SP2500 upgrade

tintin82 · 19 Sep 2018 at 12:23

Hi folks,

I have had the SP2500 speakers for over 5 years now, and whilst great, they have developed an annoying hiss at all volumes (even zero). This hiss is present regardless of the input, or in fact no input. It is not really bad by any means, but sitting a meter away you can notice it as soon as the unit is turned on, but it is a sound that you get used to, although annoying.

So anyways that got me thinking about an upgrade as the wife often complains of the microwave size sub taking up space on a bookshelf.

Primary use is music and gaming. I have a AE-5 sound card and want to stick with 2.1. Any recommendations. I want to get value, but do not mind spending to get a good set that will do for years.

Thanks

PapaLazaru · 19 Sep 2018 at 12:39

What's your budget?

tintin82 · 19 Sep 2018 at 13:00

PapaLazaru said:
What's your budget?

Up to £200, though would go further if I was convinced it was worth it. Ideally I want these to last a long time. Quite disappointing with the SP2500 in that regard. I had it in a repair store a few years ago due to a blown cap, the hiss, and the cover on the sub is peeling. Not the best quality!

EsaT · 19 Sep 2018 at 16:29

tintin82 said:
I had it in a repair store a few years ago due to a blown cap, the hiss, and the cover on the sub is peeling.

Sounds like they put in new garbage capacitors, or did half assed job of replacing only couple capacitors, instead of properly replacing all.
Or was it some warranty repair using original finest Chinese garbage capacitors?
https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudi.../corsair_sp2500_21_speakers_finally_blew_any/

Making use of low quality capacitors illegal/environmetal crime would be certainly good way to lower environmental impact of modern society.
(by making lots of stuff survive in average lot longer)

Anyway as you mentioned also gaming, have you considered possiblity of headphones?
Especially some fps etc gaming stereo sucks harder than vacuum.
And if your head shape is close enough to average you can get very good sense of direction and even feel of distances.
All it takes is good headphones and using binaural sound simulation of sound card.

PapaLazaru · 19 Sep 2018 at 17:00

Audioengine A2 are a good choice within budget. No sub, but no real need for one when sitting so close.

WuMyster · 19 Sep 2018 at 19:24

SP2500 are great sounding for their price but the quality of components is absolute garbage. I had 2 sets, both the same issue. Some capacitor blew itself when not even playing anything.

I ended up going with IKMultimedia iLoud Micro Monitors. Not sure if that would suit you as there's no sub but I don't have space for proper bookshelves.

Renegade · 19 Sep 2018 at 20:33

PapaLazaru said:
Audioengine A2 are a good choice within budget. No sub, but no real need for one when sitting so close.

I've also got the A2+ in my desktop setup; great speakers with a small footprint. Plus, if the OP wanted more bass he could always connect a separate subwoofer later on via the RCA outputs.

monkentage · 19 Sep 2018 at 23:32

When mine went pop I replaced them with some kef X300As. I don't miss the sub one bit.

lichfield · 8 Oct 2018 at 22:11

My SP2500 suddenly lost all "oomph" one morning while turning my PC on. Definetly seems to be issues with these speakers. I'm on the lookout for something new too, Has anyone used Creative T40 series 2 speakers at all? I'll have a look at the X300As monkentage recommended.

tintin82 · 8 Oct 2018 at 22:50

lichfield said:
My SP2500 suddenly lost all "oomph" one morning while turning my PC on. Definetly seems to be issues with these speakers. I'm on the lookout for something new too, Has anyone used Creative T40 series 2 speakers at all? I'll have a look at the X300As monkentage recommended.

Yeah that happened to mine about 3 years ago. Took them to a electronics store and the guy repaired them and they have been grand since (apart from an annoying hiss at all volume levels).

lichfield · 8 Oct 2018 at 22:56

tintin82 said:
Yeah that happened to mine about 3 years ago. Took them to a electronics store and the guy repaired them and they have been grand since (apart from an annoying hiss at all volume levels).

Yeah they just went really quiet, like he amp had gone. Had them for 5 years, I wouldn't mind if I always had them turned up to 11 haha. No wonder Corsair stopped producing speakers.

tintin82 · 9 Oct 2018 at 08:43

I had a look at the Creative T40 series 2 on the back of your last post. They look pretty good, although the auto power off function could be quiet annoying.

lichfield · 9 Oct 2018 at 14:21

tintin82 said:
I had a look at the Creative T40 series 2 on the back of your last post. They look pretty good, although the auto power off function could be quiet annoying.

Yeah they look pretty decent and good reviews. Yeah the auto power off is weird, but the while gaming it shouldn't be a problem,which is what I mainly use my PC for. I'm just unsure about going from a 2.1 setup to 2.0. Price is less than I was willing to pay though