Replacement desktop speaker advice

[aisle9]

I've currently got a pair of Altec Lansing VS2121 speakers from...a long time ago. At least a decade, probably a lot longer. The pair I bought before these was a couple of BOKA (or something?) speakers in the late '90s. These Altec Lansings have served me very well, but now that I'm in a smaller place and working from home at a smaller desk, the subwoofer has become prohibitively huge. Here's roughly what I'm looking for:

 

• No independent subwoofer. Just two speakers. Or a monitor stand with built-in speakers and a built-in sub. Or a compact soundbar with no sub.
• Great audio clarity. I listen to a lot of Queen, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Airborne Toxic Event, lots of bands that make heavy use of layered instrumentation. I like to be able to clearly hear those layers.
• Bass. Not wall-thumping bass. I don't like my walls shaking in the first place, but clear bass. Something recognizable as bass, not just as a heavier snare drum.
• Quality. Clearly, I don't like buying speakers more than once every decade or so, so a pair that's going to last as long as my Altec Lansings is a must.

My budget is in the $50-150 range, ideally between $50 and $100. I have some store credit at Newegg and Best Buy, so I'd only be looking to buy from one of those two places. What are my options here?

[The Flying Sloth]

Quite honestly speakers in that price range are very unlikely to be of high quality and given that you won't use an external sub like your Altec set had you're going to be losing a lot of bass if you switch. The only way to get half decent sound quality for the price you want is to buy used bookshelf speakers and a standalone amplifier but that's never going to come from the storefronts you've identified. If your budget could be increased I'd recommend a cheap 'studio monitor' set like those 3 inch powered Mackies but beyond that I'm sorry but I don't think you'll find what you're looking for.

 

Sloth

[aisle9]

14 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Quite honestly speakers in that price range are very unlikely to be of high quality and given that you won't use an external sub like your Altec set had you're going to be losing a lot of bass if you switch. The only way to get half decent sound quality for the price you want is to buy used bookshelf speakers and a standalone amplifier but that's never going to come from the storefronts you've identified. If your budget could be increased I'd recommend a cheap 'studio monitor' set like those 3 inch powered Mackies but beyond that I'm sorry but I don't think you'll find what you're looking for.

 

Sloth

What about these guys?

[The Flying Sloth]

1 hour ago, aisle9 said:

What about these guys?

I mean, This dude seems to love them but from what I can tell in the video (and my experience with bose as a whole) they're what your great aunt Karen calls high quality for plugging into the iPad you gave her that she listens to ripped LPs with on YouTube. In more understandable terms, they're low-end speakers for people who decidedly aren't powerusers and as with most small form factor stereo computer speakers the audio (and build) quality is meh at best.

Try and find the Mackie CR3s, they will be much better quality speakers for not that much more money, they're not great but they should last and they sound 'good enough' for the most part.

Sloth

[aisle9]

5 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

I mean, This dude seems to love them but from what I can tell in the video (and my experience with bose as a whole) they're what your great aunt Karen calls high quality for plugging into the iPad you gave her that she listens to ripped LPs with on YouTube. In more understandable terms, they're low-end speakers for people who decidedly aren't powerusers and as with most small form factor stereo computer speakers the audio (and build) quality is meh at best.

Try and find the Mackie CR3s, they will be much better quality speakers for not that much more money, they're not great but they should last and they sound 'good enough' for the most part.

Sloth

Thanks, I'll do that. I'm debating the most effective way to shrink my desktop footprint, and it's either speakers, go ITX, or live with it. Going ITX would cost me about $250 after the Newegg coupon, so maybe the speaker budget could be upped to that?

 

Or I just live with it. But going ITX has other advantages long-term as well, so, I mean, who knows?

[The Flying Sloth]

2 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Thanks, I'll do that. I'm debating the most effective way to shrink my desktop footprint, and it's either speakers, go ITX, or live with it. Going ITX would cost me about $250 after the Newegg coupon, so maybe the speaker budget could be upped to that?

 

Or I just live with it. But going ITX has other advantages long-term as well, so, I mean, who knows?

Yeah, ahh, desktop footprint, that's a thing I definitely also have reduced, umm, yes, absolutely...... (link will self destruct in a few days)

Sloth

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Yeah, ahh, desktop footprint, that's a thing I definitely also have reduced, umm, yes, absolutely...... (link will self destruct in a few days)

Sloth

You know your desk is more of a hammock in the middle, right? lol

[The Flying Sloth]

1 minute ago, aisle9 said:

You know your desk is more of a hammock in the middle, right? lol

That's lens distortion, it's still flat but I see what you mean in the photo.