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New 2.0 system need help.

TheBlueChanell

TheBlueChanell

Supreme [H]ardness
2FA
Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
4,658
Hi. I know there's been thousands of threads like these but I've been reading them all and still would appreciate some further guidance.

My Altec MX5021's took their last breath last night so now I'm on the hunt for something to replace them with. I've been reading around and my initial choices were the AV40's, D1080 MKII or the MS40's. I've narrowed it down to the D1080's or the MS40's. I plan to add a sub later on but for now which speaker would be the better choice?

These speakers are going to be used for probably 80% Music and 20% Gaming when I don't feel like wearing my headphones for a gaming session.

I can get the D1080's for $115 from the Audio Insider and the MS40's for $130 from Amazon. Which of these two speakers would be the better buy? Obviously they are both going to run leaps and bounds around my 5021's but I'm really interested in hearing what you guys have to say.

Do I have any other 2.0 options for under $150? I was looking at M200's but they are bit more than I'd like to spend at the moment and to be honest I think they're fugly :p.

Thanks for reading. :D
 
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I forgot to add that I'm going to be running these from an X-Fi Platinum for the time being and than off a Forte once I finish my new build.
 
I'm not familiar with HiVi Swans. But Behringer is used by Alice Cooper. I'd buy it for that reason. More familiar with Behringer so I'd go with the MS40. But then again I have no insight on the Swans so I cannot make a valid comparison.

Though I am just curious why you would swap out X-Fi Platinum for a Forte. I've heard Forte has astonishing gaming precision, but I haven't heard many of highlights of the musical side. I also currently use X-Fi Platinum.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
Hi. I know there's been thousands of threads like these but I've been reading them all and still would appreciate some further guidance.

My Altec MX5021's took their last breath last night so now I'm on the hunt for something to replace them with. I've been reading around and my initial choices were the AV40's, D1080 MKII or the MS40's. I've narrowed it down to the D1080's or the MS40's. I plan to add a sub later on but for now which speaker would be the better choice?

These speakers are going to be used for probably 80% Music and 20% Gaming when I don't feel like wearing my headphones for a gaming session.

I can get the D1080's for $115 from the Audio Insider and the MS40's for $130 from Amazon. Which of these two speakers would be the better buy? Obviously they are both going to run leaps and bounds around my 5021's but I'm really interested in hearing what you guys have to say.

Do I have any other 2.0 options for under $150? I was looking at M200's but they are bit more than I'd like to spend at the moment and to be honest I think they're fugly :p.

Thanks for reading. :D
Click to expand...

can I just paste your well written question back to you as a reply? haha
basically you've got it spot-on, anything you grab is going to be "Better", its really up to personal preference beyond that

what made you drop the AV40's from consideration? (just curious)

if you can go test them out, might be worth it, otherwise flip a coin, and hope they've got a good return policy if you want to try the other ones after a week or two (or buy both and return one :D)


Jimmi G said:
I'm not familiar with HiVi Swans. But Behringer is used by Alice Cooper. I'd buy it for that reason. More familiar with Behringer so I'd go with the MS40. But then again I have no insight on the Swans so I cannot make a valid comparison.

Though I am just curious why you would swap out X-Fi Platinum for a Forte. I've heard Forte has astonishing gaming precision, but I haven't heard many of highlights of the musical side. I also currently use X-Fi Platinum.
Click to expand...

obviously celebrity endorsement makes or breaks a product, every day of the week

theres honestly nothing bad about either, within OP's price range

regarding the Forte vs the X-Fi, your statement is how rumors are started, the Forte is a higher end board than the Creative, has a better headphone driver, and the Auzen drivers (which matters, sadly)
 
obobski said:
can I just paste your well written question back to you as a reply? haha
basically you've got it spot-on, anything you grab is going to be "Better", its really up to personal preference beyond that

what made you drop the AV40's from consideration? (just curious)

if you can go test them out, might be worth it, otherwise flip a coin, and hope they've got a good return policy if you want to try the other ones after a week or two (or buy both and return one :D)




obviously celebrity endorsement makes or breaks a product, every day of the week

theres honestly nothing bad about either, within OP's price range

regarding the Forte vs the X-Fi, your statement is how rumors are started, the Forte is a higher end board than the Creative, has a better headphone driver, and the Auzen drivers (which matters, sadly)
Click to expand...

I dropped the AV40 because based on what I've read the general consensus is that the D1080 and the MS40's are superior to them all around.

Which setup is going to sound better without a sub and which would sound better with a sub? Any other speakers I should be considering between $100-$150?
 
I definitely wouldn't call the MS40's superior to the AV40's, not at all. Behringer makes just OK products, but they are cheap which is nice.

I would also look at the Samson MediaOne 4a, it fits in your budget. I have been fairly impressed with Samsons line of active monitors as of late.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
I dropped the AV40 because based on what I've read the general consensus is that the D1080 and the MS40's are superior to them all around.

Which setup is going to sound better without a sub and which would sound better with a sub? Any other speakers I should be considering between $100-$150?
Click to expand...

criccio said:
I definitely wouldn't call the MS40's superior to the AV40's, not at all. Behringer makes just OK products, but they are cheap which is nice.

I would also look at the Samson MediaOne 4a, it fits in your budget. I have been fairly impressed with Samsons line of active monitors as of late.
Click to expand...

criccio beat me to it, but basically what he said (not sure about the Samson comment either way though, bro usually has good thoughts though)

honestly if you've got a Guitar Center/similar near you, take a few minutes to go check some of these actives out, M-Audio, Yamaha, Mackie, and KRK all make good monitors, and I'd personally take any of them over a Behringer, any day of the week
 
obobski said:
criccio beat me to it, but basically what he said (not sure about the Samson comment either way though, bro usually has good thoughts though)

honestly if you've got a Guitar Center/similar near you, take a few minutes to go check some of these actives out, M-Audio, Yamaha, Mackie, and KRK all make good monitors, and I'd personally take any of them over a Behringer, any day of the week
Click to expand...

Most of this is contrary to what I've read. The AV40's are $140 Amazon, would I be better off purchasing them over the D1080's?

I basically would like these speakers to last as well as scale well with whatever hardware I add. I'm going to purchase a sub down the line and maybe a nice receiver.
 
like I said, actually get up from your chair, and go have a listen, if you're that unsure

of course I fully expect you to come back with something along the lines of:

- I live on the moon
- I am 9000 miles away from the nearest retailer
- I have no car
- I have no public transportation
- This is otherwise "not an option" (everyone's favorite "get out of ________" phrase)

so whatever, buy whichever looks nice to you, none of the three are a bad choice, and "scale well with whatever hardware I add" is not going to be a problem unless you suddenly have an urge to build a 300 seat cinema in your basement
 
I'd get a good pair of passives and a cheap stereo mini-amp since you could then migrate them to surrounds or add more speakers down the line. You can't really do that with Actives (and my biggest qualm with them).
 
Speakers are the speaker company P5. Very decent for the $$.

$80 shipped? About that i guess.
http://www.thespeakercompany.com/P5-PR-525-2-way-Bookshelf-Speaker-Pair-P42C6.aspx

A tiny amp that is cheap and decent is this Pyle. It even has 1/8th stereo input so you just run a mini plug into it. Great for pc usage.

$50 shipped?

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=248-460

Blue Jean cables make the best budget audio cables you can get. You need one 1/8th to 1/8th about 6 ft of these:
BJC MSA-1 Miniature Stereo Audio Cable
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

$20 shipped?

Get a 1/8th to stereo rca and a sub later on and you have a decent 2.1.

$%%#@&! "pc speakers"
 
criccio said:
I definitely wouldn't call the MS40's superior to the AV40's, not at all. Behringer makes just OK products, but they are cheap which is nice.

I would also look at the Samson MediaOne 4a, it fits in your budget. I have been fairly impressed with Samsons line of active monitors as of late.
Click to expand...

Heh, I think that's the first time I've seen anyone but me recommending Samson monitors around here... :p I'm pretty happy with mine tho, the SD3i look like a smaller variant of the MO4, with an extra DAC/dock... Sells for like $20 more than the MO3 w/o the DAC/dock, and I've even seen 'em around locally at some of the big name electronic stores so it's not hard to take 'em home and try 'em out before deciding whether they're your cup of the tea. :D The MO4 look pretty nice for $150 tho (price Google came up with), what'd you get 'em for criccio?
 
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I went ahead and ordered the D1080's from TAI. They should be here early next week. I'm also going to pick-up a pair of AV40's from guitar center and audition them both. I'm gonna keep whichever suit me best, obviously.

Thanks for all the input. :D
 
TheBlueChanell said:
I went ahead and ordered the D1080's from TAI. They should be here early next week. I'm also going to pick-up a pair of AV40's from guitar center and audition them both. I'm gonna keep whichever suit me best, obviously.

Thanks for all the input. :D
Click to expand...

there ya go :)

if you've got guitar center near you, you could probably just audition there, the one within driving range of my work actually has a decent room setup for the studio stuff, so you can get a fair idea of what you're buying

but in-home is always a bit more complete of an opinion
 
obobski said:
there ya go :)

if you've got guitar center near you, you could probably just audition there, the one within driving range of my work actually has a decent room setup for the studio stuff, so you can get a fair idea of what you're buying

but in-home is always a bit more complete of an opinion
Click to expand...

The one by me is maybe a 15 minute drive. The only problem I see is that they are usually very loud stores and what I hear might not translate well into my room.
 
The D1080's arrived to day. I've been auditioning them a bit before I went to work and so far I'm blown away and this is running off my laptops shitty onboard sound. I can not wait to get these hooked up to a proper source.

The AV40's will have to wait till the weekend where I can get some free time.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
The D1080's arrived to day. I've been auditioning them a bit before I went to work and so far I'm blown away and this is running off my laptops shitty onboard sound. I can not wait to get these hooked up to a proper source.

The AV40's will have to wait till the weekend where I can get some free time.
Click to expand...

honestly dont hold your breath when you get "a proper source", I know most internet audiophiles would have you believe its another night and difference, but unless your laptop is bleeding noise onto the track, not all that much will change
 
Dunno. A sansa fuze (a portable mp3 player known for its sound quality and cheap pricing) with decent ripped tunes throws a pretty good sound stage on speakers. I used my fuze and a t-amp powered swan speaker setup that has been discontinued. The results were pretty impressive. Better than from my laptops line out anyway. That is generally due to the crappy amp on most laptops headphone/line out. If you get any halfway decent, even really inexpensive, external dacs, there is a noticeable difference in the sound. Whether it sounds better to you or not is relative to the listeners ears and wallet.
 
I think that kinda thing tends to vary a lot more amongst laptops than say... Different desktop sound cards, assuming you're comparing halfway decent ones (or even relatively recent on-board audio). There's a lot going on inside a laptop, inside a space that's several times more cramped than a desktop's, it's invariably gonna have an impact on SQ. 'Course as others noted, it depends on yourself as well and how much $ colors your opinion. ;)
 
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