Best 2.1 setup for $100

FrEaKy

FrEaKy

[H] Movie and TV Show Review Guy
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
Messages
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Gots a bit of sales done on the FS/FT and have an extra $100 to play with.

Ive been living with these Philips MMS321 for quite a while (about 3 years now) and love them, they have been working great for this time, but now its time to upgrade.

I have $100, would like to find a new 2.1 set of speakers (or 2.0) for sub $100, now I know my budget isnt the best, but I figured I would ask.
 
I don't think you are going to get much of an upgrade from your current setup for $100. I don't really see why you would upgrade from 2.1 to 2.1 anyways if you already love your current setup.

If anything, see what you can get for those Phillips and then go 5.1 imo.
 
True, I could probally sell them for about $40-50.... lol
 
Those are some pretty cool speakers. Is that thing labelled "bass" a driver? If it's a three-way with 4 drivers that would be kind of interesting, I've never seen that with such small speakers.
 
I will likely be drawn and quartered for this, but if your budget is $100 or less and you are willing to live with 2.0, I would highly suggest the Creative T20s. Their sound defies their size and price by a very noticeable margin. Just make sure you get the Series II version.

You can read my full review of them here: http://livingwithanerd.com/creative-gigaworks-t20-series-ii/

If you are looking for a sub-$100 2.1 set, I highly recommend the Logitech Z4s. The sub is a little boomy, but the set sounds great considering their low cost and small size. They can get quite loud, and stay distortion-free until you turn the volume knob past the 4 o'clock position (at which point you will heavily risk hearing damage). They also have the best wired control pod I've seen on "PC" speakers.
 
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If you have a receiver then hunt down a used pair of AV123 X-Series speakers..Ive seen then go for that price and they are light years ahead of anything you can get from computer speakers.
Without a receiver for $100 I would rather get a decent pair of headphones like the Audio Technica A700
 
Headphones, I have the Razer Barricuda 5.1's, love em!
 
I remember those Phillips speakers. I wanted to get them for awhile when they were on sale at Walmart but never did. I am glad to know they sound good.

If it was me and I had a set of speakers I liked, then I would save the $100, try to save another $125, and then go buy the Swan M200MkII. But that is just me.

Those Promedias for $100 look nice Mr Wolf. I just am not an Ebay fan so the reason for my choice above.
 
I have a pair of Athena S.5s with 1" tweets and 4" mids and they sound extremely thin by themselves, I would probably never even consider them without a sub. Something like an AV30 with just a 3" mid, I would imagine probably should not be played at anything above moderate levels before it really strains.
 
I have the Philips MMS321 speakers myself. They are actually not bad. They do lack the bass though. I would say the M-Audio AV30 speakers would be an upgrade and will deliver a more bass. I have the AV40 and it's big difference from those Philips speakers.

FrEaKy said:
Gots a bit of sales done on the FS/FT and have an extra $100 to play with.

Ive been living with these Philips MMS321 for quite a while (about 3 years now) and love them, they have been working great for this time, but now its time to upgrade.

I have $100, would like to find a new 2.1 set of speakers (or 2.0) for sub $100, now I know my budget isnt the best, but I figured I would ask.
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JamesL said:
Does anybody know how these pc speakers fair against something like the AV30 or AV40 which are around the same price?
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The big advantage Klipsch Promedia 2.1 has over the AV30 or AV40 (or any 2.0 system) is the dedicated subwoofer. I had the Klipsch for 5 years and thought it was a great sounding system.
 
I just picked up some AV40's today. Accurate sounding speakers to be sure. Just not so sure they are 150.00 worth..Wondering what that 150.00 would have gotten me with some bookshelfs.
 
You could have gotten a pair of bookshelves and a T-amp. 99.9% certain it would have sounded better, but the AV40s have a small footprint, so its apples and oranges.
 
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TheToE! said:
I just picked up some AV40's today. Accurate sounding speakers to be sure. Just not so sure they are 150.00 worth..Wondering what that 150.00 would have gotten me with some bookshelfs.
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If you've got enough room for bookshelf speakers, astrallite and lixuelai offered great suggestions for better sound than the AV40.

Tread carefully, young Padawan. Beware the audio upgrade. If once you start down the upgrade path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume your income it will, as it did so many of we who have gone before you.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
If you've got enough room for bookshelf speakers, astrallite and lixuelai offered great suggestions for better sound than the AV40.

Tread carefully, young Padawan. Beware the audio upgrade. If once you start down the upgrade path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume your income it will, as it did so many of we who have gone before you.
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LMFAO!

I know, it's crazy. You know what I ended up doing? I went into Bestbuy (i know) and actually checked out those insignia bookshelfs. I could not believe how much they surprised me. Ended up getting a pair. I am gonna run those for a while and see how long it takes for the upgrade bug to bite again.
 
Where can I get a good T-amp from?
And speakers. Budget people, budget

And I can tack a little more on now, I have $150 now.
 
FrEaKy said:
Where can I get a good T-amp from?
And speakers. Budget people, budget

And I can tack a little more on now, I have $150 now.
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http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-380

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia%26%23174%3B+-+6-1/2%22+Bass-Reflex+Bookshelf+Speakers+(Pair)/7705307.p?skuId=7705307&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=7705307&ref=06&loc=01&id=1138085354138

I cannot speak for the amp, but the speakers will surprise the hell out of you. I have heard of folks running this exact same setup with success. YMMV.
 
I like the design of the Insignias. They are very well suited for near field use, since it's a coaxial driver design (1" tweeter sits in the middle of the 6.5" woofer).
 
I don't mean to hijack the thread but I figured I would ask here instead of making a new post. I see people recommending T-Amps and Bookshelf speakers in this thread. I can see how the speakers hook to the amp and it apprears you hook the amp directly to your sound card. My question is do you control the volume of your sound thru the T-Amp or thru your computer? How does that work exactly if somebody does not mind explaining.

I ask this here because I am in the market for some new speakers as well and saw what was recmommended here and it looks good to me but I want to make sure I have an understanding of what I am doing before I do it.
 
Izzeren said:
I don't mean to hijack the thread but I figured I would ask here instead of making a new post. I see people recommending T-Amps and Bookshelf speakers in this thread. I can see how the speakers hook to the amp and it apprears you hook the amp directly to your sound card. My question is do you control the volume of your sound thru the T-Amp or thru your computer? How does that work exactly if somebody does not mind explaining.

I ask this here because I am in the market for some new speakers as well and saw what was recmommended here and it looks good to me but I want to make sure I have an understanding of what I am doing before I do it.
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I believe the t amp from parts express has a volume control on it. You can also adjust volume through your OS. I am sure there are folks here that have a far greater knowledge of these things that could explain it better.
 
TheToE! said:
I believe the t amp from parts express has a volume control on it. You can also adjust volume through your OS. I am sure there are folks here that have a far greater knowledge of these things that could explain it better.
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Ok thanks for the info, I knew the T amp had volume on it but was not sure how that would work with adjusting the volume thru the PC.
 
Izzeren said:
Ok thanks for the info, I knew the T amp had volume on it but was not sure how that would work with adjusting the volume thru the PC.
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Put the volume output on your computer near max (but not quite all the way) and then control the volume by the knob on the amp. It works the same way as regular PC speakers with a volume control knob.
 
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