Quality powered audio

[pr1mal0ne]

I know there are a fair amount of posts talking about computer speakers and the lack of any recent developments by majorly marketed brands. But none of them came to a conclusion suited for me. So here are my thoughts.

Im looking for a 2.1 system use in my room. Its about 10"X12". It will be used mostly to play music from a computer. It will also be used for movies and games and all, but the only part i care about is reproduction of music.
Im spending under 200$ but i dont mind buying a used system.

So here are the things that ppl will throw at me first

Logitech z 2300 -they dont have tweeters, automatically out

klipsch promedia 2.1 - friend had them, wasnt impressed, overly bass

Harman Kardon SoundSticks 2 - Sub sucks, and 4 one inch drivers cant compare to the fullness a 3-5 inch driver gives

bose (insert media hyped name here) - in the price range of studio monitors with out the quality

None of these seem like good choices to me. As i stated before i want powered speakers, i dont want to put the money or effort out on a reciever/amps/wiring.

I have been tempted by things like M-audio Studiophile BX5a and Swan M200, but im worried that their ranges dont go low enough to satisfy me. I need reproduction under 50 hertz and that is best handled by a sub woofer. period, or so i think.

I have been quite pissed that no place has a def. 2.1 system for ppl who care about clarity and quality.

All this has led me to these babies
http/www.tomsguide.com/us/ipod-amped-speakers-from-apple-and-klipsch,review-682-6.html

the klipsch ifi these are older and not sold anymore, but seem to kick everything elses ass when it comes to putting home theater/studio quality speakers in the hands of the desktop user. They have a 8 inch sub and use the reference RSX-3 theater speakers as their satellites. Like the end of the toms review posted above says

"this unit will satisfy you. Still, we can't quite forget that the same qualities are available for a lot less money with products that don't include an iPod cradle"

WELL WHAT PRODUCTS ARE THAT.
Cnet says it is head and shoulders above the promedia 2.1 which is above the logitech 2300 and the soundsticks, so that doesnt leave any other products of that quality in the price range
Am i wrong here?

I feel like the Ifi are a great chioce, and they were sold at Costco in 2007 for 200 bucks, but now you cant find a used pair for less than 250.

So all my rambling aside, give me speakers of equal or better quality than the Ifi for under their 200$ price tag, that can actually still be found on the net.

 

[pr1mal0ne]

any one

 

[rexter]

You need a monitor speakers if you need sound accuracy, and 56 Hz of BX5a is close enough. Don`t forget, you`ll need a capable sound card to lower than 40Hz.

http/www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioEX66ReferenceMonitor.html

http/www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/StudiophileBX5aDeluxe.html

or these:

http/pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/studio-monitors-subwoofers-recording-pro-audio?N=100001+338382

http/www.brilliant-electronics.com/monitor_speakers_ikey_m808.htm

http/pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/KRK-Rokit-Powered-8-Generation-2?sku=482827

 

[pr1mal0ne]

thanks rexter,

both those M-audio's are sexy, but out of my price range i believe.

I really liked that musiciansfriend website, but i have to ask, are most the monitors there sold separately or in pairs? such as this
http/pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=602302V

Also having the digital spdif for the future is cool, but now i would be connecting them via the standard 3.5mm audio jack and if they are amped separately, would i need to run a y spliter and then a cord to each one?

Also, im not quiet sure if i should give up on the subwoofer idea. What do you think, are 2.0 monitors that much better?

 

[gamerk316]

I take it you don't have Spdif out on your motherboard/soundcard?

 

[rexter]

These Monitors works good even without a sub woofer and you can add one later f needed.

All speakers that are sold come in pairs unless noted otherwise.

Yes You'll need to use a Y connector because that's the way these monitor are intended to, each speaker is supposed to connected to a single channel by either TRS or XLR to a mixer or preamp; so you'll need a 3.5 mm Stereo split into two with 1 left/right channel 1/4" TRS connectors if you use regular PC sound card because professional sound card comes with TSR or XLR.

Make sure you read more on grounding too just incase you'll ever come across that issue as these speakers are sensitive.

 

[japa78]

Hi try Altec Lansing MX-5021 they sound great with creative X-Fi