Alternative to PC speakers...

T

TBONEU

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
500
Recently I’ve been lurking around since someone suggested purchasing a receiver and two audio speakers instead of computer speakers for my PC. Currently I watch movies and listen to music on my Mac and game on my PC in my 11’ x 11’ bedroom.

I like the idea of slowly buying good components as my budget allows. From reading many posts on affordable speakers, the Polk Audio R150’s look promising. Bookshelf setup would be preferred since I don’t have the room for floor speakers.

Today I got a quick opportunity to listen to the R150’s and OWM3 Series, along with a JBL (model unknown) at Fry’s Electronics. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to listen to them as long as I would have liked. My frozen groceries were defrosting in the back of my car in 90-degree heat!

But, to my novice untrained ears the Polk R150s sounded great! The OWM3 seem to accentuate the highs in the music only. There seem to be little mid tone and no bass at all. I realize that these speakers are not meant to boom. However, the JBL’s speakers sounded better then the OWM3 but the R150’s sounded fuller, well balanced to me.

So I like what I heard, but is there any similarly priced bookshelf speaker ($200) I should evaluate?

My plans are to build a nice 2.1 system then slowly build up.
 
R150s are nice enough for the budget, but you will probably start noticing their limits sooner or later (unless you're lucky and just have tin ears, "lucky" in the sense that satisfactory audio will cost you much less...). They're incredible compared to little dinky "computer-class" speakers like the de rigueur Logitechs and so forth.

For $200, I would start eyeing AV123 B-stock speakers. Note that none of these you're talking about are "powered" speakers - powered in the sense that they have an integral amplifier built into one of the sats. You will need to get a receiver or other amplifier, so make sure you're counting that in your budget! For $300, AV123 ELTs are great, especially musically.

You're also not speaking much to subwoofers...for $100ish, I would be looking at a Dayton 8" or 10" subwoofer from Parts Express. For $200, there's a BIC sub that is a bit nicer through a regular (and I believe official) distributor on eBay.
 
The entry level av123 speakers just destroy the entry level Polks.

The BIC 10" sub is $150.
 
ashmedai said:
For $200, I would start eyeing AV123 B-stock speakers. Note that none of these you're talking about are "powered" speakers - powered in the sense that they have an integral amplifier built into one of the sats. You will need to get a receiver or other amplifier, so make sure you're counting that in your budget! For $300, AV123 ELTs are great, especially musically.
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Thanks for all the suggestions.

How often do their bookshelf speakers become available on B-Stock? I guess I'll have to check that section frequently for deals.

Any other brands?
 
It's irregular since it depends on the rate of returns and units with cosmetic defects they don't want to sell as A-stock. There have been a number of X-CS units up recently, which are usable as mini-tower sats.
 
ashmedai said:
It's irregular since it depends on the rate of returns and units with cosmetic defects they don't want to sell as A-stock. There have been a number of X-CS units up recently, which are usable as mini-tower sats.
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a pair is $150 but shipping adds $90 to make a total of 240 for the pair. is that still a good price?
 
I have a pair of Polk R150s and they really seem to be lacking in the highs. When my Onkyo TX-SR605 does the frequency sweep for the Audyssy setup my Sony side pair does the full sweep and finishes with a high pitched sound while the Polks don't quite make it. It's strange that they're so limited that it's noticeable. I even moved them to another channel on my receiver and they sounded the same. Both sounded the same so I don't think they're defective.
 
The R150s are "rolled off" meaning that they do not extend as far as many speakers. For cheap? Still an ok deal. Not my idea of a good time though lol.

A pair of X-CS for $240 will amaze. Those suckers hit hard for small-ish speakers and are optimized for voices and other center channel material so you get a very full range for a little speaker.
 
X-CS is no "small" speaker. It's huge for a bookshelf (by my standards). Try the X-LS. A pair of X-CS Encores will run you over $500 including shipping.
 
Hmm... but they're open box and apparently fairly beat up. I think I'm just going to save up and get a pair of Rocket 250.
 
Alai said:
Hmm... but they're open box and apparently fairly beat up. I think I'm just going to save up and get a pair of Rocket 250.
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lol they are not beat up. sometimes a chip or a scratch. When I said small, I meant in speaker terms, compared to a tower like my 550s, they are small loudspeakers. I did not call them bookshelves.

Still, 250s are a good idea.
 
Most B-stock I've gotten from AV123 has been pristine. I don't usually stick up for them but when it comes to B-stock, most of their stuff is quality that would be passed on to customers as A-stock with most other companies, IMO. I would not hesitate to get B-stock from AV123. Usually, they will knock down their overquoted shipping prices on B-stock as well to move it out, but not always.

When I got an X-Sub, it was cheaper to buy it new because new+ship was less than b-stock+ship. You always have to watch out for the shipping game with them.
 
Part of the shipping thing is that it's just a generic quote for the mass & dimensions. If shipping is high, it's worth trying to get them to get a specific quote from their shipper...but keep in mind that speakers are large and heavy and neither thing is going to make for $20 shipping.

As to quality...the A-stock stuff comes with free return shipping, so I don't think they'll bother trying to pass off anything in less than perfect condition for A-stock. It would just end up with them eating two way shipping costs...which as I mentioned, can be pretty substantial for something that big. I think a fair amount of those B-stock speakers just have the seam of the veneer in an inappropriate location or have some trivial scratches/dings...doesn't look quite as pretty, but sounds just as good. Call 'em if you're unsure what they're describing; it always explicitly states what's wrong with a given unit.
 
Yeah, I'm an audio newbie and I've never heard of AV123 before. Besides 2 front bookshelf speakers, I need to get a decent receiver too.

I'm thinking of getting an Onkyo TX-SR506. The idea of 7.1 is not that important but could be useful latter down the road if I pickup a Blu-Ray player. For now, I mainly watch DVDs and Divx videos. I did see an Onkyo 5.1 receiver (forgot the model No.) but for the price difference of $50 compared to 7.1 it didn't seem like much of a deal.
 
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