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Super budget home audio setup.

Hi

Ive been thinking about getting me some decent audio in my life. I'm trying to make it very budget. Probably around 20-25 euro or so. My plan is to buy used RCA speakers, get an adapter to 3.5mm and then get a Bluetooth receiver.

 

1: Speakers

Which speakers will I need? Subwoofers, tweeters and the like. Also, what is the difference between an active and passive speaker. 

 

2: Wattage

How much Wattage is really required to give decent sound? The space is an apartment of roughly 30m^2 . 

 

3: Adapters and receivers

I'm looking at eBay for these. 

What specs would you recommend, products are also welcome.

 

Cheers! 

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Active speakers have amplifiers built in, so you just need a signal... like Mackie CR5BT.  Passive speakers are your standard speakers that need speaker wire from a dedicated amp (like your Dad's stereo).

 

Wattage depends on the speakers you're trying to drive.  Way too broad of a number, but you'd be surprised how little you end up needing.  For example a 5" bookshelf speaker can be fine on 10-20w, where as full 3way floor standing speakers will love you for 100+.

 

I honestly don't know how you're going to get decent audio for 25 euro.  Passive speakers alone will cost that or more, even used.  Even on Craigslist.  Powering them is another chunk.

 

You could save up a bit more, and for $50 for example, active speakers and you're done...

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/M-Audio-AV32-3-Inch-Compact-Monitor-Speakers/362923034542?epid=3030655314&hash=item547fe607ae:g:vAYAAOSwhqFeUVM2

 

 

 

 

"Do what makes the experience better" - in regards to PCs and Life itself.

 

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5 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

 

Wattage depends on the speakers you're trying to drive.  Way too broad of a number, but you'd be surprised how little you end up needing.  For example a 5" bookshelf speaker can be fine on 25-50w, where as full 3way floor standing speakers will love you for 100+.

I thought I'd just plug them into the wall. Do I need a power-supply?

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1 minute ago, Supportsneedlove said:

I thought I'd just plug them into the wall. Do I need a power-supply?

Active speakers you plug into the wall for power, and that feeds their onboard amplifiers, yes.

 

Either way you're paying for speakers and power.  In one unit or 2 separate ones.  your choice.

 

All speakers require power.  For small ones, your motherboard's sound chip provides the 1-2w (like Logitech desktop cheapos).  Home theatre setups use a amplifier/receiver to send power thru speaker wire to the speakers.  Some audio monitors (speakers)have built in amplifiers like you asked about,where you just plug them into the wall.

 

Again, speakers + power are needed in some fashion.

"Do what makes the experience better" - in regards to PCs and Life itself.

 

Onyx AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3d / MSI 6900xt Gaming X Trio / Gigabyte B650 AORUS Pro AX / G. Skill Flare X5 6000CL36 32GB / Samsung 980 1TB x3 / Super Flower Leadex V Platinum Pro 850 / EK-AIO 360 Basic / Fractal Design North XL (black mesh) / AOC AGON 35" 3440x1440 100Hz / Mackie CR5BT / Corsair Virtuoso SE / Cherry MX Board 3.0 / Logitech G502

 

7800X3D - PBO -30 all cores, 4.90GHz all core, 5.05GHz single core, 18286 C23 multi, 1779 C23 single

 

Emma : i9 9900K @5.1Ghz - Gigabyte AORUS 1080Ti - Gigabyte AORUS Z370 Gaming 5 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 32GB 3200CL16 - 750 EVO 512GB + 2x 860 EVO 1TB (RAID0) - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate 360mm - Fractal Design Define R6 - TP-Link AC1900 PCIe Wifi

 

Raven: AMD Ryzen 5 5600x3d - ASRock B550M Pro4 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 3200Mhz - XFX Radeon RX6650XT - Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial MX500 1TB - TP-Link AC600 USB Wifi - Gigabyte GP-P450B PSU -  Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L -  Samsung 27" 1080p

 

Plex : AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - Gigabyte B550M AORUS Elite AX - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 2400Mhz - MSI 1050Ti 4GB - Crucial P3 Plus 500GB + WD Red NAS 4TBx2 - TP-Link AC1200 PCIe Wifi - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - ASUS Prime AP201 - Spectre 24" 1080p

 

Steam Deck 512GB OLED

 

OnePlus: 

OnePlus 11 5G - 16GB RAM, 256GB NAND, Eternal Green

OnePlus Buds Pro 2 - Eternal Green

 

Other Tech:

- 2021 Volvo S60 Recharge T8 Polestar Engineered - 415hp/495tq 2.0L 4cyl. turbocharged, supercharged and electrified.

Lenovo 720S Touch 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400MHz, 512GB NVMe SSD, 1050Ti, 4K touchscreen

MSI GF62 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400 MHz, 256GB NVMe SSD + 1TB 7200rpm HDD, 1050Ti

- Ubiquiti Amplifi HD mesh wifi

 

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To save the most, you'll probably want active speakers since the power supply is built in.

 

It doesn't take much wattage to get good sound.  I used to use a Creative T3100 set for my PC (around US$50 when I bought it over 10 years ago), which was 29W total for the speakers and subwoofer (6W speakers, 17W sub).  With a little tuning in my PC's EQ settings, I was able to get some really great sound out of them, and the only reason they're not my main speakers now is because I changed to a 5.1 setup.

 

At my work computer, I have a Creative T12 set.  This is a 2.0 system with 18W power, and it actually sounds pretty good too.  You can find these used or refurbished for not much at all.

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You could also see if theres a 2nd hand market/thrift store and just buy and old stereo amp and 2 speakers. Just need that headphone jack to RCA cable. And voila.

 

Also i used to have a surround set with 5 speakers and sub, the speakers were 3-4 Watts and the sub 12 (max 20). That could easily fill a 30M2 room. woth proper sound. Not party level but nice background for a party or such.
So wattage is not a real thing to look for more how well it works together.

Ps my solution of buying 2nd hand is only for when you really want to minimize spending. ;)

When i ask for more specs, don't expect me to know the answer!
I'm just helping YOU to help YOURSELF!
(The more info you give the easier it is for others to help you out!)

Not willing to capitulate to the ignorance of the masses!

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27 minutes ago, Supportsneedlove said:

Hi

Ive been thinking about getting me some decent audio in my life. I'm trying to make it very budget. Probably around 20-25 euro or so. My plan is to buy used RCA speakers, get an adapter to 3.5mm and then get a Bluetooth receiver.

 

1: Speakers

Which speakers will I need? Subwoofers, tweeters and the like. Also, what is the difference between an active and passive speaker. 

 

2: Wattage

How much Wattage is really required to give decent sound? The space is an apartment of roughly 30m^2 . 

 

3: Adapters and receivers

I'm looking at eBay for these. 

What specs would you recommend, products are also welcome.

 

Cheers! 

I actually made this speaker!

 

All you need is an "exciter speaker" which can be bought for less than 10 euro and a large piece of cardboard. It actually sounds pretty good. But the sound isn't dynamic at all. It's mostly midrange with soft bass and soft highs. 

 

Good luck finding an amplifier for under 50 euro though! 

 

With all that said and done, you're better off spending 100 euro on some really nice speakers. There's a plethora of choices from the likes of Highland Audio, Davis Acoustics and Jamo. 

 

But finding a good amplifier with Bluetooth and Optical (for your TV) should set you back 200 euros (Tangent Ampster BT II). 

 

It's like good speakers have never been this affordable. 300 euros gets you a wonderful audio system you'll be proud to use for decades. It's worth every penny. 50 euros won't get you much.

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1 hour ago, Supportsneedlove said:

Hi

Ive been thinking about getting me some decent audio in my life. I'm trying to make it very budget. Probably around 20-25 euro or so. My plan is to buy used RCA speakers, get an adapter to 3.5mm and then get a Bluetooth receiver.

 

1: Speakers

Which speakers will I need? Subwoofers, tweeters and the like. Also, what is the difference between an active and passive speaker. 

 

2: Wattage

How much Wattage is really required to give decent sound? The space is an apartment of roughly 30m^2 . 

 

3: Adapters and receivers

I'm looking at eBay for these. 

What specs would you recommend, products are also welcome.

 

Cheers! 

You don't need much power to get good sound. Some speakers are happy with 1-3 watts, but some do quite like power. But for an apartment don't worry about power.

 

Chart for dB vs wattage: (if the speakers have a sensitivity of 86dB, which is pretty typical)

 

speaker-sensitivity-chart.png.d901a16dff16d0cb53909e2ecc9ac5db.png

 

LTT's Resident Porsche fanboy and nutjob Audiophile.

 

Main speaker setup is now;

 

Mini DSP SHD Studio -> 2x Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC's (fed by AES/EBU, one feeds the left sub and main, the other feeds the right side) -> 2x Neumann KH420 + 2x Neumann KH870

 

(Having a totally seperate DAC for each channel is game changing for sound quality)

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