Upgrade from Creative T40 speakers

[almoststew1990]

I'm looking to upgrade my T40 speakers which still sound pretty good but I lost the bases for them so they wobble about. I'm tempted by the bookcase speakers with built in amplifiers but there are a lot to choose from. What would you recommend for up to £130 or so?

The other option is to somehow make some space for a 2003 Yamaha RX-V250 + wall mount some large bookcase speakers that I had set up in my old house, but I only really want to do this if £130 are going to be significantly worse than this setup.

For reference I'll have two PCs hooked up to them; a X470 Prime Pro with "Crystal Sound 3" (and tbf the digital output was really clean) and another PC with a Creative Audigy 2ZS, or an X-Fi soundcard.

 

[hornetstinger]

You need to increase your budget.

A avr plus 5.1 speakers for £130? Even second hand?

It'll be off the back off the truck

I'd be looking at several times that budget. Whole budget is likely just for a AVR second bhsnd older gen mid range avr usually go for £100-150

 

[hornetstinger]

How about this?



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[hornetstinger]

Or this



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[agw_01]

I personally wouldn't use big hi-fi speakers in a near field (desktop) setup. I found them overbearing, muddy and overall not very nice to listen to. For PC/desktop listening, and especially for your budget you'll want to chose some smaller but purposefully designed monitor speakers.

A quick look on OcUK and I'd probably be looking at this kind of thing for a low budget PC system.

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They have multiple inputs to cater for your multiple PCs and will be designed to be desktop mounted.

I have no personal experience of these speakers though but have heard other Edifier speakers which have been pretty impressive for the money. Probably a good idea to check out a few Youtube reviews to see how much of an upgrade they are over the T40s.

 

[hornetstinger]

Yeah studio monitors are option it's a shame they don't have connectivity of AVR.

They can't even equal what a budget avr has

https://www.homecinemachoice.com/images/222denon.bac.jpg

 

[agw_01]

Yeah studio monitors are option it's a shame they don't have connectivity of AVR.

It seems worse the more expensive they get!

Those Edifiers have multiple RCAs, 3.5mm jacks and bluetooth.

The Adam speakers I use, I'm limited to just RCA or XLR... and I have to change the input using a switch on the back of the speaker. No fancy remote or front mounted push buttons.

 

[hornetstinger]

It seems worse the more expensive they get!

Those Edifiers have multiple RCAs, 3.5mm jacks and bluetooth.

The Adam speakers I use, I'm limited to just RCA or XLR... and I have to change the input using a switch on the back of the speaker. No fancy remote or front mounted push buttons.

Even a modest avr has optical and coaxial inputs, analogue inputs, 5 hdmi inputs, one hdmi output, front panel headphone jack, physical front volume and input controls, front hdmi and analogue input, Bluetooth, wireless, audio streaming, app support, room correction, ability to connect 5 or 7 passive speakers of any brand, one active subwoofer of any brand, bass management.

I use following from my bedroom AVr

Hdmi for PS3
Hdmi for Xbox
Hdmi for Kodi box
Hdmi for dvd
Hdmi front panel for laptop
Hdmi for pc audio
Coaxial for squeezebox
Optical for second pc
Plus infra red remote control

Try and get that lot working with yours

 

[almoststew1990]

You need to increase your budget.

A avr plus 5.1 speakers for £130? Even second hand?

It'll be off the back off the truck

I'd be looking at several times that budget. Whole budget is likely just for a AVR second bhsnd older gen mid range avr usually go for £100-150

Sorry I'm not sure I explained that very well I'm looking at something like this for £130 (not that I would use bluetooth)

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But I have a Yamaha RX-V250 in the cupboard from when I had wall mounted speakers at my old house. If £130 for the "Studio speaker system" is going to sound rubbish compared to my old Yamaha RX-V250 I will just find a way to use that instead but I don't know if that's the case as it's quite old and I've not heard any of the studio speaker systesms so I don't know if they're any good.

 

[mickyflinn]

Sorry I'm not sure I explained that very well I'm looking at something like this for £130 (not that I would use bluetooth)

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But I have a Yamaha RX-V250 in the cupboard from when I had wall mounted speakers at my old house. If £130 for the "Studio speaker system" is going to sound rubbish compared to my old Yamaha RX-V250 I will just find a way to use that instead but I don't know if that's the case as it's quite old and I've not heard any of the studio speaker systesms so I don't know if they're any good.

No way to compare really .

Home review

A lively and likeable pair of budget Bluetooth speakers...

www.whathifi.com

 

[opethian]

I remember getting the Edifier 1850BT for around £150 and really love it to this day. I love how it doesn't automatically turn off (a lot of the Creative speakers have timeouts) - alas the subwoofer times out after a set amount of time, or a certain volume isn't reached.

 

[almoststew1990]

Meh I decided to dig out the proper amplifier (although its a 350 model not a 250) and speakers and now everything's fine although I need to shuffle my PS5 and xbox series around a bit to find a good place for them. Saves £130!

 

[agw_01]

Looks good, and a bit more space than I imagined

Get yourself some Adam Hall speaker isolation pads. For £20 they'll angle the speaker upwards towards your listening position as well as isolating the speaker from the desk. The desk will be absorbing a lot of the bass so using an isolation pad will improve the bass response of the speaker.

 

[hornetstinger]

Meh I decided to dig out the proper amplifier (although its a 350 model not a 250) and speakers and now everything's fine although I need to shuffle my PS5 and xbox series around a bit to find a good place for them. Saves £130!

Get some desktop speaker stands

 

[Zeebedy]

I used to have the Mackie CR series powered bookshelf speakers, really, really good for the money!

 

[JasonM]

Get some desktop speaker stands

Also

1) Possibly to close to rear wall.
2) Need lifting to around ear level
3) Need isolation foam to isolate from desk.
4) Remove the grills that are a high pass filter.

 

[hornetstinger]

Speaker grilles act as a high pass filter??? No.

High pass filters are when you have bass management somewhere, in that stereo system only way would be to use a subwoofer with high level, high pass. Not many subwoofers have this. Svs SB12+

 

[rids57]

probably means a low pass filter as the grills "may" attenuate the high frequencies "very slightly" - as to whether the difference would be audible is up for debate

 

[JasonM]

I mean it would filter the high frequencies out.

PS Audio demonstrates in the following video. I run all my speakers with grills off, however my monitors come with no grills.

Do speaker grille cloths damage sound?

Speakers generally come covered in protective grille cloth by their manufacturers. Is it better to take that off or leave it on as the manufacturer specified...

youtu.be

 

[hornetstinger]

I mean it would filter the high frequencies out.

PS Audio demonstrates in the following video. I run all my speakers with grills off, however my monitors come with no grills.

Do speaker grille cloths damage sound?

Speakers generally come covered in protective grille cloth by their manufacturers. Is it better to take that off or leave it on as the manufacturer specified...

youtu.be

Any tests to show how much?

I think it'll only be noticeable with test equipment not the human ears, and needs to blind tests