Small desktop speakers for general use- £30

Cyber-Mav said:
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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Someone at work had a set of pebble speakers v1 lying around, so I tested them on my setup at home. They are pretty good from what I can tell. In terms of volume they go loud enough and don't seem to distort. But they don't really fill the room with sound like my TV does. I think though for around the £30 mark they are a very good value for money starting point.

Not sure now whether to get the v3 pebble set which has a slightly bigger driver and does bluetooth, or get the v2 2.1 setup with the sub.
 
Nope...im floundering again. :( Now looking at other Creative options eg T20 for £70 or T40 for £100. The footprints of all these desktop speakers are similar to each other.
 
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Ok Im trying to narrow this down a bit because im floundering.

Old pebble v1 or v2 models - Im going to discount these because whilst they are cheap at £20 and £23 respectively, the newer models are more powerful and better.

Pebble V3 - definitely an option, and is £30.

Pebble V3 pro - the latest model, more powerful with the added 30W power adapter and has RGB. But all in is £86 so nearly 3x the price of the v3.

Gigaworks T40 - £100 - obviously far more power, separate tweeters, same desktop footprint but larger in height, nice looking yellow speaker cone.

Gigaworks T20 - £70 - smaller height version of the above, separate tweeters.


Shame there is such a big gap between Pebble v3 and v3 pro, but I feel a jump from £30 to £86 is not good VFM.

V3 is very good value but its still fairly minimalistic.

Looking for something a bit more exciting for a bit more money I think. Haven't quite found the optimum package yet.
 
danlightbulb said:
Ok Im trying to narrow this down a bit because im floundering.

Old pebble v1 or v2 models - Im going to discount these because whilst they are cheap at £20 and £23 respectively, the newer models are more powerful and better.

Pebble V3 - definitely an option, and is £30.

Pebble V3 pro - the latest model, more powerful with the added 30W power adapter and has RGB. But all in is £86 so nearly 3x the price of the v3.

Gigaworks T40 - £100 - obviously far more power, separate tweeters, same desktop footprint but larger in height, nice looking yellow speaker cone.

Gigaworks T20 - £70 - smaller height version of the above, separate tweeters.


Shame there is such a big gap between Pebble v3 and v3 pro, but I feel a jump from £30 to £86 is not good VFM.

V3 is very good value but its still fairly minimalistic.

Looking for something a bit more exciting for a bit more money I think. Haven't quite found the optimum package yet.
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I used to have the Gigaworks T20 and the sound was amazing for the size of them! I would go for them or the T40 model depending on your budget.
 
I was just browsing through the pics of desk thread in general trying to get some more ideas.

What if I go for the Eris 3.5 speakers on some tilted stands at a total cost of around £100, what extra benefit would that get me over what I've been considering so far?

Those speakers are 5.6" wide, 6.4" deep, 8.3" high, really don't think I can go bigger than that or they will look too big for the desk.
 
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danlightbulb said:
I was just browsing through the pics of desk thread in general trying to get some more ideas.

What if I go for the Eris 3.5 speakers on some tilted stands at a total cost of around £100, what extra benefit would that get me over what I've been considering so far?

Those speakers are 5.6" wide, 6.4" deep, 8.3" high, really don't think I can go bigger than that or they will look too big for the desk.
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Bigger speakers offer more dynamics, higher output, lower distortion, and lower bass frequency response
 
hornetstinger said:
Bigger speakers offer more dynamics, higher output, lower distortion, and lower bass frequency response
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Yeah but I won't run them loud. Im looking for a sound that is clean, resonant, and fills the room but doesn't require a loud volume to achieve this. Ive never been into hifi so I don't really know what im talking about.
 
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danlightbulb said:
Yeah but I won't run them loud. Im looking for a sound that is clean, resonant, and fills the room but doesn't require a loud volume to achieve this.
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Bigger speakers full the room better also. With those speakers I'd recommend a sub also.

You'd want speakers to be able to reach at least 80hz, and with those 3.5 a subwoofer is a worthwhile purchase.
 
hornetstinger said:
Pretty small speakers, nice sounds

www.youtube.com

Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 - unboxing and first impressions

Unboxing and first impressions of the Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 Bookshelf/ standmount budget HiFi speakers.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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I second this.

I myself have the Creative T40 II and the Wharfedale Diamond 9.0, and the Wharfedale being better pronounced in the highs and the mids, and with more defined bass in the lows (the T40 II's bass sound slightly more loose in comparison).

Though the Wharfedale will require getting a Stereo amp separately...
 
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danlightbulb said:
Yeah that route is definitely getting too expensive.

My range is still quite broad unfortunately.

Pebble v3 £30
Gigaworks T20 £70
Eris 3.5 active speakers £70 + angled stand?
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I just check the pricing Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 now, and unfortunately that does seem to be the case with the Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 being at average around £75-£90 now (they use to go on sales for £39 at Richersounds all the time :o).

The Eris 3.5 looks good spec wise on paper.
 
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Im close to pushing the button on the Eris 3.5s. They seem to offer a lot for the money, probably more than I will use in all honesty but they seem excellent value.

What stands or foam pads would I need to go with them? Angled foam sufficient?
 
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I picked up a Bose sounddock for a tenner at a local charity shop as a stop gap for one PC. Similar models dirt cheap online too. Perfectly fine for low level listening, though an external dac/soundcard improves things a surprising amount.

If you've not had many different speakers to allow you to place expectations it's quite a mine field and a guessing game. A poor acoustic room or no space for speakers to breath can make choosing worse.
 
danlightbulb said:
What if I go for the Eris 3.5 speakers on some tilted stands at a total cost of around £100,
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Don't tilt the speakers, instead keep them level and bring the tweeters close to ear level, it will sound much better than tilted.

These Gear4Music stands are the same as I run, you would benefit from isolation foam under the speakers also.

Re the Eris 3.5, I don't like active speakers where the amplifier is situated in one monitor. Compare that to bi-amped monitors where each driver has it's own amplifier. Problem is your on a very limited budget.

www.gear4music.com

PreSonus Eris 3.5 2nd Gen Studio Monitors (Pair), Black at Gear4music

PreSonus Eris 3.5 2nd Gen Studio Monitors (Pair), Black at Gear4music
www.gear4music.com www.gear4music.com
 
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JasonM said:
Don't tilt the speakers, instead keep them level and bring the tweeters close to ear level, it will sound much better than tilted.

These Gear4Music stands are the same as I run, you would benefit from isolation foam under the speakers also.

www.gear4music.com

PreSonus Eris 3.5 2nd Gen Studio Monitors (Pair), Black at Gear4music

PreSonus Eris 3.5 2nd Gen Studio Monitors (Pair), Black at Gear4music
www.gear4music.com www.gear4music.com
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The stands have foam. Same ones I have. They work well with raising them to ear level, I'm using some quality passive speakers two way with 6.5" woofer
 
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