I currently have some older, cheap speakers hooked up to my Mac. Assuming I wish to upgrade them at some point in the future, does anyone have recommendations for the <$50 price bracket?
Range and volume are my chief concerns. I need a pair of kickass speakers and sub for going back to college this fall to plug in to my PowerBook G4 12". If possible I'd like cheap surround sound speakers but that must be IMPOSSIBLE for a PowerBook, because I doubt there are cheap FireWire speakers. I'd have to buy a breakout box and then speakers. Moneyyyyy... USB speakers eat CPU and probably skip if you're doing a lot with USB and besides mere CD audio is over 1411 kpbs which exceeds USB bandwith so I doubt USB surround sound is any good.
Optical out on PowerBooks, now that would be cool!
Anyway...any good 2.1 speaker sets out there? I was surprised when I went looking for speakers, I didn't come up with much.
Since USB 1.1 operates at 12Mbps and a CD is 1411Kbps (or about 1.3Mbps, it falls well within the throughput of USB, even DVD-A does, at "only" 9.6Mbps. There are some great multichannel USB audio products, like the Sonica theatre. You are seriously misinformed about the suitability of USB audio, though I wouldn't get USB speakers either. Though I wouldn't hesitate to get a USB decoder/breakout and add my choice of speaker/amp.
But anyway USB eats CPU. How good are Soundsticks? I read they have a gap in the midrange but damn they sound fine in the Apple Store. Love Shack really pounds. They're so expensive though. Anyone have some used speakers they're selling?
I'll second the vote for Cambridge PCworks 2.1 speakers. They're really cheap and they sound good.
If you're willing to spend $150-$200 on speakers (for example, the SoundSticks), it would be much better to get Klipsch ProMedia 2.1s instead. They are $180 and they sound incredible. Much better value than the SoundSticks.
But you wanted cheap so I'd say the Cambridge Soundworks ones are the best for that. You could also go for a set of Logitechs... they have a pretty good 2.1 set for $35 or $40 or something.
Geez, the Pro speakers sound like transistor radios, utterly horrible. And considering that they need an amplifier, don't even bother.
The CSWs are fine for their price range, so are Altec, Logitech makes some cheap ones too, but don't expect anything stunning (though expect above SoundSticks performance).
I think I remember hearing that the Altec Lansing ATP3s were good cheap speakers from an audio specific forum.
FWIW I used to have a CSW PCWorks 4.1 system and the lack of midrange on them was significant. Also Logitech and Klipsch speakers seem to have way too much bass (crossover on the subwoofer is way too high, an eq is needed to level it).
And if your computer has an analog amplifier ('digital' sound port, whatever) you can use a griffin breakout cable and plug any 'real' speakers you want (18W power).
Comments
Originally posted by Mac Man 020581
Apple Pro Speakers
I'd have to agree. They're well priced (for an Apple product, at least) and have pretty good sound. But my favorites are the JBL Creatures.
Optical out on PowerBooks, now that would be cool!
Anyway...any good 2.1 speaker sets out there? I was surprised when I went looking for speakers, I didn't come up with much.
Originally posted by Placebo
I'd have to agree. They're well priced (for an Apple product, at least) and have pretty good sound. But my favorites are the JBL Creatures.
they sound like weak crap compared to 39 dollar cambridge pcworks 2.1 systems
But anyway USB eats CPU. How good are Soundsticks? I read they have a gap in the midrange but damn they sound fine in the Apple Store. Love Shack really pounds. They're so expensive though. Anyone have some used speakers they're selling?
Great sound and very powerful, 2 guys in my building had them this year and they sounded fantastic.
If you're willing to spend $150-$200 on speakers (for example, the SoundSticks), it would be much better to get Klipsch ProMedia 2.1s instead. They are $180 and they sound incredible. Much better value than the SoundSticks.
But you wanted cheap so I'd say the Cambridge Soundworks ones are the best for that. You could also go for a set of Logitechs... they have a pretty good 2.1 set for $35 or $40 or something.
Shanksta I might take your advice.
The CSWs are fine for their price range, so are Altec, Logitech makes some cheap ones too, but don't expect anything stunning (though expect above SoundSticks performance).
I think I remember hearing that the Altec Lansing ATP3s were good cheap speakers from an audio specific forum.
FWIW I used to have a CSW PCWorks 4.1 system and the lack of midrange on them was significant. Also Logitech and Klipsch speakers seem to have way too much bass (crossover on the subwoofer is way too high, an eq is needed to level it).
And if your computer has an analog amplifier ('digital' sound port, whatever) you can use a griffin breakout cable and plug any 'real' speakers you want (18W power).