Spec me new Speakers - £100

[Marky]

Hey all,

I've been using a second TV monitor as "computer speakers" for far too long So I'm in the market for some new speakers.

I've previously had the Aego M speakers which I found were great - But it's been a while since I've had them and so I thought I'd open this thread incase anyone had some other suggestions.

I've seen the sequel to the Aego Ms, but I can't justify spending £200 on speakers - Especially after hearing that they hiss when there is no sound coming through...

£100 is my "there-abouts" budget - I'm happy to spend a little more for quality speakers if necessary.

My main use will be for Gaming, YouTube and Spotify.

So... any recommendations?

Thanks,
Marky

 

[Marky]

That speaker looks sweet, but also looks very advanced for what I need/understand...

Note that I only have my motherboard to connect to (I.e. no sound card). I would also, as noted above, need to buy two for Stereo sound.

I think I'm looking for a 2.0/2.1 setup - Unless I look into how to wire this bad boy up (It's using input/outputs that I've never seen before ).

 

[Marky]

Spoiler

I just found this on Reddit... Would I need to get a DAC, Amp and Sub with them speakers?

 

[Marky]

Apologies for bringing up an old thread, but I'm still researching and still need to choose some speakers

I've upped my budget to £150, and am currently looking at some Presonus Eris E4.5 speakers - Does anyone have any opinions on them?

The look is perfect for my setup, and the sound is meant to be great also

 

[Marky]

Where do you live out of interest?

RS have a really good deal on a MONITOR AUDIO MA100 system. That is if you want to stretch to £170 and live near Bath, Chiswick, Liverpool, Nottingham, Plymouth or Solihull. Not many left.

Just googled them... they don't look good to me Looks like a melted Xbox 360

I just went for it and ordered the Personus Eris E4.5! Ordered it for £135 (For a pair).

They're coming on Friday, however I just got a delivery confirmation... it's coming from the Netherlands , and comes with a Euro to UK power adapter... Should I worry? Could that effect the sound at all? I seem to remember my dad buying a speaker system from the US once and it makes a really high pitch noice all the time it was plugged in (and I wondered if it was because it was originally built for US power).

Really strange... the place I ordered from is in Kent - No idea why I'm being sent a speaker system from Europe :/

 

[Marky]

I would have got the Tannoy reveals...like my suggestion in post 2

Have you heard the Personus Eris E4.5's then?

I kept my eye on the Tannoys as I was making my decision - they were about £75ea at one point I think - However, they've increased a lot since...

I saw reviews that mentioned a buzz or hiss also - And I know that that would drive me up the wall.

I also didn't see much mention of them on other forums etc. So I decided to go for the Presonus. As you can probably tell, I'm no expert when it comes to audio, and so I'm not looking to have the best of the best. They look great and hopefully will sound great - and that's all I need

Maybe they don't make these specifically for the UK market, just Europe and the place you got them from, imports them. There's a voltage selector on the back of the main speaker, so the same product is made for US and Europe. They'll almost certainly be set to 230-240V, but do make sure, because if for some reason they are set to 110V; you'll be in for a nasty surprise.

You can either chop the Euro plug off the lead and fit a UK one, or just buy a 2 pin UK power lead.

US uses 110V and Europe is 230-240V. Whatever your dad bought from the US, must have had a voltage selector, because otherwise you would need a voltage step down convertor for it to work with Europe voltage. Without either of those, it would just fry.

Hmm yeah I'll have to check that out, I never really thought about it - I think he still has them aswell! I'll take a look

I guess with Europe using the same power configs as us Brits, then I hopefully should be fine - I may just cut the cord and fit my own 13A plug once I've decided I'm happy with them...

Free returns and 60 day no hassle money back guarantee - So I'm hoping I'm fully covered if something's amiss

Well that ship had already sailed by the time the OP decided to up his budget, so he need not worry too much about making the wrong choice.

Jungle site themselves don't have them any more, only other sellers. They're up to about £120 a speaker now. Which is quite a lot more than the OP was willing to spend.

Yeah I missed the boat on the decent price really - When I started this thread, I didn't really know about the world of "Bookshelf Speakers", so I was hesitant

 

[Marky]

I would just get an amp and some wharfdale 9

The presonus are for music creation with a neutral frequency response.

Yeah... I don't know what Neutral Frequency Response means, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be too disappointed

There will be no issues from a power supply point of view. Same voltage, just the different plug type. Just make sure they are set to 230V. I'm fairly certainly they already will be though, being sold in Europe.

Wouldn't use a 13A fused plug though. They are fine for fridges, kettles, ovens, etc; things that have high wattage use. 3A will be best.

60 day return is very nice. Twice as much as the jungle site's 30 days return!

They look like a good choice at a good price. Most places I can see have them at £150-£180; so to get them for £135 is pretty nice.

Ah cool, thanks for the advice

Yeah I panicked a little when I realised they were coming from the Netherlands, but I have the tracking number and they are coming tomorrow!

Will let you all know how I get on!

 

[Marky]

Just thought I'd post an update - Got the speakers on Friday and have been using them over the weekend.

They're beautiful, and sound amazing! The amount of volume these speakers can produce is immense! I thought that I may be disappointed in the bass, with no subwoofer and what not - But these things BOOM! The bass is awesome, I wouldn't want it any more bassy to be honest.

No hiss either, so noice As I said in the OP, I had the Aego Ms once upon a time, and they blew me away with the sound quality. These are even better! Very impressed

 

[Marky]

Nice to hear you're enjoying them, out of interest are they placed on stands/pads or directly on desk? The former will improve sound even more, by isolating your speakers and having tweeters at ear level always helps.

And yep monitors go pretty loud, mine aren't even set to 50% on the knobs.

They originally don't have anything on the bottom of them, however they come with four sticky back foam squares to put on the corners of each speaker. I also have a sort of shelf at the back of my desk that the monitor and speakers sit on - They're sized perfectly, as the tweeters are definitely at ear level as I sit

One thing to note however, is they come with an RCA cable that is about a meter long - So I'll have to invest in a new cable as they aren't quite long enough for my setup.

One thing I've found is that if I have my iPhone on my desk with me, whenever I get a phone call, or text through (or basically anytime the phone is in contact with the cell towers), the speakers start to crackle - This gets worse the closer I put the phone to the speaker.

Any ideas on how I can solve this interference?

 

[Marky]

Haha yeah I'm not that fussed to be totally honest - I'll keep my phone on my right side rather than my left I had the same with the Aego Ms.