Need speaker recommendation

[Vigilante]

Hi all, I do some recording with my digital piano, vocal etc... I put it all on PC to EQ and finalize.

My question is, I want a pair of speakers which are "accurate" to the recording. I don't know if that makes sense, but like, you know you can buy speakers with a big huge bass and you know it's going to be overdriven on the bass.
Likewise cheaper sets may have a weak base, but overdrive the mids and highs with the other speakers.

Well what I'm looking for is a speaker set which, for all intents, plays audio the way it was meant to be heard. Not overdriven on any frequency, just, accurate.
This way, when I EQ, I will EQ it to my ear to be what I want. But if my current speakers are to big on bass, I might EQ the bass down. But on someone's else's speakers, my EQing down the bass will probably sound wrong, simply because my own set was to loud in that register.

So again, I want a set of speakers that just has accurate sounds, almost as if it did not even HAVE a bass or treble volume, because that would make the sound inaccurate.

Is there any PC speakers like this? Or do I need to get a better sound card and regular studio monitors?
I don't need 100% Hollywood quality accuracy, but I just want a good reference to EQ my stuff. Then let the end users suffer at the will of their own speakers. But for anybody with GOOD speakers, it will sound accurate to my standards. And obviously, if I EQ my stuff to my own "off" speakers, the sound will probably NOT sound good on high end speakers, if you follow.

What do you suggest which is a reasonably priced solution?

 

[Superinc]

I had an old 4.1 Cambridge soundworks system , it was pretty weak but it sounded great.. I was consider the Gigaworks system form Cambridge... but I decided to buy a new Home theater system , and used the current HTS from my computer. its sounds my bassy like you say , but its louder, good for movies.

 

[Sean]

Klipsch Ifi's. They are discontinued by klipsch. But as soon as you read this i would search online because there are still some in stock at many online stores. They are very accurate, the sattelites are borrowed from klipsch's reference line of speakers. They were made with a dock for the Ipod, but have 2 3.5mm in jacks, great pc speakers, used as moniters as well. The bass is handled by a 8" sub, 140 watts cont. Box is a good size, and ported. Not boomy at all, very clear and accurate. This will blow any other 2.1 system out of the water.

Here is a low priced one.
http://store2home.com/product_info.php?products_id=66

At one time costco was selling these for 150 bucks! A STEAL! they are 400 retail.
www.klipsch.com

A shot of the Reference sattalites
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4830/1004061pl7.jpg

 

[Vigilante]

Wow, went to the Klipsch web site and started drooling! Anybody got $4000 they can loan me real quick?

Besides those, does anybody know about Creative's THX line? Any good there either?

 

[Sean]

I dont know, well, if i wanted to go 5.1, i would get the Klipsch promedia 5.1 ultras, pretty good match compared to like the z600 or w/e. Well, IMO beats logitech, they only have one driver on there sattallites, a midrange, the ultra has a mid and a horn, not as muddy, also logis have nice digital inputs. I wouldent call a speaker set good if its THX cert, THX certified dosent mean that much, i thinks about 102 dB @ 5%THD. IMO check out there store, there are some refurbs going for low prices.

 

[N3051M]

i thought that THX stuff was just a standardised format that means something among the lines as the sound being "cinema quality" or some sorts.. i dunno.. Besides, i hear most of logitech and creatives stuff are great for the consumer/multimedia/games audio field... (i wouldn't mind owning one for myself tho )

hey vigilante, are you mainly going to record/mix in stereo/2.1 or 5.1 etc?

If you want true flat EQ speakers then you might as well stick with studio quality monitors.. Few of my recomendations (including those i wish i had the money for..)

Behringers - Not the best in the market, but usualy cheaper than the rest

JBL - You have to hear them to believe them! Seriously.. those guys there are absolute genious..

Alto - cant find you a link to their website but there's lots of retailers that stock them so its worthwile having checking them out.. I havn't heard what their studio monitors sound like.. only seen the passive PA speakers and that one had a tiny bit of a mid eq notch (after all, its a vocal PA speaker....)

Those are some i can think off the top of my head right now.. i'm sure there's plenty more.. Go to the shops and get them to demo you some.. thats the only way you can see if you can find a decent pair for a good price..

and then there's the question of what sound card you use...

Happy hunting

 

[Grandenhag]

anything from creative will sound fine. the gigaworks series is amazing.
klipsch is great to. i actually have a pair of klipsch promedia 2.1's, these are great. ive had them for two years and they still sound fantastic. they would be totally acurate.

 

[Sean]

I have a pair of the 2.1's as well, they are great.

 

[Vigilante]

Yes 2.1 is all I would need, or else a full range pair of monitors with no sub. Cause having a sub means you'll probably get a sub volume, and then you can't tell where the accurate setting is.

Also note, however, that I would like the extra punch given if I wanted to watch a movie or play a game. But for checking the EQ and listening to recordings, I want it flat, as you say. So I'm not opposed to having a bass volume. Who doesn't like more bass?

As far as THX, like most "standards" it just means that a product stamped with it, meets certain levels of quality. If you have a THX certified product, it pretty much means that what you hear is what the audio technician "meant" to produce. It's kind of cool, it was actually spearheaded by George Lucas, who didn't like theater sound quality and didn't know why they bothered perfecting sound for their movies in the first place! THX spec came out just in time for Return of the Jedi!

Anyhow, I'll check those out.

 

[Vigilante]

Just looked around, of these three, what would be your pick, if you can make sense of the specs, which is best?

Logitech Z-2300:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2173,CONTENTID=9372

Klipsch Promedia 2.1:
http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/promedia-2-1.aspx

Creative MegaWorks 2.1:
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=27&product=124

All three are THX 2.1 systems. JBL doesn't seem to have a 2.1 set with THX meant for computers.

Any of these would be better then what I have now anyway, and THX pretty much guarantees a level of quality anyway.

And by the way, my sound card is just the built-in on my MSI K7N2 Delta2 Platinum. I have a PCI SoundBlaster Audigy 2 but I'm not using it cause I have no reason to at this point.

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Sean]

Logi's
35Hz - 20kHz
Klipsch
32 - 20khz

Well, diggs 3hz lower, but i dont think it would make a difference because of the quality of the drivers, ive read reviews that the Logis sat's are muddy, and i can believe that because they use a midrange, and no tweeters, nor horns. The sub has a edge, it was a 6th order bass reflex, vs a regular ported job from klipsch. I would go with klipsch, it has the horn loaded satt's that can fully reach that stated 20khz.

 

[Sean]

I have never seen, nor heard thoes giga whatever, just by looking at creatives site they don't even state details about spl, snr ratios, subwoofer size, or other important info. And thoes sattelites ressemble thoes bose cubes, not a good sign. Subwoofer tho, is stated to hit 25hz, BS.

 

[Vigilante]

Hmm, that's funny, me and my friend actually like the Creative above all!

The Logi and Creative both have 8" subs and the Klipsch is 6.5". Plus the Logi and Creative sets are rated higher watts for both sattelites and woofer. And the Creative uses a BASH amp which I've read good stuff about, it's used in higher end audio equipment.
In addition, the Klipsch has a 3" sattelite driver versus 3.5" for Creative and only 2.4" for Logi. However, the Klipsch has a .75" tweeter.

So I don't know, as far as those specs, the Klipsch set doesn't "seem" as good. Unless I'm going after the wrong thing?

Oh, and why is a "bose cube" not a good thing?

Anyway, I'm loving the input, share your wealth of knowledge in this, what should I really be looking for in these sets, which is best for the specs that count?

 

[Sean]

Well, there is only so much in depth info you can explain over a forum, why not just find someone with each system and compair, just use good 256kbps, a good soundcard(other than integrated), and good placement of the sub. Go

 

[N3051M]

Yeh i'd agree.. i had to read this twice just to get what you're talking about (after all, i'm still learning )

Only way to see/hear how good it performs is to go to a shop or someone that can showcase it for you.. Seeing it firsthand is better than just reading about it..

 

[Vigilante]

Sure, except I can't find them anywhere within a hundred miles of me.

I'm more interrested in the specs of the speakers, if an audiophile here could say "this speaker is better because it has X feature, which is better then just having more watts" or whatever.

I mean, does a bigger driver and/or more watts mean better? Or is frequency response better then wattage?

I think I'll head over to Newegg for some reviews...

 

[Deleted member 72091]

I was in staples about two nights ago looking around and there was a set of Logitech Z-2300's on display. They sounded good and had a nice mix of bass. Not sure about the others but like mentioned its really something you should try to hear and make your choice.

I personally went with the Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 set. Sounds great, plus I have two extra speakers attached to it as well so the mids are loud and clear while the bass bumps hard but it mixes together really well.

I also have a set of Logitech X-530's 5.1 that I don't use since I upgraded to the Z-5500 digital's but they sounded pretty good for a base set of 5.1's.

 

[Vigilante]

It's funny but I've been reading reviews. Newegg doesn't have the Creative set, so I've been reading about the Logis and Klipsch. On Newegg, the Klipsch doesn't get the best of remarks, and people love the Logi. On CNET, the Logis get the best review (from CNET), but the user reviewers hate the Logis and laud the Klipsch set.
So apparently people who read CNET like Klipsch over Logi, but Newegg customers like Logi better then Klipsch. lol

I'll have to go down to our Best Buy and see if they have it.

Note that for all 3 sets, the bass can be overpowering and thumping (says reviewers), which is awesome for games and movies, of course. But some people said the Logi bass, even when volume on it turned all the way down, was still heavy and muddled the mids of music.

Frankly, I think I want the Klipsch set after all. Even though it's less watts, and smaller drivers, and no cool control piece or headphone jack. It does have the tweeter, which will make all the difference in the mid-high end sounds so critical for music. A little less bass power is better for the audiophile, and I'll just sacrifice having that extra ooomphh for my games and movies that the other sets might give.

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Sean]

FQ response is better than wattage. "I have a 2000watt amp, but my subwoofer can only hit 60hz and a 1'x1' sealedbox." My klipsch Ifi sub can hit 25hz very efficently without needing 200 watts alone for the driver, having power is good, but not if you don't have a well designed enclosure. Altec lansing is very good at this, they rate there 2.1 systems very low wattage, but sound great, the MX5021's are amazing. They are rated at about 80 or 70 watts i think. And i think my satts were louder, but the box and sub on that thing is great. My friend had these when i had my PM's. His was rated for the same fq response as mine, but his lows were great because of the box he has, with a hugh 2"x3" port on the back. But when i got my Ifi's he got ripped, just because of how much air a 8" woofer can push vs his 6.5". and the engineering that went into the Ifi's sub enclosure. Well, you should check up on the klipsch forums and read on. There are many topics about logi vs PM's. forums.klipsch.com i would love to go on and on, but i have to finish a chem lab. peace.

 

[Sean]

Well, easily put, a sattelite with a midrange and a good horn(tweeter) will no doubt sound better, and more crisp than a sattelite without a tweeter.

 

[N3051M]

Yeh.. as one of my friends always says when buying a speaker is not to have so much power it doesnt match the room.. after all, i doubt you'll be using it to entertain more than yourself and a few friends. 20 guests and more is probably where i guess the need for watts comes in like PA systems etc

For recording, hearing as much detail as acurate as you can is the key.. so that tweeter will help (since mids can't vibrate the air fast enough)
games, as long as there's enough highs and lows and it sounds good then no-one cares that much (and i think newegg probably is geared to the enthusiast techy/gamer audience, cnets got a pretty big audience..)

Funny you should say you can't find creatives.. i've been looking around for those as well just out of curiosity and i cant seem to find one or demo'd in any of the shops that i know near me (except for one maybe... but thats too far away..)

If you want the bass and you don't have a sub.. next best thing is the bass amp (or a quad)

 

[Vigilante]

Thanks guys, I've decided to save up for a Klipsch set. Their knowledge of higher end professional audio equipment certainly filters into their PC division. The tweeter will make all the difference for music listening, and it's just for my own bedroom so I don't think I need massive watts

I'll be going after the Promedia 2.1, or their IFI set. The IFIs are about $140 more, so the bank will decide that fate.

I'll give a review once I get them!

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Altec Lansing is pretty high-quality too, as is Harman Kardon.