2.1 system, £300

ChrisD. · 10 May 2015 at 18:09

Hi all, recently purchased some Bose Companion 5, the sound is great as is the size, however there's just no where near enough bass, it's quite pathetic to be honest.

Any alternates? Must be USB as I can't be bothered putting in my soundcard again.

dacads · 10 May 2015 at 19:23

You're severely limiting yourself by opting for USB. It's either soundcard back in or nothing. How hard can it be to pop open the case and slot in in a card?

Marsman · 10 May 2015 at 22:44

I don't think there is much else choice that uses USB for input, if any. SPDIF (optical/coaxial) will be a lot more common if you don't want to bother with a sound card.

What about Edifier S730? Has SPDIF input, and a large 10" subwoofer.

shaffaaf27 · 11 May 2015 at 02:14

Not sure if they are still sold but the ageo m by acoustic energy have superb base. Then again not USB

ChrisD. · 11 May 2015 at 09:42

The S730 look nice but I'm limited for speaker size. I have a 34" widescreen monitor next to a conventional 27" one, so I need speakers that fit underneath the widescreen monitor (LG). The Bose speakers do, but I doubt the S730 would.

Marsman · 11 May 2015 at 11:54

What about Corsair SP2500?

Satellites take up no more than those of the Companion 5, from what I can tell looking at the specs.

You could get an external sound, if you don't want to mess around with an internal one.

ChrisD. · 11 May 2015 at 13:20

Thing is with the Companion 5 speakers, I've taken them off the stands, so they're only about an inch and a bit tall.

Straz · 11 May 2015 at 13:51

I'd like to know too, I've never had great experiences with 2.1 satellite systems. The only one I'd love to try is the Paradigm CT, close to £600 though. Not seen much at the £300 mark that really stands out.

Marsman · 11 May 2015 at 13:56

Ah OK.

You're probably going to have to lay any satellite speakers on their side, because I very much doubt anything else will have speakers that are wider and not very high like the Bose.

Maybe you can measure what space you have to work with?

ChrisD. · 11 May 2015 at 14:31

I'll do that tonight if I remember.

Are the Bose speakers known for having poor bass?

ChrisD. · 3 Jun 2015 at 08:16

Well, I rebuilt my PC last night and the speakers sound completely different. It's more the fact that the sub is now producing bass rather than just noise.

Marine-RX179 · 3 Jun 2015 at 09:53

S2KIP said:
The S730 look nice but I'm limited for speaker size. I have a 34" widescreen monitor next to a conventional 27" one, so I need speakers that fit underneath the widescreen monitor (LG). The Bose speakers do, but I doubt the S730 would.

What's the max height available for underneath your monitor anyway?

I recently bought the S730 2nd hand, and the 10" sub is freaking HUGE! The satelites themselves are passive and connected via standard thin wires/cables, so you can actually replace the sates with something smaller (i.e. CAMBRIDGE AUDIO MINX). In fact I have the replaced the sates with a pair classic KEF of Coda 7 passed down from my dad, and it now sounds even better (the S730 itself have a slight weakness of a gap in the frequence response for the sates and sub at between 131-159Hz; Satellites: 160Hz - 20kHz | Subwoofer: 20Hz - 130Hz).

Marine-RX179 · 3 Jun 2015 at 10:03

S2KIP said:
Well, I rebuilt my PC last night and the speakers sound completely different. It's more the fact that the sub is now producing bass rather than just noise.

So you are happy with it now?

I guess you probably had a lose contact somewhere and wasn't properly connected

ChrisD. · 3 Jun 2015 at 10:48

Yes, very happy. Still don't sound as good as I would want £300 speakers to sound, but for the fact they are USB and sit under the monitor nicely I could live with that.

Marine-RX179 · 3 Jun 2015 at 11:08

S2KIP said:
Yes, very happy. Still don't sound as good as I would want £300 speakers to sound, but for the fact they are USB and sit under the monitor nicely I could live with that.

Unfortunately you won't be able get as great sound as the larger audio systems of the same price, as physical size of the small drivers will always be a limitation.

Ryan-3 · 3 Jun 2015 at 11:54

The S730 Satellites are pretty big but you can replace them. Mine have a pair of Q Acoustics 2010i's in their place right now. Very happy with the package.