Looking for decent 2.1 speakers

StarShock

StarShock

StarShock

Soldato
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
2,663
Hello, I woke up this morning to find that my cats have chewed through one of the cables on 18 year old fairly cheap 2.1 speakers so I'm looking for recommendations for new ones. Will be using them as desktop speakers for my PC. I tend to listen to music while I game. I also alternate between speakers and headphones so having a accessible headphone jack would be nice. Budget upto about £100 though would be happier to spend less.

Also as much as I'd like to pretend otherwise I don't think I have a very discerning ear so I'm happy sacrifice a little bit of sound quality for reliability, build quality and value for money :)
 
The problem with 2.1 speakers is the satellite speakers are normally to small and mid range gets washed out, hence not good for music.

2.1 systems can sound good however, providing you use more full range satellite speakers, unfortunately non of the cheaper 2.1 setups do this.
 
There have been a some decent 2.1 speakers over the years; although decent is a matter of opinion. For some people, all 2.1 speakers are crap.

Acoustic Energy Aego M's were very good indeed. Made by a company that makes proper hi-fi speakers, not like the majority of others which are mostly made by PC peripheral companies. It's a shame that they are no longer made. Of the current choice, I'd possibly consider Edifier 2.1 speakers; they also make some decent stereo speakers. The majority of 2.1 speakers though, wouldn't strike me as being decent.

2.1 speakers offer more convenience, what with the small satellite speakers; as mentioned by Jason though, that comes at a cost. Any decent sized stereo speakers will offer better sound quality, but sometimes that is not what people are looking for, because they can be a fair bit larger and small speakers appeal more. That's physics though; you can't expect the same quality of sound from a tiny speaker compared to a bigger one.

For music, I wouldn't want to touch 2.1 at all, not even the better ones. They are fine for gaming though.

Best possible choice for sound quality, would be Wharfedale Diamond 9.0's + SMSL SA36A. Edifier R1600T III or R1280T are good second choices.

Great thing about considering those stereo speakers, is if the cables get chewed through; just replace them. Many 2.1 speaker have fixed cables, so price points can be met and cannot be easily replaced without some DIY.
 
I run a 2.1 setup in my home office. Basically I run an Edifier S530, however I have changed the speakers to larger Edifier speakers.

So it's this system below.
https://www.edifier.com/my/en/speakers/s530d-2.1-subwoofer

The problem with the stock S530 satalite speakers is as mentioned in previous post, the mid range unit is to small and vocals are not correct with a gap in frequency. The S530 gets really good reviews but to me it's just more evidence of people not knowing what they are listening to, probably the same group of people who say motherboard audio is as good as sound cards, before taking any advice on the internet always consider the person giving you that advice first.

Anyhow to solve the mid-range issue the standard satellite speakers have been changed to the following.
speakers.jpg


It's then setup so the base unit is only providing gentle support for the satellites, when I hear music I can't detect a bass unit is in place, however I notice a reduction in sound quality if the bass unit is disabled. So the bass unit is invisible if that makes any sense, as the overall sound just appears to my ears to be coming from the left and right satellites.

This source for all above is a Asus Essence ST, I replaced the speaker cable with thicker cable, added foam installation and stands, and use a main conditioner. The speakers are rotated but I tried them at all angles and that is what sounded best to me.

And as for sound quality it's honestly pretty good, downstairs I have proper Pioneer separates and Yamaha floorstanding speakers, and i'm not unhappy by the quality of this hybrid 2.1 system I have created.

Also if anyone is interested settings on the Edifier S530 go from -6 to +6 for bass, treble and bass, however everything is run at 0 so everything is totally neural. A general rule of thumb for any hifi/music is if you can have the settings or graphics equalizer at neutral and it sounds good, then the actual equipment is pretty balanced at a hardware level. If you ever have a setup and your making large changes, including changes in any software EQ it's an indication something is wrong.

And a quick note on the stands and foam installation. These are vital to improve sound, speakers should be at ear level and positioned correct. The foam stops vibration into the desk and helps isolate the sound. I see plenty of people with expensive speakers and placing them directly on the desk. Well here is a question, would you fit expensive coil-overs to your car, then drive with worn out suspension bushes and the geometry wrong? Of course not as the car would be crashy and not handle correct. When you put speakers directly on a desk no mater how much they cost this is what your doing with the sound if the speakers are not isolated and positioned correctly.
 
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They are great value speakers. Got a pair for my mum to use with my old amp. I probably would have got some for myself if didn't already have Roth Oli 1 speakers.

I should have mentioned you will need speaker cable as well, as that doesn't come with the speakers or the amp. If you've not ordered any, I can post some links to what I use.
 
Marsman said:
They are great value speakers. Got a pair for my mum to use with my old amp. I probably would have got some for myself if didn't already have Roth Oli 1 speakers.

I should have mentioned you will need speaker cable as well, as that doesn't come with the speakers or the amp. If you've not ordered any, I can post some links to what I use.
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ah, yeah I did wonder about that. Got a home base across the road from the house with a fairly good electronics section, so figured I'd grab some from there :) but would be helpful to know what I'm looking for
 
https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk...-studio-grade-white-speaker-cable-2-x-0-75mm/

I use that cable, albeit a bit thicker. It's good quality and inexpensive at £1pm and is also available on eBay and Amazon from the same company. Any copper speaker cable will be fine though. If buying from Amazon or eBay, you just have to avoid the cables that where they are X meters for cheap. There are a lot, especially on eBay. Trouble with those really cheap ones is that some are copper plated aluminium, which is what you don't want.

If buying from Homebase, then avoid the Arlec stuff I can see on their site. Too cheap for the amount you get and the specs just says 'metal'. A sure sign it's copper plated aluminium. Other stuff I can see on there looks OK. Doesn't really specify much other than it's made of copper. They are thin, but that is OK for short runs. It's only with long cable runs or maybe larger speakers you'd need thicker cable.
 
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