In a nutshell, i want a good enough setup to be able to differenciate between my FLACs and my mp3s on my computer, but from what i have heard, my altec lansing speakers wont do the trick.

So, what is a good beginners setup that doesnt totally break the bank? Oh, and Ive seen in some studio like setups those two badass looking speakers on either side of the desk... what are those? hehe.

thanks.

also, could you give me your opinion on the altec lansing gt5051r?

For hearing problems in lossy-encoded files, nothing beats a good pair of earphones.

Those speakers are fine for watching movies or gaming, but they're definitely not audiophile quality. As pdq said, nothing beats a good pair of earphones, and you'll get better sound quality for the cost over studio monitors.

hmm thanks, but i really dont like to use earphones//headphones at home.

about these studio monitors (thats the name!), is there a decent set for under or around 250?

A pair of KRK RP5 monitors can be had for $300. They get far and away the best reviews for sub $300 monitors here: http://studio-central.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=15977

I suggest you listen to music you're really familiar with on several sets of studio monitors before you invest in them though...

I've been reading a lot of good press about these lately. Self-powered, small enough to sit on a desktop next to PC, and $200. Assume you have a decent sound card?

You should try yo avoid the "audiophile quality" moniker. "Very Good Quality", "Excellent Quality", etc are much safer.

thanks guys. if i did decide to go headphones, what would i look into for great sound? and would i want an amp? if so, whats cheap and good?

First off let me point you to another forum that is dedicated to headphones. www.head-fi.org The guys over there know way more than I and there is an enormous amount of info on headphones.

What type of music do you listen to? Thats probably the biggest influence on headphone choice.

What type of headphone do you want? There are sealed, open, ones that sit on ear, in ear, over ear etc...

How much are you willing to spend? Headphones range from $25 to thousands.

Personally I plan on getting the beyerdynamic dt770 because im in need of an extremely bassy headphone.
For more articulate sound there is the akg 701 or sennhieser hd650 but those are quite expensive.

Head-fi is a useful forum, but do be aware that there are people there who have extremely strange ideas about physics which have no basis in reality. If you keep your BS filter on, though, you will find lots of usefull and interesting info about headphones.

the cheapest way to hear artifacts is to train yourself to hear them <link>. people trained to do so can hear them even with crappy speakers <link>.

My experience is that, if you can hear (and know what to listen) them. you will hear it even if your speaker&headphone are suck. but of course better gear are better. but don't count on it too much.

If you really want to "differenciate between my FLACs and my mp3s" then headphone is a way to go. some codec like vorbis at low bitrate, with some type of music are extremely easy to ABX with headphone yet nearly transparent or at least sound very good when using loudspeaker.


My thought exactly!

If you already have some amplification, I will suggest the Ascend Audio CBM-170. This two way monitor is extremely linear with low distortion, as verified in *NRC lab testing. I think Ascend still has a few refurbished units for $250/pair left. It is a superb monitor. I can't think of anything else for the price that competes for linearity and distortion.

If you need self-amplified, and very small, the Audio Engine 2 will be the ticket. But it has no useful output SPL below 70-80Hz, as it is very small. But it is the best 'multimedia/computer' speaker system that I know of in existence. It measures superbly well for such a speaker, as verified in the measurements of a recent Stereophile review (they don't seem to have the measurements online yet, otherwise I would provide the link to them). Pair with a sub woofer using a computer sound card with LFE management/crossover abilities for optimal SQ.

-Chris

*http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/measurements/ascend_cbm170/

Quite impressive dispersion readings for that Ascend model! Does Ascend base its design on Toole/NRC research on what makes loudspeakers sound good? I'm trying to identify as many loudspeakers makers that do, as I can (so far, REvel, paradigm, PSB, Axiom, API/Energy)

thanks for the help guys, i appreciate it. =)

The company has made it clear in the past that they are deeply concerned with off axis behaviour. I do not know if their influence was Toole.

-Chris