Mid-Ranged PC Speakers

[Lochiefaulk]

Hey.

I am looking for a decent, mid-ranged speaker system for my PC and was wondering what a few good options were? I've never really used PC speakers before so I just had a question or two as well.

1. If I don't have a sound card in my PC, can I still use speakers or is one required for sound?
2. Is it actually worth buying a set of speakers even though I already have headphones or should I just stick with those?

P.S My budget for speakers is roughly around $130

Any help is appreciated, thanks

 

[iam2thecrowe]

you can get a decent set of 2.1 speakers for $130, or even 5.1 if you wanted. There is nothing wrong with just using headphones either if you are fine with that, a $130 set of headphones is probably going to sound better than a $130 set of speakers. For a decent set of headphones i recommend getting a headphone amp to make the most of them, or a soundcard with build in headphone amp. You only need a sound card if say you want 5.1 speakers and your onboard sound doesnt support 5.1, although most do. A sound card can provide better quality signal to the speakers, but you do need decent speakers/headphones to take advantage of that. Logitech, Edifer and Microlab are 3 brands that generally make decent sounding pc speakers. For high quality sound you should be using Hi-fi speakers & amp but you wont get that for $130. Ideally you want to listen before you buy if you can, or you can go by reviews or opinions as to what speakers are best. But just because someone else things something sounds good doesnt mean you will.

 

[Im_Infinity]

if you have a headset you wouldnt really need speakers unless you wanna watch a movie and not have a headset on you can probably get usb speakers for fairly good price so its really up to you.

 

[i7Baby]

1. - No - you don't need a sound card to run speakers. You just plug them into your motherboard (as the back of the case)

2. - Depends what your happy with and what budget you have.

You can get $50 2.0 and 2.1 or $500 5.1. See http/www.newegg.com/Speakers/SubCategory/ID-60