Desktop Speakers to go with my Soundblaster AE-5

[Mickcas]

Hi all

for the last year I've used some cheap £10 Logitech things i picked up form amazon, they work but that's about all the pro's I can list.

usage will be anything from gaming, to YouTube, movies, music, nothing professional, just general home use.
Id like something under £100 if possible, not to big as I don't want them taking up a whole load of space, and if possible in white oh and no sub is needed and Bluetooth would be a nice to have

so far I've come across the below, some are over budget but I'm considering them if they offer a good enough jump in quality for my usage

Audioengine A2+ - over budget, but love the looks and size, review seem to constantly recommend these
Logitech Z207 - within price, good size and white and under £50
Creative gigaworks T20 - seem to get recommended a lot for the price, not keen on the looks
Edifier r1280T - may be too big, alos how do active speakers work when I have my AE5 there?
Edifier Luna eclipse - look cool, again in white but over budget
M-Audio AV32 - dont no much about these but they keep popping up on google
Auna Linie 501 bs - as above
Q -Acousics 3010 - again looks nice, good size, just on budget

if anyone has any insight or recommendations of what will work good with my AE-5, only issue is I cant find may local places to try these out!

but thanks in advance

 

[Mickcas]

Got A2+ the other week. Wasn't expecting great things but they're pretty damn good tbh!

Even so, I ended up correcting the DSP and running a spare sub I had to get rid of slight bloat on the btm end. Could have easily lived with them at stock though. Head and shoulders above gigaworks.

Well worth a demo, rain forrest might be helpful with that.

If they're usb or BT then you won't need a sound card. Only need the sound card if you're outputting digital through spidf/toslink or analogue to active speakers.

I do really fancy the A2s but there double what I really want to spend

 

[Mickcas]

Thanks for the info. I assumed my ae5 had enough voice to power them.
I'm leaning more toward a smaller active speaker now, an amp is just another thing to put somewhere.
@EsaT I currently use akg 702 headphones but I find myself using speakers often, unless I'm really trying in a fps game

 

[Mickcas]

There are no sound cards with any speaker amp.
With Sound Blaster X7 being the rule approving exception.

Unless we're talking about those teeny tiny "knock them over by breathing toward them" speakers from 25 years ago with zero sound quality...

So when I plug speakers in do I not plug them into the card, or is it likely to be USB powered.

 

[Mickcas]

Thanks @Marsman great explanation. I like the edifiers but the wood is putting me off, aesthetically is doesn't suit my set up at all.

Has anyone ever tried those Chinese tune amps you can pick up for around £50 from the rain forest they look cool but I assume aren't very good

 

[Mickcas]

thanks for the reply, after doing some looking, you tubing and getting the tape measure out I'm for certain looking for something on the smaller end of the scale, the edifiers for example are going to take up too much spare, I only have about 20-25cm spare on each side of my monitor and yes they will fit but I want something a bit more minimal.

so at the moment I'm stuck between the Steljes NS1 and the Audioengine A2s at almost double the price, now I know I have a budget but its not a case of not being able to afford either set, more a case of is it worth the extra money

 

[Mickcas]

I'm still doing some looking about and came across the presonus eris e4.5 . Although a little larger than I would have wanted their reviews all seem positive so are hard to ignore. Anyone have any experience with these

 

[Mickcas]

Yeah I've thought about getting some ordered but don't want to keep sending stuff back. I'm still up in the air with what to get though so it might be good to try a few. I'm even contemplating upping my budget, the ruark mr1 mk2 are catching my eye. Size is perfect and reviews are good, but £320

 

[Mickcas]

Yeah I think I will pop through this week. I may also try out the q acoustics 3010 with an amp as if I'm upping the budget they may perform better for the money

 

[Mickcas]

Steljes ns1 have been ordered. Came down to size in the end and it's hard to justify the cost of the ruarks for my needs.
Rain forrest have these in black for £99 as well.
Thanks for the help all

 

[Mickcas]

Yeah was hard to pass up at that price. Should be here tomorrow as well

 

[Mickcas]

So there here, must admit, better sounding than I thought, considering their size they have ok base, nice clarity, and size is perfect, thanks to all who replied, pics below, with old speakers for comparison

 

[Mickcas]

Tidy. Could have gone bigger though!

Bigger would fit. But didn't want them taking up too much space. And there's one or two things not on my desk in the pic which normally would be