Best 2.1 for under £50?

mishima · 11 May 2008 at 19:34

Hi guys,

I've been to my mates for the weekend and he has a Logitech Z-4, which gives awesome sound and was very impressed, is this the best 2.1 setup in this price range (£50)?

What would you suggest for under £50?

Thanks

mishima · 15 May 2008 at 19:57

Anyone at all??

Barrybear · 15 May 2008 at 20:25

well i dont know about best but my and my friend have some very nice creative 2.1 i have the inspire 3100 and my friend has the inspire a300 both are veyr nice for about £25 nice sets without a high price tag.
For some reason i only go with creative alway have been for years and my dad did before me so i cant say anything about other brands

aproctor · 16 May 2008 at 12:16

get some t20's, they may be 2.0 but in the price bracket i doubt most would be able to tell.

Minstadave · 16 May 2008 at 17:21

aproctor said:
get some t20's, they may be 2.0 but in the price bracket i doubt most would be able to tell.

I was going to recommend them too, but they will lack the low end of the z4's.

mattyfez · 17 May 2008 at 12:26

aproctor said:
get some t20's, they may be 2.0 but in the price bracket i doubt most would be able to tell.

Just picked up a set of these today, and can vouch thay you dont need a sub with these. Blinding speakers once you have set them up properly and adjusted any software players EQ, balance etc.

Like I say, they take a little setting up, but once this is done, treble is crisp but never shrill, stereo imaging is spot on although the sound stage is a little narrow due to the tweeters being very directional. Bass, although it will never compete with a 10" sub, is certainly impressive. Im a dance/trance fan so I like my tight basslines and sweeping reverberating bass tones and these speakers deliver.

10/10, how they manage to get so much sound from such little cones, I dont know.

I would hazzard a guess and say that if you spent £50 on a 2.1, theres no way it would be as good. You may get a lower frequency responce due to a larger bass cone, but you wouldnt get the control and the quality.

Very glad I bought them

aproctor · 18 May 2008 at 15:33

if you feel the need for a sub and cannot live without you need to spend £100ish tbh, otherwise you end up with a cheap sub in which the bass travels everywhere around the house, and is not focused the room your in.

james.miller · 18 May 2008 at 15:40

aproctor said:
if you feel the need for a sub and cannot live without you need to spend £100ish tbh, otherwise you end up with a cheap sub in which the bass travels everywhere around the house, and is not focused the room your in.

bass will go wherever it wants. it'll happen with a £20 bargain bin subwoofer, and it'll happen with a pc13ultra. the key is the placement of the subwoofer

Blackhawk47 · 18 May 2008 at 16:27

well i doubt mine are the best but they cost me £35. philips 2.1 speakers+subwoofer set. they work good enough for me and i am impressed. very fun playing guitar hero 3 and the like with them.

aproctor · 20 May 2008 at 05:36

james.miller said:
bass will go wherever it wants. it'll happen with a £20 bargain bin subwoofer, and it'll happen with a pc13ultra. the key is the placement of the subwoofer

yes but if it is a cheap sub then the bass will travel more as instead of being made of wood etc, cheapo plastic is used.

james.miller · 20 May 2008 at 06:08

Honestly that makes no difference at all. the build quality of the enclosure affects the quality of the sound, as with any other speaker, but once it's out thats it.

mattyfez · 21 May 2008 at 09:37

A poor enclosure will result in fluffy and unfocused bass, where as a sturdy enclosure with carefully thought out dimensions will sound deeper, cleaner and more focused.

bass in fairly non-directional, but position of the sub will still affect the sound, the position of the cone and ports in relation to reflective surfaces like walls can have quite an impact on the sound.

gt_junkie · 21 May 2008 at 10:26

My GF has a set of T20's and they're ace - i'd highly recommend them.

If you must have a sub then i have also used Logitech Z4's which were very good too. Well built, not rediculously massive and played loud and tight.

gt

1kiwi · 22 May 2008 at 17:09

I started a very similar thread not so long ago and the roth audioblob 2 was suggested. You can find it for under £50 (it's original rpp was £150 ish) and the reviews are pretty good. I'm going to be setting up mine tonight so i'll tell you how it goes. Note: I'm using the onboard Asus P5K 7.1 audio.

1kiwi · 22 May 2008 at 21:01

Wow, all i can say is they are amazing! Very crisp and clear.

neoboy · 22 May 2008 at 22:10

I've done it before and I'll do it again and say that Roth Audoblobs 2. With quidco it came down to £53.something with next day delivery. Got mine yesterday and christ what a bass! I had a cheap 5.1 system before and even on top volume my subwoofer was very poor. This thing literally makes my internal organs shake if I put it on 2 thirds.

Instructions aren't very informative though but I figured out how to wire the speakers in about 30 seconds. One questions for other users here though, am I just supposed to stick an end of the copper wire in the middle or am I suppose to put it all the way through/coil it around or do anything else?

EDIT: I'm on onboard sound from Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe here too, hoping to get myself a separate sound card some time soon.

1kiwi · 23 May 2008 at 23:29

neo: im sure you just press the clip down and put the wire through. + loving the crystal clear bass. No distortion at all.