New Speakers candidates: How about the A2+?

MrMario

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Aug 11, 2015
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I am looking to buy some new speakers for my desktop. Right now, the Audioengine A2+ are my top contender. My budget is anywhere from $100-300.

Mostly playing video games, watching movies and listening to music are what I use my speakers for.

I am coming from the Logitech z533 2.1 speakers (that sounded great to me while they lasted and then inexplicably broke), and more recently a pair of little dinky amazon speakers I had lying around that... well they're better than my monitor's built-in speakers.

I don't have the biggest budget, but I don't mind paying a little more for a proper bookshelf+amp set up if it's really worth it. My main constraint is space.

Here's my current set-up.

I have a small room and an even smaller desk, check the link so you can see what I'm working with. The amazon speakers I currently have are 5in tall, with about an inch of clearance to the monitor (there is some leeway here).

I am not interested in buying any audio products from Logitech again, and I'd like to avoid anything with proprietary connections.

Got any suggestions given my space/budget? Any other website forums I should be asking also?
Thanks for the help.
 

MrMario

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Aug 11, 2015
15
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Wow, these look like an excellent suggestion! I'd never even heard of these before, thanks for posting. If they really are competitive with the A2's they'd be a great choice at that price point.
Any suggestions for a sub to pair with these?
 

therealduckofdeath

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May 10, 2012
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I haven't looked into that myself. The manufacturer recommends one with a crossover frequency at 100Hz and to not use a too small amp for the speakers to get the best sound out of them. :) The manufacturer link is in that YouTube review link.
 

MrMario

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Aug 11, 2015
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4,560


Cool, thanks for the heads up!
 

MrMario

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Aug 11, 2015
15
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4,560


Just wanted to come back here and let you know what I ended up doing...the new set-up sounds great:

My JBL Arena 130’s are hooked up via banana cables to my Dayton APA150. My PC (primary audio source) is connected to my amp via a 3.5mm to RCA cable (monoprice cable). My headphones (Sennheiser HD 439) are plugged into the aux port on my monitor, and the monitor to PC via displayport.

My secondary audio source is an old Haier HD TV. My PS2 is connected via a mini a/v converter cable that came with my TV. My Roku is connected to that TV via HDMI, and finally the TV is connected to my Line-In port at the back of my PC via 3.5mm (also HDMI to GPU). There is a ground loop noise isolator (MPOW adapter) between the TV and PC at the PC end.

What a journey it's been. The initial installation of my wall mounts was a nightmare mainly due to the irregularity of my wall studs (and took several trips to the hardware store). Then I ended up taking even more trips to my local Fry's trying to get my TV’s audio to come through my JBL’s. First I tried using an RCA switch with a couple 3.5mm to RCA adapters to connect my PC, TV, and headphones to the amp, which “worked” but I got significant audio feedback at higher amp volumes (the noise got exceedingly worse when I ran a couple video games).
So I ended up returning all of that, and now I've got the set-up that I described earlier. The noise grounder is fantastic, I've got no more feedback (except at very high amp volumes, and even then it's not nearly as bad) and all my audio sounds great no matter the source or what application I'm running. Switching audio sources is easy and works like it should. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Yes I could've avoided a lot of hassle by buying a proper receiver (and then it'd be a proper solution). However, as you can see from the picture of my set up, I'm very limited on space. There were plenty of good quality and affordable used receivers online, but none in the dimensions I needed. There are a couple of receivers that could've fit my space requirements, but I could only find them expensive and new. I also felt weird spending more on an amp/receiver than my speakers (I got them new at a great price on sale).

Feel free to share your thoughts. At some point I'll add a sub, but I don't have the space for it right now.