Travel Technology - Speakers for desktop computer suggestions and tips needed

mrs pbiflyer has taken to playing on line music through her computer. She now wants better quality speakers for her computer.
Any suggestions? Would the speakers need an additional power source besides/instead of the computer to be effective?

mrs pbiflyer has taken to playing on line music through her computer. She now wants better quality speakers for her computer.
Any suggestions? Would the speakers need an additional power source besides/instead of the computer to be effective?
To answer the second question first: very few sound cards put out decent sound at the impedance of a speaker, so yes, powered speakers that run off the PC's Line Out jack will give the best results.

As to brand - I have always liked Cyber Acoustics, although I haven't listened to any of their new models. Perhaps the thing to do is to take an MP3 player to a couple of appliance/computer stores, plug it in to a few brands, and see if there's anything you/mrs like.

I got some cheap 2.1 speakers at Walmart. Works pretty well. Durabrand. The subwoofer makes all the difference.

I don't know if you want to spend this much, but I have a pair of these, and they are great.

http://www.theaudioinsider.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_24&products_id=43

If you don't want to spend that much, you might want to look at some of the m-audio speakers. I have a pair of them also (I don't remember which model, though) and they are also pretty decent. Not nearly as good as the Divas though, but still pretty decent and they are cheaper than the Divas.

And, yes, these are all powered speakers. The computer sound cards put out enough power to power headphones, and that's it. For speakers, you need an additional amplifier, which are usually built in to computer speakers. You could run the audio out through a receiver (analog out or digital out if your sound device has an optical or coax out) and power it that way and then use normal non-powered speakers too. If you want to do it with digital out and your system doesn't have a coax or optical output, you can buy a very nice $29 sound card that has a digital output.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=292003

(looks like it's $18 at zipzoomfly). If you care about DAC quality, look at the m-audio sound cards. Some of them use the same sound chip as this card, but have much better surrounding circuitry including the DACs. Of course, that makes them more expensive too.

-David

Despite being pretty anti-Bose, I've always liked their PC speakers. Nice rich sound from small speakers.

Another option (the ones I use myself nowadays) would be the JVC NX-PS1 component speakers. Audio over USB, Line in, USB memory and an iPod interface. I picked mine up for well under $100 despite an MSRP of $249.

The Ten Commandments of PC speakers and sound according to NHT (http://nhthifi.com/2006/pchifi.html)

:)

[just joking]
That link should be a sticky!!
[/just joking]

The Ten Commandments of PC speakers and sound according to NHT (http://nhthifi.com/2006/pchifi.html)

:)

[just joking]
That link should be a sticky!!
[/just joking]

Makes good reading. Thanks for the link.
But no match to Sermon on the Mount tho.

I've got a set of Altec Lansing VS-2121 that staples was dumping for $15 that I love, and even bought another pair. Making space for the new model or something.

I also have Altec Lansing and JBL is pretty good too. If you have money to burn, then Bose.

I also have Altec Lansing and JBL is pretty good too. If you have money to burn, then Bose.

Or if you have money to burn AND want some decent sound, buy a good soundcard and the NHT or Quad Active (http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/ranges.php?sector_id=2&range_id=5) speakers...

IMHO Bose and "sounds like real music" don't fit well together in the same sentence.

Or if you have money to burn AND want some decent sound, buy a good soundcard and the NHT or Quad Active (http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/ranges.php?sector_id=2&range_id=5) speakers...

IMHO Bose and "sounds like real music" don't fit well together in the same sentence.

For PC speakers I disagree. I'd never buy their home crap, but the Bose PC speaker line is actually pretty damn good.

Best Buy has the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 set on sell for 99(reg 158)

HEAR (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=4148283&st=4148283&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1051384267922)

Sound "REALLY" good for a 2.1 hookup- THX rated, seperate line input !!!
There's probably a 10-12% off rewardzone coupon out there somewhere as well

That's a great price on the HiVis, but I was never that impressed with 'em. I have a pair. VERY large for what they do. If you don't want a sub but still want decent bass, the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 2.0 (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1732769&Sku=K134-1012&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&CMP=OTC-GOOGLEBASE) sound very good for the money. The 2.1 system, however, sounds very much better. Best bass out of a computer system I've heard. That'd be my pick.

If you don't mind spending QUITE a lot and want to listen elsewhere in the home, these (http://www.dali-usa.com/int/page191.aspx?sub=213&prod=168) combined with this (http://www.shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm?productid=NC-500&modelid=128&group_id=1&detail=1&ext_war=1) will let you listen away from the PC. Those speakers are tiny but sound astonishingly good.

I recently bought a pair of Logitech Z10 which connect to the PC through USB and have their own built-in soundcard. The sound is amazing - terrific value for money!

I nominate Harmon Kardon Soundsticks. They are really cool looking and I got mine with free shipping from Amazon. Great sound!

http://www.amazon.com/Soundsticks-II-3-Piece-Multimedia-Speaker/dp/B0001DBEM4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1196885285&sr=8-1

How much do you want to spend?

Any powered speaker that can be plugged into your head phone jack will work.

The altec Lansing speakers you can find at places like Best Buy will do a decent job.

If you hunt proaudio departments or stores, you can find some truly wonderful speakers of the sort that people who compose digital music use.

I keep a pretty low end set of these (http://www.rolandcorp.com.au/default.aspx?prd=674) in one of the places I work in about 2 1/2 months a year. I see that they are now $179.00 a pair now. Condsiderably less than they were in Switzerland 3 - 4 years ago!

You can see a pretty full range here. (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/6565/Computer_Speakers.html) on B&H Proaudio web site.

If you are listening on-line I do not think the quality of your signal will be a good as you would get from a CD player or iPod type device.

Check these out, good reviews at Amazon and good sound too.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-980-000101-AudioHub-Notebook-Speakers/dp/B000UY1MB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197030338&sr=1-1

^^