Small desktop speakers for general use- £30

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

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Joined
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Birmingham
Hi all,

Any recommendations for a small desktop set of speakers for general PC use? They'll never be run loud, but the sound quality from my monitor in built speakers is terrible so I need some which at least give a bit of sound depth to them.

Want them to be quite small so they don't take up much desk space.

Would be looking at the red locations for the speakers?


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I have a set of Creative Pebble that have a very small footprint and the sound is actually pretty decent. Obviously nothing on a proper setup, but I think I got them at £20. Definitely money well spent and would sit just where you want them.
 
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Pebbles or similar were my first thoughts when I saw the picture... if you're prepared to move things around a bit and pay more then there's things like acoustic energy a1/a2+ or kantu yu2
 
A soundbar for under my monitor won't work unfortunately - the monitor base i have is circular and is causing me space problems. See the monitor thread for my quest there to find a solution or look at the photo below and you can see why a sound bar won't fit.

The selection under £50 at OCUK seems to have some promise. I quite like the Edifier studio bookshelf speakers options they have for £50-£55. But it may be a waste for me - Im not going to run them loud because the office is adjoining to the neighbours. Same reason a subwoofer might just be a waste of time for me. However even if on quiet, I would like a nice full sound though.

Pebble speakers at £30 seem well priced though and will take up less room on the desk.

Ps Ive moved my monitor more to the right now and made it flat as you can see. This leaves more room either side for speakers but Im still space limited so it can't be anything too large.

malIjSa.png
 
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I have older Pebble speakers which are decent at 8W but the V3 USB-C versions now match my other cheap Logitech Z213 speakers at ~14W so should be a good choice.
 
danlightbulb said:
How much does a small subwoofer add to the sound experience when used at low volumes?
Click to expand...

A small sub still benefits even at low volume. A sub is providing the lower frequencies the desktop speakers can't re-produce, even at lower volume those low frequencies are still been outputted.

You can help isolate the sub by placing it on wood and lifting that wood from the floor, or rubber matting under it, or both. I've even used layers of bubble wrap to help isolate a sub before. When you isolate any speaker including a sub it reduces resonance into the object it's placed on (so your floor or desk) and it improves sound quality also. One cheap fix is the bottom wood of some small ikea draws with the casters on it, then place foam on the wood, it also helps you move your sub forward for access.

It would also help to move your desk outwards from the wall, the problem is your very limited in that space and also with neighbours that I presume your joined by the wall behind your desk. Could your desk be placed on the other side of the room?
 
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Decide on a budget and stick to it otherwise you just keep spending more.

As mentioned I have a set of Pebble Plus 2.1 to supplement an older LG TV in the bedroom. Bass is definitely better with the sub but won't be enough to disturb the neighbours as the power is limited to 8W RMS. USB-C version is also 8W RMS as they appear to quote the 16W peak to mislead.

For my gaming system I either use £300 headphones for max immersion or the £300 Sound Blaster Katana sound bar + sub for casual gaming and they will easily go loud enough to disturb the neighbours!
 
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bimbleuk said:
Decide on a budget and stick to it otherwise you just keep spending more.
Click to expand...

I rarely set a fixed budget for my purchases unless I am genuinely constrained by available cash. What I tend to do is look for the optimum price point i.e the point at which the benefits of spending more start to tail off, to maximise value for money.
 
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If you wanted quality in a small space, then ILoud Micro Monitors, you could even blue tooth them and use the DAC built into them, so save buying a DAC / Sound card. The problem however is there £200+ so totally past your budget, you would be investing in quality however, and something can be moved from computer-to-computer over the years.

IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor Review

noaudiophile.com noaudiophile.com

Another option is M-Audio and Mackie both do small active speakers starting around £75+

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danlightbulb said:
A soundbar for under my monitor won't work unfortunately - the monitor base i have is circular and is causing me space problems. See the monitor thread for my quest there to find a solution or look at the photo below and you can see why a sound bar won't fit.

The selection under £50 at OCUK seems to have some promise. I quite like the Edifier studio bookshelf speakers options they have for £50-£55. But it may be a waste for me - Im not going to run them loud because the office is adjoining to the neighbours. Same reason a subwoofer might just be a waste of time for me. However even if on quiet, I would like a nice full sound though.

Pebble speakers at £30 seem well priced though and will take up less room on the desk.

Ps Ive moved my monitor more to the right now and made it flat as you can see. This leaves more room either side for speakers but Im still space limited so it can't be anything too large.

malIjSa.png
Click to expand...
Thats a lot more space. I got a creative 5.1 setup but only use it as 2.1 and sounds good especially with the sub. Those 2.1 setups can easily be had for under 30 quid
 
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