Budget desktop speakers under $200

[Hokies83]

Sony’s betwee. Those 2

 

[geniusmusicman]

Thanks Hokie!

 

[zieglj01]

Just can't decide between the two...

Sony

 

[KenM10759]

Man, if it were me (and thankfully it's not, I guess), I would penny-pinch and scrounge up enough to get the Affordable Accuracy Monitor no matter what. As passive speakers go they just blow away everything else by a gigantic margin, and that makes them worth the little bit more money.

I liken it to the tools I used in my machinist job. I was cautioned early in my career that 'Buying 1st quality only hurts once. Buying cheap means you'll be buying twice and end up spending more than if you'd just bought the right stuff the 1st time.'

 

[geniusmusicman]

That's some great advice, thank you sir. The AA's are really that good?

 

[Hokies83]

That's some great advice, thank you sir. The AA's are really that good?

Yes.
The guy who mods them is on this forum to.
So you can actually talk to the man himself if u need anything.

Reviews I’ve read they blow away anything under $400

 

[KenM10759]

That's some great advice, thank you sir. The AA's are really that good?

Profoundly better!

 

[geniusmusicman]

So I decided to go with the Studio Monitor setup. I found a great local deal on a set of used KRK Rokit 5's in the limited edition silver and black in excellent condition for only $150 total. Still have yet to set them up, but I've already heard them and they sound awesome. I guess I did it just in time as well... while I was gone getting the speakers, my daughter had just pushed in the woofers on BOTH of my Infinity speakers! Uugghhh!

 

[geniusmusicman]

Like so...

 

[geniusmusicman]

Well... Like the center of that, not the torn parts...

 

[bradymartin]

what? i can vouch for the aams. they are extremely worth the price.

i think you made a huge mistake and ill gladly rub it in. your loss dude

 

[geniusmusicman]

They sound awesome so far. I don't regret it at all. Besides, the AA's were slightly out of my price range.

 

[Hokies83]

They sound awesome so far. I don't regret it at all. Besides, the AA's were slightly out of my price range.

I have bs22s and cs22 Andrew jones l/r and center I’m replacing with AAM l/r and center.
I’ll let ya know the difference when they get here next week.

 

[Hokies83]

Got my mtm center today. “ left and rights get here tomorrow “

The difference between it and the stock cs22 are staggering!

And I also have the stock bs22s left and right and you can really tell the difference! My audio has that clarity and pop that I had been missing.
Can’t wait till the L/R get here tomorrow!!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

So I decided to go with the Studio Monitor setup. I found a great local deal on a set of used KRK Rokit 5's in the limited edition silver and black in excellent condition for only $150 total. Still have yet to set them up, but I've already heard them and they sound awesome. I guess I did it just in time as well... while I was gone getting the speakers, my daughter had just pushed in the woofers on BOTH of my Infinity speakers! Uugghhh!

I think getting a pair of active speakers with 5" drivers for $150. Is a good deal, however my sentiment generally lies with @bradymartin. I have heard several KRK monitors and always thought that their bass is very bloated and they could've been clearer. I guess they are actually good for some types of music, like hip-hop. Probably good for sports, movies

 

[slipperybidness]

I think getting a pair of active speakers with 5" drivers for $150. Is a good deal, however my sentiment generally lies with @bradymartin. I have heard several KRK monitors and always thought that their bass is very bloated and they could've been clearer. I guess they are actually good for some types of music, like hip-hop. Probably good for sports, movies

KRKs are all right, nothing really special, but not terrible either.

The low cost of entry has made them ubiquitous though.

 

[geniusmusicman]

I think getting a pair of active speakers with 5" drivers for $150. Is a good deal, however my sentiment generally lies with @bradymartin. I have heard several KRK monitors and always thought that their bass is very bloated and they could've been clearer. I guess they are actually good for some types of music, like hip-hop. Probably good for sports, movies

I guess it all depends on the setup as well. From my experience with them so far, they sound like they have very little bass. It's not bad by any means and actually sounds pretty good, but I felt the JBL LSR305's had more bass than these do. What matters most is that they have excellent clarity.

I do have one issue though, but it isn't necessarily with the monitors. Since I have had these, there is a lot of noise that sounds like a ground loop. I've narrowed it down to the noise coming from my computer. Now I need to spend extra to get a ground loop isolator or hum destroyer. Wasn't expecting that.

 

[geniusmusicman]

KRKs are all right, nothing really special, but not terrible either.

The low cost of entry has made them ubiquitous though.

The whole point of getting these was to find something better than my current setup for the price and these DO sound better than my Infinity's. I also liked the fact that I didn't need a receiver anymore; however, with my current noise problems, I wish I had passive speakers again.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I guess it all depends on the setup as well. From my experience with them so far, they sound like they have very little bass. It's not bad by any means and actually sounds pretty good, but I felt the JBL LSR305's had more bass than these do. What matters most is that they have excellent clarity.

I do have one issue though, but it isn't necessarily with the monitors. Since I have had these, there is a lot of noise that sounds like a ground loop. I've narrowed it down to the noise coming from my computer. Now I need to spend extra to get a ground loop isolator or hum destroyer. Wasn't expecting that.

It heavily depends on how to you wire these. To isolate from PC RFI noise I used optical out from a pc to external dac (AudioEngine D1 in my case, but probably much cheaper options like https://www.amazon.com/D03K-Digital-Analog-Audio-Converter/dp/B009346RSS/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525802325&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=behringer+dac
would work just as well)

 

[KenM10759]

The whole point of getting these was to find something better than my current setup for the price and these DO sound better than my Infinity's. I also liked the fact that I didn't need a receiver anymore; however, with my current noise problems, I wish I had passive speakers again.

I refer back to what I stated in Post #24.