LF suggestions on Desktop 2.1 system - About 100-200 USD Budget (Willing to flex)

Xaftz · February 12, 2016

Might be willing to flex muscles too, but that's for another time.

Anyways,

I'm looking for a mid-tier speaker system to use for my desktop. I don't know jack about speakers, but I don't want to go with a cheap or expensive setup.

What I want out of a system is great clarity/fidelity. Highs, mids, and lows, I wanna hear it all at a decent volume (not party-level high). If I can adjust those by myself through an amp that'd be great too.

I looked around for a short while and the Arion Legacy ARDS750-BK caught my eye. But it's "BONE CRUSHING" marketing seems a bit dodgy and it seems to be claiming too much for it's lower price.

I'm fine if having to build my own setup (separate amp, speakers, speaker wires, and subwoofer), is better, I can manage learning how to set it up. But if I can avoid it, that's fine too.

Sidenotes:

Arion Legacy ARDS750-BK is just an example, I am not specifically convinced on this one
USB/BT would be nice, but not necessary (if 3.5MM aux is available, then that is plenty)
If it's $250, that's fine too, heck maybe even $300 but that is pushing it
Anything above $100 would probably be miles better than anything I have anyways, but I like my clarity
What am I playing on it? FLAC, some MP3s, and games (but I use headphones for these). YT, and Anime (usually 24bit AAC/FLAC)

Any suggestion is appreciated. It'll help me learn a little more about speakers!

Pomfinator · February 12, 2016

At this budget, I'd say look for something 2.0 instead of 2.1, subs are expensive and you'd much rather spend your initial investment on good full-range speakers before dabbling in subs.

Something like the JBL LSR305 would be a nice choice, since they're studio monitors you'd have to control them using your PC's volume control or get a preamp like a Schiit Sys (I'm not too well versed on preamps so there might be cheaper ones).

Xaftz · February 12, 2016

6 minutes ago, Pomfinator said:

At this budget, I'd say look for something 2.0 instead of 2.1, subs are expensive and you'd much rather spend your initial investment on good full-range speakers before dabbling in subs.

Something like the JBL LSR305 would be a nice choice, since they're studio monitors you'd have to control them using your PC's volume control or get a preamp like a Schiit Sys (I'm not too well versed on preamps so there might be cheaper ones).

So basically the purpose of the pre-amp is just to control volume? I can probably do without that at start since I'm used to using software volume anyways.
I'll look into the JBL LSR305, would just need to convert two 3.5mm to a single 2.5mm or possibly some DAC solution that takes XLR or 3.5mm inputs.

Pomfinator · February 12, 2016

Just now, Xaftz said:

So basically the purpose of the pre-amp is just to control volume? I can probably do without that at start since I'm used to using software volume anyways.
I'll look into the JBL LSR305, would just need to convert two 3.5mm to a single 2.5mm or possibly some DAC solution that takes XLR or 3.5mm inputs.

Yup, software control is good enough. You would need something along the lines of a 3.5mm to two quarter-inch TRS. Alternatively if you have a DAC that outputs RCA you can just get two RCA-to-TRS adapters and connect them up that way. Up to you, I don't know what your specific setup is like.

Xaftz · February 12, 2016

8 minutes ago, Pomfinator said:

Yup, software control is good enough. You would need something along the lines of a 3.5mm to two quarter-inch TRS. Alternatively if you have a DAC that outputs RCA you can just get two RCA-to-TRS adapters and connect them up that way. Up to you, I don't know what your specific setup is like.

All that is good! I literally have nothing other than a 2.5mm passthrough to my keyboard for my headphones. So literally anything is an upgrade because it's all new equipment.