good speakers are hard to find these days?

Has mid-range sound quality gone down in preference for how a speaker system looks?

  • yes! there's too many systems out there with 1in satellites

    Votes: 6 85.7%

  • no, the mid-range sound quality is still there

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • Gee, I'm not sure, quality has stayed the same

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    7
S

Sparks

Geek Trainee
Is it just me or are good speakers hard to find these days? It seemed when I was younger, like 10 years ago while I was a child, speaker systems were far better. Now, all I see at best buy or wherever are these mediocre woofers and these tiny designer satellite speakers. I say, "omg, you've got to be kidding me, pay 70+ dollars for 2-3 little 1in satellites?" It's such a joke, all the systems lack decent mid-range sound. I remember when creative used to sell a 2.1 inspire system with a decent sounding woofer and good sounding satellite speakers for around around 40-50 bucks.

I just had to rant out there, I just bought some nice sounding cyber acoustic speakers a-3770rb, and I love them because they came with a 60watt rms woofer, and 25watt rms satellites with 3in drivers and tweeters. Granted, the logitech z-2300 could kick its tail when it comes to blasting the sound all over, these things have a nice balanced sound that I'd compare to a klipsch pro media.

But, the lack of decent mid-range systems is just saddening, they'll sell a 50 dollar system with a blasting subwoofer and no decent satellites, its sad.
 
I can agree with this to a certain extent.

I have a Cyber Acoustics 5.1 system on my old desktop and the overall sound is pretty damn good. Nice balanced sound and a great 'warm' sound.

I also own JBL Creature II's (for my laptop - 2.1 speakers) and while they're great they do lack the mid-range that my Cyber Acoustics provide on my desktop, the JBL's make the music I'm listening to seem like it has less depth. I've also noticed with the systems that my flatmates have they lack decent mid-range.

There are good systems out there, it's just a case of going and listening to different systems to see what they can do.
 
The thing i hate about those 2.1's is that they are very boomy and its sad that people want this boomy bass instead of hi fidelity audio reproduction which is what the good speakers try to achieve. Why change the original sound?

And, yes sound is very expensive if you want quality. Even the crappy 2.1's are expensive
 
I'd much rather have great sound reproduction, however for that I'd use my stack system (200-Watt Quad Channel AMP and a set of JVC Speakers) which I have at home, however that means having more stuff at Uni and I just don't have the space, so use my JBL Creature II's for my laptop. Nowhere near as good as a dedicated AMP & Speakers but for what I use them for they're good.
 
My Z5500s give good mid range, high range and LOTS of bass and with its 10" driver typically beat ever pc speaker systems and alot of all in ones, there damnd good for the price, some people wont agree though, but really, best way to go is seperates, decent amp and a pair of good speakers, worth splashing out on £400+ for good sound, subs aint needed in good seperates, there only needed for the extreme low frequencys (30Hz and below)

A good pair of Bookshelve speakers can come cheap on Ebay £70+, new, around £150 - £200, but then of course, there is the amp need buying, this can coz allot depending on the quality.

Overclockers UK Forums - So, you want a new Hi-Fi? < thats some good information on decent Hi-Fi.


So if your on a budget and want some PC speakers, the Logitech are the way to go, they have 2.5" drivers, 8" sub, people may think its abit boomy though.
 
I recently bought the creative itrigue 3800 system for $50.00 bucks at circuit city. It was on sale from $150.00. I have to say I am pleased. We use it for tv from the computer and I can just plug my zen right into it and it will play. It has a wireless remote, it has an adapter so I can plug my ps2 or the dvd player into it. It doesnt have overpowering base but it does have 4 1 inch tweeters (two per satellite) and a 3 inch mid on each side. It has 100 watts of power which is more than most 2.1 systems with the exception of the klipsch pro media, z-2300 and bose stuff. It does look nice which I think is a bonus. My only complaint is the positioning of the sub to the wiring. It forces you to aim it/wire it in a certain direction and the wires could be a little longer for the satellites. I have the setup on both sides of the tv.

I will say that the old school stuff works great. I will not reliquish my old 2.0 speakers from the first pc I owned. It was an old gateway 133mhz with about 2 gigs of hd space if that (purchased new). I still have it in the basement, anywho, the speakers were great, very powerful for the size. I have them wired into my old dell that I am still using. I use them for mid-high only and let the rest of the sub and crappy satelittes do the rest.

!WARNING! RANT PORTION OF MY REPLY:
The new crap they put out with systems is horrible though. They myswell hook up string to hollowed out aluminum soda cans. I have just as many sets of speakers in the basement as I do corded keyboards and ball mice. Its like packaging, you just throw it away with the zip ties and plastic bags. You can supply them with enough power by dragging your feet across carpet while holding the wires.

To conclude, there is alot out there in between $80 shipped to $200 in 2.1 or 5.1 for retail pricing. If you look around you can get good deals for around $50.00 which isnt bad. It sucks though that you are forced to go out and spend money just to enjoy a basic function of your computer.
 
Its sucks tbh that you actually need to pay big $$$$ to experience really good sound too :p, also watts dont matter, your system might beat some systems with a higher wattage rating, i went into currys, i seen this Denon 2.1 system (i thin it was Denon) and it was 200W RMS, and then i listned to this 500W RMS system, and the Denon totally blown it outa the water.
 
Its the same story with PSU's. The bigger/heavier/higher quality of the componets the better quality of the sound reproduction. A 1000quid Onkyo dedicated amplifyer has the same wattage rating of some 2.1 systems (i know it not apples with apples but you get the point)
 
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