Budget PC speakers - whats the popular route?

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mellojoe

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I had some old Logitech z560's that I've been using for probably 10 years or so. They have finally died. Last week, they released the magic blue smoke and produce sound no more. (moment of silence ---------- )

So, what's next? I bought those on some sale for right at $100 when they came out. Is there anything in the same price range that I should be looking at?

What is the popular choice these days for the budget minded middle-aged man who still finds time to listen to music and play video games?
 
there are less 5.1(well 4.1?? always kind of a strange set up..in the z560s case) pc speakers (especially decent / good) ones now than 10yrs ago. .. and nothing really i can think of for $100

I had Z560s for awhile nearly 10yrs also..and for a grand total of 3 of those years i lived someplace where i could set them up properly... (surrounds that is).


I think many who's living arrangements /spouses ..etc can accommodate surround speaker gaming have moved on to AVR's w/ surround HT speakers but that is going to be way more than $100

having realized I only used my speakers for music ... my wife / neighbors would literally kill me if i gamed w/ speakers I replaced my Z560s with stereo bookshelf speakers (initally T-amp + Polks) later vintage amps /receivers and used /vintage speakers

ATM I am listening to some Monitor Audio Silver S1 speakers w/ a 100WPC Kenwood KR-V106R receiver from the 80s

I game with headphones (DT770 Pro 80s mostly)

but for $100 I can't honestly think or anything similar to the z560s that would remotely be worth listening to.. If it was me I might start looking for CL deals on some HT speakers and a used receiver (assuming you have the space).
 
If I were to go the T-Amp route, can I reuse my current Logitech speakers? from the z560, it has them listed as 53W rms and 8ohms. It would tie me over to have something up and running while I'm sourcing good quality speakers.
 
mellojoe said:
If I were to go the T-Amp route, can I reuse my current Logitech speakers? from the z560, it has them listed as 53W rms. I can't seem to find the impedence rating. But, it would tie me over to have something up and running while I'm sourcing good quality speakers.
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yeah you can... i think as i recall they are 8ohm ..however those sats are designed to work with the logitech set which is crossed over pretty high... so they don't go low at all.. you'd probably need to add a sub

I used the sats with a my t-amp a couple times..it is OK... not great but it is ok...for temporary at least.
 
Pioneer BS22 can be found for $80 at Walmart. Throw in a Lepai T-amp for $20 Though Personally I'd drop a little more and get a T-amp with more power.
 
Thinking of just going the Amp route. It will give me freedom to pick up some better speakers in the long run. Besides, I do everything else myself, might as well do the sound system myself, too, eh?

Is there really much of a difference between the budget options?

The Lepai version with the TA2020 ($35) (using the better power supply)
The Muse version with the TA2021 ($52)
The Topping version with the TA2020 ($70)
or the SMSL version also with the TA2020 ($58)

Are they going to be similar enough that it simply comes down to looks and/or price?
 
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mellojoe said:
Thinking of just going the Amp route. It will give me freedom to pick up some better speakers in the long run. Besides, I do everything else myself, might as well do the sound system myself, too, eh?

Is there really much of a difference between the budget options?

The Lepai version with the TA2020 ($35) (using the better power supply)
The Muse version with the TA2021 ($52)
The Topping version with the TA2020 ($70)
or the SMSL version also with the TA2020 ($58)

Are they going to be similar enough that it simply comes down to looks and/or price?
Click to expand...


the last 3 are going to be pretty close (my T-amp is a SMSL SA-S3 i have owned for 2yrs ..it has been perfect)


the 1st one that Lepai.. has pretty hit or miss QC... and generally comes with a terrible (noisy and underpowered wallwart power supply... so if you choose it figure on $9~ more for a decent power supply)

of the ones you listed i have read many positive things about the Topping TP20MKII and for build quality and power supply and for not having spring clips I would probably choose it (or the SMSL) i think the topping is pretty sharp looking.
 
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I don't recommend the Dayton one, the spring clips are piece of crap that break off easily and mine had constantly loud buzzing, whereas I never had problems with the cheap Lepai amps.
 
atarione said:
the 1st one that Lepai.. has pretty hit or miss QC... and generally comes with a terrible (noisy and underpowered wallwart power supply... so if you choose it figure on $9~ more for a decent power supply)
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Yeah, its only about $25, so even with buying the additional (better) power supply, its still only HALF as expensive as the Topping one. And a third cheaper than anything else. The only reason I'd consider it is because it is so inexpensive.

I'm leaning toward the Topping one, but its hard to pass up something thats half the cost.
 
In my opinion the whole point of getting a T-amp is that it's so damn cheap. When it's creeping up to 3 digits you're probably better off getting something else.
 
split the difference and get the SMSL ??? $12 less than the topping and about $20~ more than the lepai...

i have the SA-S3 instead of the S1 but mine has been excellent no problems after 2yrs or so here.
 
alamone said:
In my opinion the whole point of getting a T-amp is that it's so damn cheap. When it's creeping up to 3 digits you're probably better off getting something else.
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I agree.... when you're approaching 3 digits you might as well look for a used (or even new) full fledged receiver. For example, a brand new Sherwood RX-4109 can be had for $99 and is a heck of a receiver at that price.

Even at $50 I would start looking at receivers on the used market. I picked up a Harmon|Kardon AVR5 a couple of years ago at a flea market for $40 or so and it's been fantastic.


Don't get me wrong - I love my T-Amps but I don't see the point in spending more than $30 or so on one. The TriPath amp is great for that kind of money... but only for that kind of money.
 
Blue Falcon said:
I agree.... when you're approaching 3 digits you might as well look for a used (or even new) full fledged receiver. For example, a brand new Sherwood RX-4109 can be had for $99 and is a heck of a receiver at that price.

Even at $50 I would start looking at receivers on the used market. I picked up a Harmon|Kardon AVR5 a couple of years ago at a flea market for $40 or so and it's been fantastic.


Don't get me wrong - I love my T-Amps but I don't see the point in spending more than $30 or so on one. The TriPath amp is great for that kind of money... but only for that kind of money.
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well to some extent i agree (as you can see in my picture) ...but there is one very good reason to go the t-amp route for many ...desk space

here we see my Kenwood KR-V106R (i paid $20 for .. wonderful 100WPC..hilarious amount of buttons..i love this thing) and my SMSL SA-S3 (under my FiiO E07K/E09K) ($60 for the amp shipped).

clearly somone pressed for desk space is going to have a easier time dealing with a t-amp than the kenwood... For my part I got my t-amp first then got more interested in audio and gathered a bunch of vintage/used gear, but I chose the SMSL on build quality over the lepai and looks .. it was worth the $40 ($30 if u replace power supply) more to me.


 
mellojoe said:
Going the T-amp route, what do you guys do as far as subwoofers go?
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two main ways to go if you want a sub

a. sub with speaker level inputs (speaker wire from amp to sub's speaker level inputs then from sub's speaker outputs to speakers)

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-10...&ie=UTF8&qid=1395428987&sr=1-1&keywords=psw10

(if you look at the customer pics you'll see the speaker level inputs and outputs)


b. splitter so slit the signal from dac/soundcard to the t-amp and sub


the advantage of A is you can use the sub's crossover to limit how low the speakers are trying to go.

with approach b the speakers will be trying to go full range.
 
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Best Buy had the Klipsh 2.1 speakers on sale for a deal. They got plenty loud and plenty of bass too.
 
mellojoe said:
Going the T-amp route, what do you guys do as far as subwoofers go?
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Look on craigslist... I got a 150 watt RMS sub 10" for $40...

Failing that, build your own or buy one of the cheapies (BIC, Dayton 1000 etc)
 
I got to say I don't think very much of my T-amp a topping TP21... It's supposed to be 25watts but it barely gets my speakers to a decent level (89 db efficient floorstanders), bass is wimpy.

But it was very cheap and it's very small, but it's a night and day difference between it and my Denon POA-1500. I think T-amps are good for there purpose (small, cheap desktop solutions) but I don't think they offer anything close to the SQ of a good SS amp.
 
matteos said:
I got to say I don't think very much of my T-amp a topping TP21... It's supposed to be 25watts but it barely gets my speakers to a decent level (89 db efficient floorstanders), bass is wimpy.
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That 25 watt figure I think is at maximum volume, which one never ever wants to do on a T-Amp. The way that TriPath chip is designed the further you push the volume the more horribly it clips, and it's non linear too - in fact going past 70% volume you can get some really wicked distortion / clipping.

But wattage isn't everything and I do love my T-Amps for what they are. They're excellent when paired with an inexpensive set of bookshelves (Dayton B652, Sony SS-B1000, Pioneers, etc) and a nice value sub (like the Polk PSW10 you linked!) just rounds out a nice system - especially for use with a PC.

In short, a T-Amp, an inexpensive set of bookshelfs, and an inexpensive sub will literally blow any pre-packaged 'PC Speakers' out of the water.



Actually as mentioned earlier the OP could start off by buying a T-Amp and a cheap sub and get by using the speakers from the Z560's and get pretty decent sound. Sure the 560 speakers aren't full range, but a sub would round that out nicely and definitely make due until he could afford a 'real' set of bookshelf speakers. That's the route I would go. ;)
 
atarione said:
the advantage of A is you can use the sub's crossover to limit how low the speakers are trying to go.

with approach b the speakers will be trying to go full range.
Click to expand...

This is incorrect.

Option A will absolutely lead to the speakers running full range with that sub, its only advantage is that you can control both sub and speaker volume with the amp knob. While the PSW10 does have speaker level outputs, but it does NOT have an internal high pass filter on them. An internal high pass filter will strip off the lows from the signal going to the speakers but is not a feature found in most subs on the market today. The low pass filter only strips the highs from the signal goign to the sub cone, it still passes the full signal to the speaker level outputs.

Option B may or may not pass the speaker a full range signal. Some onboard/stand alone sound cards allow you to set a software crossover to send lows to the sub and highs/mids to the speakers. The main disadvantage is that the sub and speaker volume are only in sync of you change the volume in windows. The amp knob will only control the speaker volume.


The above issues are why I ended up using an AV receiver.
 
SithSolo1 said:
This is incorrect.

Option A will absolutely lead to the speakers running full range with that sub, its only advantage is that you can control both sub and speaker volume with the amp knob. While the PSW10 does have speaker level outputs, but it does NOT have an internal high pass filter on them. An internal high pass filter will strip off the lows from the signal going to the speakers but is not a feature found in most subs on the market today. The low pass filter only strips the highs from the signal goign to the sub cone, it still passes the full signal to the speaker level outputs.

Option B may or may not pass the speaker a full range signal. Some onboard/stand alone sound cards allow you to set a software crossover to send lows to the sub and highs/mids to the speakers. The main disadvantage is that the sub and speaker volume are only in sync of you change the volume in windows. The amp knob will only control the speaker volume.


The above issues are why I ended up using an AV receiver.
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oh ooops... i have been mistaken it seems (googled it) about the lowpass on my PSW10.. sorry OP ... happily in my case I am using my PSW10 with my NHT SuperZero's that can't try to go low if they wanted to :rolleyes: awesome speakers but they don't go low at all nor do they attempt to do so.
 
Thanks, again, for all the advice. I went the Lenpai (cheap) route. I spent the extra $10 on the better powersupply and ended up with it all shipped for less than $40. This is what sealed the deal for me. For $40, I don't mind if this experiment doesn't work out and I hate it.

I'll keep my eyes and ears open for a good pair of bookshelf speakers down the road sometime. My wife is already looking at me crosseyed when I start to explain why I want to spend MORE money on my computer. :)

But, thank you all again for the thoughts and replies. It really has opened up a new world for me. Now I can pick and choose what I want, as opposed to just buying a pre-built system. Nothing else on my PC is "pre-built" so this will fit right in.
 
For. some decently priced bookshelf speakers, check out the Micca Motion series(MB42, and MB42X) im using the MB42's with my Lepai T-amp w/upgraded power brick, and the sound is great imo. really good setup for the price.
 
Morphene said:
For. some decently priced bookshelf speakers, check out the Micca Motion series(MB42, and MB42X) im using the MB42's with my Lepai T-amp w/upgraded power brick, and the sound is great imo. really good setup for the price.
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I second the Micca MB42X speakers. They sound shockingly good considering the price ($79 at Amazon) and the small size. The reviews I read were not wrong. I hooked them up to my NAD amp for testing but eventually I'll be moving them to my computer desk with a SMSL T-amp. That was another pleasant surprise for the money. It is currently powering my Monitor Audio bookshelf speakers and sounds great. Unfortunately they just take up too much room on my desk. The T-amp and the Miccas should be a great setup where budget and space are both a concern.
 
Morphene said:
For. some decently priced bookshelf speakers, check out the Micca Motion series(MB42, and MB42X) im using the MB42's with my Lepai T-amp w/upgraded power brick, and the sound is great imo. really good setup for the price.
Click to expand...

Wow, I think I might get a pair of these to replace my beloved cheapie Sony SS-B1000s. I'd never heard of them until now....
 
The Pioneer SP-BS22-LR are on sale now, $80 shipped from walmart, $87 from amazon.
I picked up a pair for a secondary system. Not sure how they compare to the Miccas.
 
I went from 3 watt per channel Logitech to 6 watt per channel JBL to 11 watts per channel Creative T12 speakers. I was finally satisfied with the Creative T12. However, I noticed my Koss Porta Pro headphones can have more detail using the front panel audio jack. So eventually I may want to spend more and get something like Tannoy Reveal 402.
 
Blue Falcon said:
Wow, I think I might get a pair of these to replace my beloved cheapie Sony SS-B1000s. I'd never heard of them until now....
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I'm very pleased with them, but keep in mind they are 4" drivers. They sound better than they have any right to with drivers that small, but if your musical tastes run closer to hip hop than mine do you might want to add a sub. Given the cost, the risk is pretty low to try them out. :cool:
 
uberjeff said:
I'm very pleased with them, but keep in mind they are 4" drivers. They sound better than they have any right to with drivers that small, but if your musical tastes run closer to hip hop than mine do you might want to add a sub. Given the cost, the risk is pretty low to try them out. :cool:
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Oh I've already got a sub.... the wonderfully inexpensive Polk PSW10 which I just love.

Actually two if you count the Energy Power 10" that's sitting in it's box in the closet. Don't have the heart to sell it because I'm almost as attached to it as I am the PSW10. :D


What impresses me about those Micca bookshelves is that they apparently have a broader stage than the bigger SS-B1000's and even dip into the 60hz territory. The best the SS-B1000s can do is 80hz (and that may even be a stretch) That instantly triggered my 'big sound in a tiny package' fascination and therefore I must buy them. :)

I'm not going to lie either, the carbon fiber look of the driver kinda sold me too..... :D
 
The broad stage surprised me the most. Paired with the PSW10 you should have your bases covered. (An interesting but unintentional pun) I'd love to hear your verdict. I've considered picking up a PSW10 or one of the inexpensive Monoprice subs to round out the equation. It's fun finding ways to get big dollar sound out of a very inexpensive setup.

Blue Falcon said:
Oh I've already got a sub.... the wonderfully inexpensive Polk PSW10 which I just love.

Actually two if you count the Energy Power 10" that's sitting in it's box in the closet. Don't have the heart to sell it because I'm almost as attached to it as I am the PSW10. :D


What impresses me about those Micca bookshelves is that they apparently have a broader stage than the bigger SS-B1000's and even dip into the 60hz territory. The best the SS-B1000s can do is 80hz (and that may even be a stretch) That instantly triggered my 'big sound in a tiny package' fascination and therefore I must buy them. :)

I'm not going to lie either, the carbon fiber look of the driver kinda sold me too..... :D
Click to expand...
 
For the record, you get what you pay for. The Lepai system works fine and gets the job done. But the plug connectors on the back don't fill me with a lot of confidence. The power plug is not snug and wiggles a bit. It feels a bit bodged together. We'll see how long it lasts. CHEAP is definitely the word of the day.

However, sound wise, sounds good.
 
atarione said:
I game with headphones (DT770 Pro 80s mostly)
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^^ I must say you are a man after my own heart. :D

If you do ANY gaming that includes voice chat, I would say think about the possibilities of a $100 pair of over-the-ear headphones.
 
Damn you guys....

I just hit submit on a set of Micca MB42X at Amazon.... and I have to pay taxes this month, dammit. Better stock up on ramen and rice and beans... :D


The extra $20 seemed worth it over the regular MB42. Full blown crossover for one thing, and I really dig the magnetic grilles... since I prefer not to keep cloth grilles on my speakers this way there will be no ugly mounting pegs/holes to look at.

Looks like I get to pack my trusty old Sony SS-B1000's back in their box for some future project... ;)
 
Blue Falcon said:
Damn you guys....

I just hit submit on a set of Micca MB42X at Amazon.... and I have to pay taxes this month, dammit. Better stock up on ramen and rice and beans... :D


The extra $20 seemed worth it over the regular MB42. Full blown crossover for one thing, and I really dig the magnetic grilles... since I prefer not to keep cloth grilles on my speakers this way there will be no ugly mounting pegs/holes to look at.

Looks like I get to pack my trusty old Sony SS-B1000's back in their box for some future project... ;)
Click to expand...

You should be very happy with these, I have the same pair being powered by an Onkyo receiver, I couldn't be more pleased with the sound and footprint of them.
 
Let me just add that I am so sick of Amazon and their slow ass shipping lately.... I figured I'd be a good way to having these in my hands now, but noooo.... after three business days they're still 'Preparing for shipment...'. And this is a fulfilled by Amazon item.

If you don't pony up for Prime you get screwed. I wish Newegg or another site sold these Miccas....
 
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