best 2.1 speaker system for $200

[callmecars]

at the moment I'm looking at the Swan GT1000 which are at about $170 if converted from the price here in the Philippines

primary use will just be for watching movies and shows with other people from a distance, since I'll most likely use headphones for personal stuff like gaming and video editing.

it doesn't have to be an all in one system like it's sold as 2.1, it can be 2 speakers and 1 different subwoofer if that's a better option.

and I don't know about getting a DAC/AMP, what do you guys think?

[Lays]

You could pick up a pair of micca mb42 bookshel speakers, a dayton 12" powered sub,  & a lepai 2020 amp?

It'd run like $170 in USD, but maybe a bit extra for you since you're in the Philippines.

 

If it's to much, the swan set is probably a decent option too, although I haven't heard of it.

 

 

@Lutkeveld can probably help if he's awake.

[callmecars]

You could pick up a pair of micca mb42 bookshel speakers, a dayton 12" powered sub,  & a lepai 2020 amp?

 

It'd run like $170 in USD, but maybe a bit extra for you since you're in the Philippines.

 

 

If it's to much, the swan set is probably a decent option too, although I haven't heard of it.

 

 

@Lutkeveld can probably help if he's awake.

yeah it sucks that the time that I can ask questions and such is when most of the people here are still asleep.

as for the speakers, I can't find on any online resources so I'll have to walk around to see if some shops even have those.

so this setup would need the AMP to work? I find that the common cheap AMP/DAC that people buy around here are FiiO, they're around 20-40 USD. are those any good?

[Lays]

yeah it sucks that the time that I can ask questions and such is when most of the people here are still asleep.

as for the speakers, I can't find on any online resources so I'll have to walk around to see if some shops even have those.

so this setup would need the AMP to work? I find that the common cheap AMP/DAC that people buy around here are FiiO, they're around 20-40 USD. are those any good?

 

 

The reason why people those cheap amp/dacs are recommend is because most people have headphones here, which is what the small FIIO amps are for.

It won't have enough juice to properly power speakers, nor does it have the connectors for speaker output.

The lepai 2020 amp has 20 watts per channel, and is only around $20-$30, so it's a super good budget recommendation, but still works great.

 

 

 

I'm currently running 2 Micca mb42 bookshelf speakers with the lepai amp, and they sound great, but they are a tiny bit lacking on bass, so getting a separate sub would definitely help the overall experience of music & movie watching.

They have a pretty balanced sound, not bass heavy or treble happy, and they have a really nice soundstage, makes me think stuff is behind me at times, they do a great job of the whole "3d" experience so to speak.  Considering they're $50-70, its a great buy IMO for price to performance.

 

Here's a video review that a popular speaker/headphone review guy did on youtube:

 

[Lutkeveld]

You could pick up a pair of micca mb42 bookshel speakers, a dayton 12" powered sub,  & a lepai 2020 amp?

It'd run like $170 in USD, but maybe a bit extra for you since you're in the Philippines.

 

If it's to much, the swan set is probably a decent option too, although I haven't heard of it.

 

 

@Lutkeveld can probably help if he's awake.

 

Just woke up A 2.0 set with a sub is a dumb idea in my opinion. 

2.1 systems work so well because the sub does all the heavy work.

The sattelites only have to do the mids/highs, that's why they can be small and relatively cheap.

If you want the deeper/louder bass my advice would be to get a real 2.1 set.

[Lays]

Just woke up A 2.0 set with a sub is a dumb idea in my opinion. 

2.1 systems work so well because the sub does all the heavy work.

The sattelites only have to do the mids/highs, that's why they can be small and relatively cheap.

If you want the deeper/louder bass my advice would be to get a real 2.1 set.

 

 

The sub I recommended has a crossover, so you could still set it up the same way right?  And IMO buying things separately would most likely end up in better quality items, surely?

[callmecars]

Just woke up A 2.0 set with a sub is a dumb idea in my opinion. 

2.1 systems work so well because the sub does all the heavy work.

The sattelites only have to do the mids/highs, that's why they can be small and relatively cheap.

If you want the deeper/louder bass my advice would be to get a real 2.1 set.

so what set would you recommend?

[Lutkeveld]

 

The sub I recommended has a crossover, so you could still set it up the same way right?  And IMO buying things separately would most likely end up in better quality items, surely?

 

Not really, even if you know what you're doing. It can surely be done: stuff the port on the Micca's, measure frequency response, set LPF on the sub to the F3 point, decibel match the sub to the Micca's using the gain. I don't recommend it, you might think that the Micca's are better but the sattelites can do the same for less money/space because they don't have to reproduce anything <150hz. 

 

Buying things together ensures they work together. Said this yesterday in some other thread as well, user Majestic confirmed it with his personal experience:

 

Found this out the hard way, he's right...

 

Could not get a B&W AWS610 to sound right with my AudioEngine A5+'s. And that's not a shitty subwoofer...

 

 

 

so what set would you recommend?

 

Big 2.0'ers from Microlab for example or a 2.1 set from Logitech/Edifier/Klipsch or some other trusted brand.

[Majestic]

@Lutkeveld it had more to do with room acoustics and the behaviour of the subwoofer. Had to set the crossover very low so it wouldn't also play the bassdrum etc, or that part would be played too loud. But then you'd get a bit of a gap between the response of the A5 and the AWS610. I just thought that it would sound much better with a set of fullrange speakers (and a room that's larger than 4*5meters) that didn't need the subwoofer to also play 80-100hz, so I traded it (with partial refund) for my B&W P7's. Which seemed like a better deal

 

I'm not completely clueless, is all i'm saying. Just that the thing was way too loud for my room and the Crossover was not great. My room has some annoying resonance at 60hz, I plugged the reflexports of my A5+'s with toiletpaper otherwise listening to something with bass is a resonating nightmare. Imagine having a subwoofer in there

[Lutkeveld]

@Lutkeveld it had more to do with room acoustics and the behaviour of the subwoofer. Had to set the crossover very low so it wouldn't also play the bassdrum etc, or that part would be played too loud. But then you'd get a bit of a gap between the response of the A5 and the AWS610. I just thought that it would sound much better with a set of fullrange speakers (and a room that's larger than 4*5meters) that didn't need the subwoofer to also play 80-100hz, so I traded it (with partial refund) for my B&W P7's. Which seemed like a better deal

 

I'm not completely clueless, is all i'm saying. Just that the thing was way too loud for my room and the Crossover was not great. My room has some annoying resonance at 60hz, I plugged the reflexports of my A5+'s with toiletpaper otherwise listening to something with bass is a resonating nightmare. Imagine having a subwoofer in there

 

You might benefit from multiple subs. Earl Geddes and Harman have some interesting papers on them:

https://mehlau.net/audio/multisub_geddes/

http://www.harman.com/EN-US/OurCompany/Innovation/Documents/White%20Papers/multsubs.pdf

It tries to eliminate certain 'room modes' by different placement. Top link explains it the easiest and best.

Much improved sound, flatter frequency reponse, better distribution and thus often higher average output, 

 

Although this is better left for DIY'ers. One big 200W'ish amplifier and 2 to 4 good bang/buck 6,5 to 8 inch woofers.