing some Terence Lee/Lifeformed and Budos Band over a bunch of different speakers at full or near-full volume. Of the meager selection, I found that the Logitech Z323 (a 2.1 setup) had the best overall sound. I think their setup of Logitech Z623 ($100+ 2.1 setup) was over-used, as the volume knob made scratchy sounds over the speakers, the mids were fuzzy, highs were muffled, and the bass was blown out. All the reviews I've found, though, say these are really good speakers for a $100+ set. The Eagle Arion AR-506 were pretty muffled overall compared to the others, though the speakers were obviously tampered with (some DB kid pushed the center bubble things in, of course). I also am not a fan of the color orange.

So I came home and ordered the Logitech Z523 from Amazon, as they received overall better reviews than the 323s, have a slightly higher wattage (40W compared to the 323s' 30W), and are currently 40% off their regular price on Amazon-- which made them $5 more than the 323s Micro Center offered. Still $10 over the limit I imposed on myself, but everything I was hearing for less than $50 really wasn't any good at all. Plus Prime free shipping, so I figured what I saved in shipping I could spend a little extra on the product itself.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single store in Chicago that carries those Genius speakers I was eyeing over the internet, which might speak to the quality of those speakers (though I'm still curious to hear them in person).

As much as people like to rag on Logitech speakers for being bloated bass monsters, for the ~$50 mark, they're probably the best you're going to get. And I assume you can tone the bass down a bit to make them sound adequate. Besides... most people like some bass

The Z523 is a fantastic set of budget speakers. I've had mine for the better part of 3 years and they've been great. Wipeout and I probably went to the same review sites.

I'm guessing your assessment of why the Z623 set sounded bad is correct. I've got a set and I love them. Great sound, extra inputs so I can run the 360 through them, and enough power to crank up music that I can hear elsewhere in the house.

I also recently bought the Logitech Z623 set and I have been very pleased with the sound quality. They do a great job of filling my living room and dining room with music from my computer, and they sound really nice (to my untrained ears). I got them to replace some Klipsch 2.1 Promedia speakers which died on me, and I feel they are comparable.

EriktheRed wrote:

I also recently bought the Logitech Z623 set and I have been very pleased with the sound quality. They do a great job of filling my living room and dining room with music from my computer, and they sound really nice (to my untrained ears). I got them to replace some Klipsch 2.1 Promedia speakers which died on me, and I feel they are comparable.

Promedias are decent, so if you've been listening to those, and then the Z623s didn't horrify you, Logitech is (finally!) improving.

The way I describe Promedias is that they're unexciting. They don't do anything particularly well, but they're not really bad at anything, either. If you give them a signal, you'll get a nice, balanced output; they'll do a pretty good job with anything you give them. It's nothing like you can get with better speakers, but it's reasonable. For a set branded as "computer speakers", that's high praise.

I'm still using a set of Energy Take 2s from sometime in the early to mid-90s, and they are awesome for such little things. Apparently, the new Take Classic set is very much like the ones I have. Five sats, and a weakish sub, for $400, and then you need a cheap receiver to drive it. I have a better sub now, but that's basically exactly what I'm using on my computer, and it's extremely good for the price. After all these years, those little speakers still make me smile.

Way over $50, so that last paragraph is more aimed at drive-by readers, rather than your specific problem. The Z623s sound like a reasonable solution, if a Promedia owner is calling them comparable.

It's old and way expensive.. but I've used this as my 2.1 PC sound system for years and it is still going strong.. its positively thunderous and handles all sorts of different sounds very well (to my ear anyway).

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-S-101-Ho...