Ok, so I've gotten some nice IEMs and they are great for 75% of the time, but sometimes I just really don't want to use them (even though they are more comfortable than headphones or earbuds by a long shot, they can still get uncomfortable after a while for one thing. Then too, sometimes I just don't really feel like dealing with them.) I've been playing with the equalizer to get a bit better results out of my ancient cheap speakers (Altec Lansing 251 from maybe some 5+ years ago now -- well, I bought them mainly for gaming and back then they were among the best) but there are limits (plus I've got something weird going on with the subwoofer, but that's another discussion entirely.) Right now my focus has shifted from what it was those five or so years ago. Music is a lot more important to me than it was back then. I've decided that I'd rather give up somewhat on the gaming end rather than music this time around. I'll even go 2.1 should it be necessary (and I'm guessing it will be.) Besides, if I ever get desperate for 5.1, there's still nothing wrong with these 251s that I can't live with for gaming.

Of course, I'm still on something of a budget. I have my fingers crossed a bit on my tax return, but I still have bills to pay and such, so I'm not counting on much. I could even be stuck with $100 again (ironically, that's the MSRP of these speakers way back when, lol.) I could maybe manage a bit more like $150 or so, but the point is that I'm going to be fairly limited (and yes, I know that for the TRULY good sets you need a lot more than that. I just want something that's a good bit better for music and have no expectations of perfection, but I would like to at least try to do about the best that I can within those limitations.) One thing I'm thinking that might help though is that I am willing to buy refurbished or whatever provided I can get some sort of guarantee (eg I'm not going to buy on eBay where I could get something that blows out all the speakers the next day or something, but something maybe on Amazon or whatever where I can get some semblance of a guarantee would probably be acceptable.) Also, I'm aware that I'd probably be better off with something less desk oriented, but the truth is, I spend all of my listening time either at my PC or listening with my IEMs so it's the PC that I need to improve. (Well, I also listen in the car, but I'm not even going to bother to try to deal with that...)

Anyone have any suggestions within my budget?

For music on a budget, I would go with 2.0 instead of 2.1, and with a set of bookshelf speakers and cheap amp rather than an integrated set. A good set of 2 way bookshelf speakers will play easily down to 55Hz, and getting any lower than this for the same price is going to cost you a lot in midrange and treble quality. This does depend on how you like your music, and what music you listen to.

If you have any woodworking skills, or at least can glue a set of flatpack cabinets together, DIY is likely to get you better quality for a lower price. Not always, but often.

Dude,

Klipsch ProMedia THX

Logitech Z-2300 THX

M-Audio Studio Pro

...and eBay asn't all that bad; just deal with cats who have perfect feedback - and lots of it.

Andrew D.
www.cdnav.com

Hmm... Of those I'm probably most inclined to go with the Klipsch speakers. Well, I'd like to go with M-Audio as I've heard nothing but good things about the brand, but I just don't see those things fitting well on my desk. The Klipsch's look very strong and I like a lot of what I see about them. What do you think? EDIT: Then again, the first review I pull up says the bass isn't very good? Ah well, I'm going to keep looking at reviews on each. Also, I'm guessing I musunderstood the size of the M-Audios? I think I'll look them up better too. I read that despite the bass thing, the Klipsch is better at mids and highs though? I guess I'm still leaning that way. While I would rather it were more accurate, I must admit that most of the music I listen to doesn't have a lot of really good quality stuff in the bass range where it would actually make a really big difference.

EDIT2: Yep. The M-Audios are just a bit too big really and upon more review reading I'm definitely thinking those Klipsch speakers sound like a wonderful choice. Too bad I can't find the ProMedia v.2 400 anywhere though. Sounds like it's the same basic system only 5.1 (or maybe 4.1?) instead (but then it surely would be too expensive anyway.) It would definitely solve the problem of striking a balance between gaming and music as the only concern I have as far as gaming is concerned is the loss of surround sound. But then I must admit that I haven't really felt like many games truly used the rear speakers to give me good positional sound so much as just to try to be immersive and that doesn't work well IMO, so I'm not sure it's such a bad loss. (Too bad really. I always had thought when I was going to 5.1 that I would be able to use it to get more accurate gaming in things like FPS games, but in the end I end up going more by left versus right without really being able to tell how far behind or in front they are just by the sound as I'd hoped I would be able to do, so really I'm not sure this is such a big loss.) Besides, I find myself rather tired of FPS games these days and playing a lot of games where the type or quality of the speakers doesn't make a huge difference anyway. So far every single review I've found on the Klipsch speakers is extremely favorable and I'm liking what I'm seeing.


Normally I'd agree with you. However, when it comes to something like this I worry too much about the potential problems. Besides, call me spoiled, but I want something of a chance that it's going to last as long as this system has... I mean, I've been using it probably at least once a day for more than half of the time I've had it since I bought it and that's somewhere in the range of five years now... This system has been through a lot and I love how it's still alive and kicking today. Also, I'm not an audiophile by any means, so there's a good chance that if anything were wrong with it and it were subtle enough that I would not recognize this. I kind of want to try to do it as right as I can to begin with.


Well, isn't the original point of the subwoofer before it became a device for making things thump just to split off the lower frequencies that tend to have more energy and keep them from interfering with higher frequencies? I would say that I've seen this on occasion with car speakers where too much bass (from a system that didn't even have a bass boost or anything like that) was able to cause clipping-like problems. Mind you, I'll admit that I haven't seen the effects of this on anything higher end than that as outside of the car it has mostly been these 251s and IEMs (and of course IEMs are a whole different story from speakers.)


I'm learning (and somewhat trying to force myself, lol) to appreciate a more balanced sound now. My subwoofer is no longer set to create a vibration that can be felt in the next room and I'm emphasising highs a bit more to compensate a bit for


Hmm, that getts a bit tricky as it's a bit ranged. I've listened to everything from pop to techno (very light techno -- I'm talking mainly about the likes of KOTOKO who uses a bit of a techno-ish style at times as I don't like ACTUAL techno music) to even game music (but not the "chiptunes" or overly. I don't like "electronic" music very much usually and usually prefer it to be at least 50% instrumental when it comes to game music.) Overall I'm probably better off concentrating on a more balanced approach than anything targeting something specific I would guess since it is a little bit ranged.


I suppose, but I really lack the skills to put together a truly quality system honestly. I mean, I can glue the wood together and put in the speakers, but the amplifier and that sort of thing is going to be the weak point beyond a doubt (well, that and actually selecting the speakers.)