Bookshelf speaker help

[Nik_]

I'm going to try to keep this short. Looking for speakers for my desktop(maybe also use with tv in bedroom). Price ~$175, less is better, but I'm not set on that amount.

Looked at

Edifier r1700bt (good price, not sure about sound)

Fluance ai40w (quite expensive)

Been suggested 

MB/PB42x(not sure the difference, ok price)

Seen suggested

JBL LSR305

D1010-IV and MKII

Few others but I'm blanking

 

Edit1: mackie cr4 is another pair Ive been looking at. I think they look nice and they seem pretty good.

 

No clue what to go with. I'd like for them to look "ok", I don't really like the rounded face of the d1010, at least in pictures. Would be nice to have or be able to add bluetooth. If I can hook up to two sources without two inputs then number of inputs doesn't matter.

 

Think that's it. Thanks for the help. 

[Turtle Rig]

21 minutes ago, Nik_ said:

I'm going to try to keep this short. Looking for speakers for my desktop(maybe also use with tv in bedroom). Price ~$175, less is better, but I'm not set on that amount.

Looked at

Edifier r1700bt (good price, not sure about sound)

Fluance ai40w (quite expensive)

Been suggested 

MB/PB42x(not sure the difference, ok price)

Seen suggested

JBL LSR305

D1010-IV and MKII

Few others but I'm blanking

 

No clue what to go with. I'd like for them to look "ok", I don't really like the rounded face of the d1010, at least in pictures. Would be nice to have or be able to add bluetooth. If I can hook up to two sources without two inputs then number of inputs doesn't matter.

 

Think that's it. Thanks for the help. 

So you don't want surround speakers am I correct ? For 175 total your not going to get the best sounded speakers.  Why you call them cabinet I don't know. or bookshelf sorry.  Your getting junk for total of 175 dollars.

[Nik_]

1 minute ago, Turtle Rig said:

So you don't want surround speakers for watching TV in Dolby 5.1 and what not.

no, I'm not interested in mounting speakers around my room. It's also not a large room so it probably wouldn't be worth it. 

[Turtle Rig]

4 minutes ago, Nik_ said:

no, I'm not interested in mounting speakers around my room. It's also not a large room so it probably wouldn't be worth it. 

Get the Edifer best bang for your buck.

[Nik_]

1 hour ago, Turtle Rig said:

Get the Edifer best bang for your buck.

Do you have any experience with it in person or with its sound? or are you just assuming based off price and listed specs and features?

[KnightSirius]

Well first off, you seem to be looking at a wide variety of speakers. You have some powered speakers with their own built-in interface options while you have some like the JBL that will require an external interface to control sources and volume. I'll assume that you don't have an external interface you'll be using with these in which case scratch the JBLs off your list because an interface will run you over budget quickly for anything decent, not to mention the price for those are per speaker ($180 each!).

As for the rest of the options, the Edifier set ($150 USD) is probably fine. It's a very entry level set of speakers so they won't blow your mind but they'll probably be good to most folks. Definitely better than built-in TV speakers and cheap soundbars. However, If you're more discerning of ear then you'll want to put a bit more money down. The Fluance set ($200 USD) will be a huge step up from the Edifiers and they also have bluetooth support which you mentioned is something you're interested in.

The Swan D1010-IV's I haven't heard of before but reviews seem to place them as a good budget option. However, I can't seem to find them sold anywhere. They may have been discontinued as they are not even available on Swan's site. You give up the bluetooth functionality and some nice to have features like a remote which comes with both the Edifier and Fluance sets. Same goes for the Micca's which are well priced and seems to be better than the Swan's according to this review at least. But again no bluetooth or remote functionality.

My personal recommendation is forego the Swan, Micca and Edifier sets and get the Fluance. They're well reviewed, quite new compared to the other models, will have noticeably better sound (previous retail price was $300) and have the functionality you want while being reasonably close to your price range. My philosophy is stretch yourself a little further on purchases like this so you get the best you can afford now and you don't end up regretting it later thinking "if only I had spent another $25, $30, $40... I could have had xxx".

But don't just take my word for it, do some more of your own research. I'm not well versed in budget audio equipment but googling "'best powered bookshelf speakers under $200" yields decent results that at least show you products you may not have considered. As well search for reviews that'll help you compare your options like "Fluance A40i's vs xxx model" see if there is better option available for the same price.

[Nik_]

4 minutes ago, KnightSirius said:

-snip-

My personal recommendation is forego the Swan, Micca and Edifier sets and get the Fluance. They're well reviewed, quite new compared to the other models, will have noticeably better sound (previous retail price was $300) and have the functionality you want while being reasonably close to your price range. My philosophy is stretch yourself a little further on purchases like this so you get the best you can afford now and you don't end up regretting it later thinking "if only I had spent another $25, $30, $40...".

But don't just take my word for it, do some more of your own research. I'm not well versed in budget audio equipment but googling "'best powered bookshelf speakers under $200" yields decent results that at least show you products you may not have considered. As well search for reviews that'll help you compare your options like "Fluance A40i's vs xxx brand" see if there is better available for the same price.

could've sworn something I was looking at said $160 for the pair that's why I added them, guess not. I also hadn't considered they had nothing, I knew they'd need ext. power but hand't thought of volume and other control. 

I think the ivb's and mk11's superseeded the 1080-iv's, theres also the 1080 ivb and mk11 which are slightly more expensive. 

Edifier seems like a "Great" option, they look decent, has decent features, and good price. But then I go back to. I could lose a little, like BT, or spend a tiny bit more and get better. If they miccas had a little more going for them, like tone control, more inputs, something then they'd be great. but they are missing a lot, with a lot of speakers priced similarly. 

 

I try to go by the "stretch yourself" philosophy, which is why I considered the ai40w. Like you said they on paper and even through video seem great. But the amount of stretch is quite a bit. the r1700bt on sale for $151CAD after tax and the ai40w $265 on amazon before tax. so over $100 of difference. which is what's really holding me back. The ai40w were $214 on amazon for like a day when I first looked and I wish I had just bought them then. Hindsight is 20/20

 

I've been doing some research, looking for things commonly recommended and highly reviews but there's still so many a lot of the time it just widens my search instead of pointing me to an answer and not a lot of speakers have "vs" for me to go through and say "x vs y, y sounds better. y vs z, y sounds betters" etc. So most of what I have to go off is written reviews or possibly bias recommendations. Like with the miccas, they may be good, but they also seem lacking but still get so frequently recommended and I just can't help but feel there are better options. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and spend the large chunk extra, but with so many options it's hard to do that. 

 

Thanks for the reply. 

[KnightSirius]

1 minute ago, Nik_ said:

the ai40w $265 on amazon before tax. so over $100 of difference. which is what's really holding me back. The ai40w were $214 on amazon for like a day when I first looked and I wish I had just bought them then. Hindsight is 20/20

Yikes, I always assume if it's not stated that the OP is in the US. I'm in Canada too and I always end up looking at Amazon.ca at first and pricing is brutal as always. It's ridiculously difficult to get much of anything in the budget range while still being really worth your money here and it sucks. Your best bet is to wait for a good price drop. Make sure to use the Keepa extension for amazon it'll show you price history so you can judge if prices are likely to drop on Amazon. Also check massdrop weekly to see if anything pops up in the audiophile section for speakers. You may also want to look at used passive speakers locally (kijiji etc...) there is a lot of selection and some good deals to be had if you know what you're looking for but you will also need some sort of amp unit which is just as hard to get a decent one for a good price as it is powered speakers. Crappy situation all around.

[Nik_]

10 minutes ago, KnightSirius said:

Yikes, I always assume if it's not stated that the OP is in the US. I'm in Canada too and I always end up looking at Amazon.ca at first and pricing is brutal as always. It's ridiculously difficult to get much of anything in the budget range while still being really worth your money here and it sucks. Your best bet is to wait for a good price drop. Make sure to use the Keepa extension for amazon it'll show you price history so you can judge if prices are likely to drop on Amazon. Also check massdrop weekly to see if anything pops up in the audiophile section for speakers. You may also want to look at used passive speakers locally (kijiji etc...) there is a lot of selection and some good deals to be had if you know what you're looking for but you will also need some sort of amp unit which is just as hard to get a decent one for a good price as it is powered speakers. Crappy situation all around.

I thought I said it somewhere, guess not. But shopping for anything really does sucks. a $1000 pc is $200 cheaper across the border. The ai40w was at $214 for 2 weeks and I just happened to find them the last day of the sale, and it's the only time they've ever dropped on amazon  Mass drop didn't seem to have any speakers and usually isn't very budget oriented, and after shipping and other stuff you don't end up saving much because it's all from the states. I live in shit part of BC so the second hand tech market doesn't exist near me so finding second hand speakers would take forever. It is indeed a crappy situation. High prices, no second hand, high shipping and import cost on anything from the states. It's just a real fun time. Shit laws, shit currency, shit time

[Turtle Rig]

13 hours ago, Nik_ said:

Do you have any experience with it in person or with its sound? or are you just assuming based off price and listed specs and features?

He can't spend much so the quality of the speakers your right, will not be outstanding.  I don't know if hes a audiophile or not.  If he is then he needs to spend more and buy something in the 300 dollar range.

[Derkoli]

16 hours ago, Nik_ said:

I'm going to try to keep this short. Looking for speakers for my desktop(maybe also use with tv in bedroom). Price ~$175, less is better, but I'm not set on that amount.

Looked at

Edifier r1700bt (good price, not sure about sound)

Fluance ai40w (quite expensive)

Been suggested 

MB/PB42x(not sure the difference, ok price)

Seen suggested

JBL LSR305

D1010-IV and MKII

Few others but I'm blanking

 

Edit1: mackie cr4 is another pair Ive been looking at. I think they look nice and they seem pretty good.

 

No clue what to go with. I'd like for them to look "ok", I don't really like the rounded face of the d1010, at least in pictures. Would be nice to have or be able to add bluetooth. If I can hook up to two sources without two inputs then number of inputs doesn't matter.

 

Think that's it. Thanks for the help. 

I find that swan speaker's sound really good, also look at polk audio's offering's, If you are limited to these i would go for the JBL's, they are supposed to sound really good for the price.

[Nik_]

13 hours ago, Derkoli said:

I find that swan speaker's sound really good, also look at polk audio's offering's, If you are limited to these i would go for the JBL's, they are supposed to sound really good for the price.

I should've done some more looking before making a list but the swans and jbls come out to be very expensive. The swans from the site directly came out to $371 before tax and I didn't see them on any CA retailers. The jbls on amazon were ~$230 and I would need a receiver or something to go with them. The polk's seem ok to get in CA but I think they may also need a receiver or interface of some kind. 

 

If the ai40w wasnt so expensive in Canada I would have such a hard time.