Need help with good music listening set up and have little to no knowledge on these kinds of things.

[Dankrad]

I'm in the market for a new audio setup, my monitor has the worst sound known to man. I'm not sure whether to get a floorstanding speaker, shelf speakers or just regular PC speakers. I listen to really heavy metal and lots of EDM and Trap, stuff of that nature. My room is a small/medium room (not sure of exact dimensions, but its no where near a big room, and I know room size matters with this kind of thing). I'm extremely big on bass, so I'd like a subwoofer no matter what I get (enough bass to make the floor vibrate). I have the Asus Z170 PRO-Gaming mobo and no soundcard, so I'm pretty sure the only audio connector is the standard 3.5mm jack. I wanna use this set up for casual listening at higher levels of volume and every once in a while when I have some friends over crank that shit up high and still have good sound throughout the whole room and not just in front of my monitor. What are my best options with a budget of 300$? Do I need an amp or AV receiver? (dont know what they are, tried googling it but it was of no assistance) Any help will be appreciated, I really don't know where to start. Thank you!

 

[chris-L]

I would think you would do well to get an amp or AV receiver in order to have sufficient power to run whatever speakers you get. An amp,
short for amplifier, will boost the audio from the computer to a level that good speakers can take advantage of. An AV receiver is an "amp"
plus a built in tuner (radio) so it would work too. Your computer audio can connect to an AUX or TAPE input on any amp or receiver. Floor standing speakers typically give more full range, well balanced sound vs. bookshelf speakers when comparing within the same brand. Some brands bookshelf may sound better than another brand's floor standing speaker. Not all brands, obviously, are created equal. With your budget you may want to look for a good working "used" amp plus speakers if you can find and demo something in your area. Just look the speakers over carefully checking to make sure no rips or tears in the actual speaker components within the cabinet, especially" foam surrounds". If you can get the good sound you're looking for without running the volume control more than halfway then you have a good match between the power of the amp and the efficiency of the speakers. Often, (within same brand) large floor standing speakers are louder than small bookshelf speakers at the same volume setting. It's an efficiency thing where the larger cabinet comes into play. Also figure out where you want to place the speakers within your room as you have to live around them. Typically placement closer to a corner of the room will increase bass response. Hope this helps a bit.