Spec me new speakers.

Hi everyone, I think I have decided to upgrade the PC speakers. The sound quality I have is pretty good currently but I have around £200 to use on getting better audio. I listen to a lot of music from my PC as it is ion my living room.

I currently have the Creative Inspire T6300 5.1 speaker system. It has a power output of 7 Watts RMS per channel (5 channels) and Subwoofer: 22 Watts RMS. I like that it has bass control.

So what is important to me is very good quality for music, excellent bass as I do love bass/dance songs. Bass volume control would be excellent too. 5.1 set up is not really important if I can get better audio and bass quality from stereo or 2.1 speakers.

Has anyone got any good suggestions please?

I would wait for the Acoustic Energy, Aego³ to be released.

OcUK will have them at launch as well.

PapaLazaru said:

I would wait for the Acoustic Energy, Aego³ to be released.

OcUK will have them at launch as well.

Click to expand...

Cheers for the reply, sadly there isn't much information about them at the minute and no reviews for a while. I can keep an eye on them but am also happy for other suggestions!

Stereo or 2.1 for music, preferably stereo. 5.1 speakers are guff for music, except maybe some expensive AV set ups. Those 5.1's you have might sound good to you now, but once you've heard a good set of stereo or 2.1 speakers, you'll realise their shortcomings.

I used to have a Creative 5.1 set many years ago, before I really took an interest in anything audio, and at the time I thought they sounded fairly decent. Eventually I started taking an interest in better quality audio, and bought some decent stereo speakers and amplifier. Although they were budget, they really showed the 5.1 Creative set for what they were; **** for listening to music. Once you've heard good speakers, you can never go back to cheap nasty plastic speakers.

Aego's will be a good choice, and are a safe bet. Personally, I think stereo is better for listening to music, but you'll get deeper bass from a 2.1 set that you won't get from stereo speakers unless they are fairly large. The problem when recommending what speakers some should consider, especially stereo, is quite a few people are coming from cheap 2.1 or 5.1 PC speakers; which produce over bloated bass. People get used to that, thinking quantity = quality; it doesn't.

The Aego 3, I think I read are going to be £200. Aego M are great 2.1 speakers, and assuming £200 is correct; are £70 cheaper. While the Aego 3 I'm sure, will also be great, I'm not sure they are going to improve on sound quality. I would imagine the main differences are going to be built in DAC and Bluetooth connection. Maybe those additions alone are worth the extra £70, I suppose it depends on the individual and whether they want or need those. For anyone just using motherboard audio, the DAC will be a great feature, so long as they have optical out from the motherboard. Saves buying a sound card, and for anyone with EMI issues, digital optical connection will be a must.

Thanks for that reply, most informative.

I have a Xonar D2X soundcard which has improved the sound quality over the motherboards audio. As I say stereo or 2.1 is what I am looking at but I do want bass control or a good bass set up. Wireless isn't really anything I am bothered by either.

I have heard Harman Kardon are really good and their Harman Kardon soundsticks are currently around £100. I wasn't sure about these though that is why I am awaiting opinions. I will look more into Aego 3 in the mean time

The Soundsticks for £100 are a bargain. Great sound and plenty of bass.

Yeah, SSIII are probably the best 2.1 speakers available until you get to the Aego M. Funky styling does put some people off, but if you're someone who can appreciate that sound quality trumps aesthetics, then if you'd prefer to spend around the £100 mark, they would be a great choice. I'm not sure whether there is a bass control though.

So the Aego 3 will meet my needs fully? If they are better sound and have bass control then I can wait for them, roughly when are they out? Unless there are still alternatives to Aego or the Harman Kardon?

There are the Edifier C2XD 2.1 speakers which are new on overclockers for £100. There are a few reviews on google which you can read, I will be purchasing them myself soon.

There's a review comparing them too the Corsair SP2500 (very popular) and the reviewer preferred the sound of the Edifier C2XD.