Stereo Speakers + Amp what to buy?

[EDVINASM]

Hello everyone,

I am looking to buy stereo speakers and an amp for decent audio quality but with very tight budget. I am not looking for a disco equipment but would like something loud enough for movies, some gaming and music. I have ASUS Xonar D2x and decided to stay away from 2.1 speaker systems (unless there are very decent ones for around €200). Would like some quality but at reasonable price.

My budget was €200 but I would stretch to €300 for a decent setup. What would you think about this one:
Pioneer A-109 Stereo amplifier
Pioneer S-31B-LR-K x 2 speakers

I was also looking into worst case scenario, such as Z623 or Gigaworks T3 but they seem to be low quality according to reviews on the net.
What would you recommend?

p.s. I would like to stick to brands known to me such as Pioneer, Yamaha, Sony or again, worst case Creative/Logitech

Thank you in advance!

 

[EDVINASM]

Well.. first things first.. Thank you all for NO reply. While waiting in vain I have found the following amp + speaker package that seams much better than just going with stereo amp:
Pioneer VSX-521-k 5.1 3D amp (used in stereo mode in my case)
Mission MX1 stereo speakers
Still gathering funds for items but.. at least know what I am going for.
Though might help someone else who is not sure weather or not 5.1 amp can be used for stereo only.

 

[ssddx]

sounds like someone is a bit grumpy. do realize a few things:

-posts do get overlooked time to time. a little bump could get it noticed.
-people ask questions like yours all the time. try reading similar posts.
-the people on here who respond regularly are limited. we cannot answer every post.

with that said..

how are you planning on hooking up the amp? remember that the pc speaker outputs aren't the same as home theater setups. if you have an optical output that should work though. personally i have my receiver connected by dvi-hdmi to my video card for sound (video passthrough).

i'm very happy with pioneer. my vsx-30 has worked flawlessly.

as far as speakers go... the choices are endless. it helps to find a place that has the speakers you want and listen to them so you can judge for yourself. i use some klipsch satelite speakers and a subwoofer and it suits my space well. however, since you want 2.0 without a sub either bookshelf speakers or preferably tower speakers which can produce more bass might be advisable.

i remember sears.com had a phenomenal deal on some tower speakers which came 2 in a box for about $130. we have a pair and they sound great with deep rumbling lows. better yet is that is without any dedicated amp; they are connected directly to a tube tv.

if you have more questions do feel free to ask them. do realize that we do this on our free time and we are not robots though.

i do suggest reading a few posts in this forum subsection. you might find some other picks by doing so.

 

[EDVINASM]

Thanks for reply. I am connecting the amp to PC ASUS Xonar D2x card. I also have GTX 460 graphics and I am wondering, how do you do audio pass through via HDMI? Is that just onboard audio you have or something like Xonar or Cretive X-Fi? I have optical out, that's not an issue, would love to use HDMI though. Be brilliant.

As for the speakers + amp I am happy enough with my current choice. I am in Ireland and choice is not that wide. Prices are quite high though for minor deviations, hence my choice to stick to one setup that fits the bill.

 

[ssddx]

i know what you will be connecting. what cables you plan on using is the big question.

optical out should work.

as far as hdmi video-passthrough... i have a receiver not an amp (it includes one as a subcomponent). it handles both audio and video. the sound is split off to be processed by the receiver and sent to the speakers while my video feed (set as this) is untouched (because my video card already processed it). not sure if just an amp can separate the video from the audio and do the same thing or not. i do have onboard sound but i believe the card is ignored and audio is processed by the receiver instead.

just some things to think about.