Speaker? Which one to buy?

[Izaya Orihara]

I need some good sounding, good looking, not too huge speakers (going on my desk.)  for my new pc. But i have no idea what to buy. (I don't want to spend more then 500€. Can stretch the budget if needed) 

[LancerBG]

what will be driving the speakers?

[Izaya Orihara]

what will be driving the speakers?

My pc. 

[dizmo]

AudioEngine and Swan are good places to start.

[Izaya Orihara]

AudioEngine and Swan are good places to start.

Please do not suggest a brand but a product. 

[LancerBG]

you are going to use the onboard to drive speakers with that budget or are you wanting a complete set up?

[dizmo]

Please do not suggest a brand but a product. 

They make speakers of various sizes. Take a gander. I don't know what you consider too big for your desk.

There's only 2 models of the former and like 5 models of the latter.

[Izaya Orihara]

you are going to use the onboard to drive speakers with that budget or are you wanting a complete set up?

I plann on using an Asus Xonar Phebus. And if it matters the motherboard will be a Rampage IV Black Edition. 

[EmoRarity]

They make speakers of various sizes. Take a gander. I don't know what you consider too big for your desk.

There's only 2 models of the former and like 5 models of the latter.

Swans range is pretty extensive, a whole lot bigger then five. 

I plann on using an Asus Xonar Phebus. And if it matters the motherboard will be a Rampage IV Black Edition. 

You don't need a soundcard for speakers. Save your cash.

[dizmo]

Swans range is pretty extensive, a whole lot bigger then five. 

 

When it comes to the speakers he'd be interested in (powered desktop media), there aren't as many.

[Izaya Orihara]

You don't need a soundcard for speakers. Save your cash.

I will also use it with my normal headphones. 

[EmoRarity]

I will also use it with my normal headphones. 

Still don't need one. Onboard will do. 

[EmoRarity]

When it comes to the speakers he'd be interested in (powered desktop media), there aren't as many.

Don't qoute me on it, but I remember them having about 10? maybe powered speakers. 

Or maybe I am combining brands off of similar looks. Dunno though. 

[Izaya Orihara]

Still don't need one. Onboard will do. 

But it's sexy. 

[EmoRarity]

But it's sexy. 

I too enjoy heating my house with my income. 

[Izaya Orihara]

I too enjoy heating my house with my income. 

I too enjoy having a 5000€ budget for the tower. 

[dizmo]

Don't qoute me on it, but I remember them having about 10? maybe powered speakers. 

Or maybe I am combining brands off of similar looks. Dunno though. 

Overall maybe, I usually just look at what's in their store. They can have supply issues with other speakers.

 

@Izaya Orihara the Swan M50W's are nice.

 

 

I too enjoy having a 5000€ budget for the tower. 

Just because you can, doesn't make it a good choice. You'd likely get similar performance from a tower half that cost.

Don't flaunt it. It just makes you look assanine.

[EmoRarity]

I too enjoy having a 5000€ budget for the tower. 

Excess isn't an accuse for wasting money.

Put ALL your audio budget into the speakers and headphones, and none into marketing BS like soundcards. 

[LancerBG]

I have used audio engine a2+, m audio 40s, bose companion 5, deftech incline. I am currently using polk tl3's.  I have also used a handful of gamer type speakers from PC type companies but in my opinion they aren't worth mentioning only because what I did just mention sound the best to me. The Bose system sounded over all the best however I decided I didn't want a sub only because saving space was important to me. People hate on Bose but that system was damn nice, ugly though imo.  I have had the polks for almost a month and will be keeping these, my favorites. They produce enough base that I don't miss the sub at all and the highs are good with strong mids. It's just an added bonus that I think they look very good. 

 

If you are into fantastic highs the deftech incline were the best no question but I thought it lacked bass during movies and gaming. Music was fine but I don't listen to bass heavy music. 

 

I powered the speakers with a few combos of dacs, amps and sound cards. At this moment I am using a Denon CEOL piccolo which I am loving more and more. I use speakers and headphones. Easy switching was also important to me. 

[EmoRarity]

Overall maybe, I usually just look at what's in their store. They can have supply issues with other speakers.

Smaller companies I do suppose. Though with his budget A2+'s and a sizable sub would be legit. 

[MuffinTopMike]

All depends on how much you want to spend. If you want speakers on the cheap you can buy a pair of Dayton B652's and a Lepai lp-2020a+ Amp. Or if you have more to spend you could go for a pair of Audio Engine A5+.

[kirashi]

I need some good sounding, good looking, not too huge speakers (going on my desk.)  for my new pc. But i have no idea what to buy. (I don't want to spend more then 500€. Can stretch the budget if needed) 

 

I'm probably going to get reamed out here by the "audiophiles" on the forum, but here's my suggestion:

Logitech z906's $449 CAD / €399 EUR

My friend got these back around Holiday Season 2013 to replace an older set of Logitech X-540's, which just so happen to be the same set I have myself, along with many other friends. Now first and foremost, I will say that for the same amount of money, you will definitely be able to get a better more evenly tuned set of Stereo Monitor Speakers, albeit you'll need a dedicated DAC-USB adapter, or something similar to drive them properly.

 

However, when I got the chance to play around with the control unit, tweaking each speakers volume level individually, and then discover that the SubWoofer/Amplification unit is actually using  standard speaker wire and regular hookups, save for the control unit, I almost shat my pants. The control pod allows lots of refinement, from Stereo > 5.1 upconversion (not just fake matrix mode), to multiple inputs (up to 5 or 6 I think, for PC/gameconsole/phone/TV/BluRay) and even comes with a remote control! Lots of features in a decent package.

 

As for looks and sound quality, all I can say is they blew me away for the price and I would definitely buy a set for a spare media centre room (being marketed as "Home Theatre/Computer Speakers"), although tastes in what looks and sounds good are entirely subjective. As I mentioned, I have the X-540's, which are pretty decent in terms of the Highs and Lows departments, but rather lack any Midrange sounds unless turned way up. The z906's had no problem reproducing clean, clear audio, at each of the High, Mid, and Low frequencies, and actually made Stereo Audio sound better during upconversion, a first for something like that, for me at least. (the X-530's, and X-540's had matrix mode, which did output stereo sound to the rear and centre speakers, just at really shitty quality)

[loony979]

could always grab a receiver package ,5.1/6.1 sound ,just optical/hdmi it to that then done .

it's kinda what ive done ,check my build log for what ive done for my sound . that should help ...