High-end computer speakers recommendations

A

anarchoi

Audioholic Intern
Looking to upgrade my low-end/average Edifier computer speakers. Looking for the best sound quality as possible. Budget is not limited, i can get up to 1000$ if it's worth it.

The biggest problem is that i have a very small desk. I only have 5 inchs of horizontal space on each side of the monitor (my Acer Predator 165hz takes a lot of space). Vertically, there's like 25 inches available, as long as the speakers are not too large horizontally.

Usage: 70% music, 30% gaming

I was thinking about just upgrading the speakers and hooking it to my Edifier subwoofer with an integrated receiver, but i am not sure if it is possible. I would really love to upgrade the subwoofer, but here again i am very limited in available space : only 10 inches horizontal space (more available vertically but i doubt rectangular subwoofers exists)

Currently using: Edifier S330D 2.1 Speaker Set 72W RMS
Better than lots of Logitech speakers, but i am not impressed with the sound quality compared to by Energy CF-70 Home Theather Speakers (tower speakers)
I would love to have similar sound quality on the computer, but i know it is almost impossible with smaller speakers :(

Looking for suggestions !
 
A

anarchoi

Audioholic Intern
Dimensions: 7 x 9.2 x 13.8in

Unfortunately it won't fit :( Only 5" of room available

Here's a picture of my desk:


And here's the room available for the subwoofer:
 
D

Dennis Murphy

Audioholic General
If you have room for them, the Swans M200MKIII. I have the older M200 and they are superb. With active crossovers, these can only be better.

Review:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/swans2/1.html

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
I have a pair of the older M200's that are in mint condition. Someone just dropped them off who doesn't have room for them. If anyone can really use them, they're yours for the shipping (I'm in Washington, D.C.) e-mail me at info@philharmonicaudio.com.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I would get some regular sized bookshelf speakers or studio monitors and use wall mounts to put them behind your desk. A desk top is never a great spot to place speakers anyway. I would be looking at these mounts. As for speakers, there are lots of good ones in your budget. I would be looking at studio monitors. Some very good brands are Tannoy, JBL, Adam. Emotiva's monitors look good as well.
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai

Might check the Audioengine offerings, you can probably find one that fits your physical requirements.

That said, I’d get that computer tower off the desk to make more room, but that’s just me. It also isn’t going to help sound quality with a speaker right up against it on one side, and “empty air” on the other. It doesn’t make sense to spend “up to $1000” on high-quality speakers and then handicap their performance by not setting up the listening space properly.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I would get some regular sized bookshelf speakers or studio monitors and use wall mounts to put them behind your desk. A desk top is never a great spot to place speakers anyway.
That said, I’d get that computer tower off the desk to make more room, but that’s just me. It also isn’t going to help sound quality with a speaker right up against it on one side, and “empty air” on the other. It doesn’t make sense to spend “up to $1000” on high-quality speakers and then handicap their performance by not setting up the listening space properly.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
I agree with ShadyJ and Wayne. I used stands very similar to these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1033371-REG/pyle_pro_pstnd35_heavy_duty_telescoping.html
The rest of my audio are AE D1 dac and JBL LSR2325p pro-monitors.
If I were you, I'd check out this dac/amp - https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=11567
and JBL LSR305, http://emotiva.com/products/powered-monitors/speakers/airmotiv-5s or these
or Adam F5
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
+1 for the JBL 305's! Plan to get me a set as well!


Cheers,

Phil
 
K

kyzer soze

Enthusiast
Those JBL 305's has anyone compared those to Emotiva airmotiv 4s or 5s speakers? I'm in the same position as the original poster curious if spending a little more in airmotiv 5s would be worth it over 305's.
 
D

Defcon

Audioholic
Get the JBL LSR305. They include amps so that's a big bonus. They have tech derived from the M2 which is pretty much as good as it gets in audio.
 
A

anarchoi

Audioholic Intern
That said, I’d get that computer tower off the desk to make more room, but that’s just me. It also isn’t going to help sound quality with a speaker right up against it on one side, and “empty air” on the other. It doesn’t make sense to spend “up to $1000” on high-quality speakers and then handicap their performance by not setting up the listening space properly.
Considering doing this

So far the best choices seems to be AudioEngine5+ or JBL305

And this subwoofer would be the perfect size for my desktop, however it's a bit expensive: https://www.crutchfield.ca/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=760SUB125&Show=ExtInfo
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
Awww... Price was perfect, tried to buy it but no shipping to Canada :(
Man, that is a bummer! Maybe call them and see if something can be worked out. You might also want to check out the offerings at SVS. Just saying...........good luck!


Cheers,

Phil
 
A

anarchoi

Audioholic Intern
Best choices being the cheapest options? You might also want to consider getting smaller passive bookshelves and getting small amp to power them.
I'm just at the beginning of my searches, and so far these are the ones that were recommended to me the most often. But i'm open for more recommendations, i can go up to $1000 for a pair of speakers, without counting the amp (but i have zero amp knowledge, never bought one before)...
JBL LSR305 was one of your suggestions so i thought it was among the best choices, but now you are saying it's the cheapest options, so if you have anything better to recommend i'm still open !

Please note that i am not an audio professional, i don't know how a speaker set compares to another one, so if something is better than AudioEngine5+ i need some explanations to understand better. AE5 suggestion seems to be the most popular so i wrongly assumed it was the best option
 
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