Upgrading PC audio - speakers and soundcard/amp?

TheVoice

TheVoice

TheVoice

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Hi all, looking for some decent advice here. I've currently got a set of Logitech Z-10 2.0 speakers connected via USB which I'm looking to upgrade from. The majority of my audio usage on my PC is music (a mix of progressive-house and ambient), with a bit of gaming here and there.

What sort of options do I have? I've looked at the Creative T40 in the past and they look nice, but after reading some threads here I've also seen various Edifier sets recommended which got me onto the R1800T, as well the Q-Acoustics 2010i and 2020i. How would these rate against each other?

The other consideration is soundcard, though I've also seen people recommending standalone amps such as the Amptastic Mini-1. Would this be an option worth considering or am I better with a soundcard? Or both?

As you can see, I'm a little lost as to what to go for but I don't want to spend some money on stuff that isn't going to give me a particularly great improvement. My budget is probably in the region of £200-250. I see the Edifiers are £80 which leads me to wonder if the Q-Acoustics are worth nearly double?

Any help or other recommendations would be appreciated. :)
 
You'd need an amplifier for the Q-Acoustics too, the Edifier R1800T has one built in.

I have the older little brother of the Edifiers, the R1600T mk2 and it does sound great for music. You're never going to get deep sub-bass from them though, the speakers are just not big enough at 4".

Another plus for the R1800T is that they are front ported, which means they can be positioned close to walls, the Q-Acoustics are both rear ported, so need to be away from the wall if the bass is not going to sound boomy.

Another option would be to get something like a Topping VX1 USB DAC & Amp (£77) and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers (£100) which are front ported and have excellent sound quality.

You could use the Topping to drive the Q-Acoustics too of course, and either setup would be a step up from the Edifiers.
 
Thanks a lot for that. So, stupid question: Would I still need to get myself a dedicated soundcard if I went down the amp + speakers route? Or just if I went for already-amplified speakers like the Edifiers? A soundcard, amp and speakers would be over my budget I think.
 
Not if you go for an amp with a DAC built in, like the VX1 that rids mentioned. If you go for the Edifier R1600T, R1800T or maybe Microlab Solo 6C speakers, then you'll have more than enough for a sound card. A Xonar DGX would be good inexpensive choice.

All the speakers mentioned are larger than the Z10, in the case the Wharfedale 9.1, Q Acoustics 2020 and Microlab Solo 6C, they are substantially larger.

Depends if you can accommodate much larger speakers than the Z10 you have now. Q Acoustics 2010 + amp, or Edifier R1600T or R1800T would be bigger than the Z10, but not as big as the other speakers mentioned.
 
Another option is studio monitors such as the M-Audio BX8, these would provide better bass than most of the recommendations here. Which soundcard do you have at the moment since there wouldn't be much budget left for one :p

Another studio monitor option is the ESI aktiv 08 these supposedly go down to 40Hz and are not a bad price either, also with some room left over for a soundcard.
 
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Thanks, I'll check those out. I've got onboard audio currently, haven't bothered with a proper soundcard so far because both my current speakers and Corsair headset are USB. Difficult to decide what route to take!
 
TheVoice said:
Thanks, I'll check those out. I've got onboard audio currently, haven't bothered with a proper soundcard so far because both my current speakers and Corsair headset are USB. Difficult to decide what route to take!
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Well I'll be honest with you, for the genres you listen I would pick a 8" monitor over 5" anyday. Not only will my recommendations be able to play at louder volumes than the passive speakers +amp recommendation but they will have better bass as well.

I hope this helps :)
 
The majority of my music listening is ambient or thereabouts at the moment so the bass and loudness isn't actually all that important (though nice to have the option there), I'm more keen to have a set-up that'll give me more clarity and pull out some of the detail in the sound as that's what a lot of ambient (and to a lesser extent, prog-house) consists of. Obviously headphones tend to be the best at that but I don't really like using them unless it's late in the evening and using the speakers isn't possible.
 
hmm then you'll have to decide which route to take! All I can say is studio monitors are meant to be detailed and have great clarity so you won't be disappointed in that aspect!

Then again a passive speakers and amp setup would sound quite musical and have some detail as well!

Now it's up to you on deciding what to do :)
 
Monitors are meant to be transparent and uncoloured, they are a tool for people in the creative industries to accurately hear the sound as it goes through various stages of creation - this does not necessarily mean they sound the best for musical enjoyment.
 
dacads said:
hmm then you'll have to decide which route to take! All I can say is studio monitors are meant to be detailed and have great clarity so you won't be disappointed in that aspect!

Then again a passive speakers and amp setup would sound quite musical and have some detail as well!

Now it's up to you on deciding what to do :)
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Thanks, plenty of food for thought and stuff to look into a bit more. I'm sure whatever route I take will be a substantial improvement in any case.
 
rids57 said:
Monitors are meant to be transparent and uncoloured, they are a tool for people in the creative industries to accurately hear the sound as it goes through various stages of creation - this does not necessarily mean they sound the best for musical enjoyment.
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This is true but I have monitors myself and still find them enjoyable for music :)
 
Personally I would love a pair of the BX8s but I'm not sure my downstairs neighbour would appreciate them - which is why I use headphones :D
 
Just bumping this to say I think I've made my mind up. Going to go for the Q-Acoustics 2020i in graphite, and the Topping VX1 amp/DAC. Does this look alright? Read some reviews of the speakers and they seem held in high regard, and I've seen plenty of positive opinions on the VX1 too.

Thanks for all the help everyone.
 
I thought the 2020is to be terribly lacking in bass when I went and demo'd 9 speakers (RicherSounds loved me... 4 hours in total in their demo room :D) They are pretty good in terms of clarity and separation but aren't especially musical and don't have much bass presence at all. I'd get down to RicherSounds and give the Monitor Audio MR2s a demo, they're about the same price and I think will really surprise you. If that's a touch too much for you, the Diamond 121s have better bass response and an all round richer sound.
 
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