I am very displeased with the speaker quality of the 2012 iMac

Thoughts on these?

Anyone have experience with any of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Xtrememac-USB-B22-01-USB-Powered-Speaker/dp/B0060DW03G

http://www.amazon.com/Ufi-UCube-Compact-USB-Digital-Speakers/dp/B00656D4OW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics

http://amzn.com/B005G2R0AU

I am upgrading from 2009 iMac and am far from an audiophile, but am anticipating wanting a little more powerful sound, but and trying to limit my cables (having everything powered off USB would be ideal for me - I HATE cables)

I have the Xtrememac USB, and while it does give a much better sound then the iMac itself, it does put more bass then the iMac, and for everyday sound it is perfect, but if you want a movie experience then this is not for you.

I like it especially for the nice fit below the iMac, having just one USb cable, and the big knob on the end for volume control

I think some people have different , or faulty speakers.

The Bass on the new iMac is thumping the hell out of my desk, Unlike my 2011 iMac.

Trebble is a little high, but using the program BOOM, I have solved that issue

They definitely sound different, perhaps more keyed to the high end ranges.

I'm hearing a lot more clarity in vocals, which is good.

I agree the speakers sound great to me too....they just weren't loud enough for me personally.

Binarymix said:

I think some people have different , or faulty speakers.

The Bass on the new iMac is thumping the hell out of my desk, Unlike my 2011 iMac.

Trebble is a little high, but using the program BOOM, I have solved that issue

They definitely sound different, perhaps more keyed to the high end ranges.

I'm hearing a lot more clarity in vocals, which is good.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the BOOM info. Grabbed that just now, and using the Treble Reducer setting from iTunes, I copied that into BOOM and now it's system-wide. Thank goodness, because the sound from this system by default was making me a bit crazy!

Can someone else with a 27" late iMac confirm this is normal?

When listening to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU6-NrUZG_o

Does your left side speaker sound like it's massively echoing/warbling in most parts of the song? To the point of taking over the vocals?

I listen to tons of metal, so this may be an issue.

If it's just the characteristic of the new speaker, fine, I'll buy externals; if not I'll get the speakers replaced.

Most hiphop/dance sounds just fine. It seems to be anything with a lot of low end notes. I love the thump of the bass from this system, but this effect is annoying me, and no EQ settings have fixed it.


I really don't want this to be an issue, because everything else seems almost flawless on this mac.


Thanks.

*Edit* Fiddling with the EQ some more I've narrowed it down to the 128Hz Band, this is causing the problem. turning it all the way down minimizes the effect, but it's still there somewhat. And it's not an ideal solution as it affects other tones.

Maybe it's a software issue that can be fixed in firmware if I send Apple a bug report.

Binarymix said:

Can someone else with a 27" late iMac confirm this is normal?

When listening to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU6-NrUZG_o

Does your left side speaker sound like it's massively echoing/warbling in most parts of the song? To the point of taking over the vocals?

I listen to tons of metal, so this may be an issue.

If it's just the characteristic of the new speaker, fine, I'll buy externals; if not I'll get the speakers replaced.

Most hiphop/dance sounds just fine. It seems to be anything with a lot of low end notes. I love the thump of the bass from this system, but this effect is annoying me, and no EQ settings have fixed it.


I really don't want this to be an issue, because everything else seems almost flawless on this mac.


Thanks.

*Edit* Fiddling with the EQ some more I've narrowed it down to the 128Hz Band, this is causing the problem. turning it all the way down minimizes the effect, but it's still there somewhat. And it's not an ideal solution as it affects other tones.

Maybe it's a software issue that can be fixed in firmware if I send Apple a bug report.

Click to expand...

You might just want to get external speakers, in case your metal would blow your internal, then if you ever want to resell

Apple audio department has never been very good anyway, so I wonder what's the fuss? And to be honest, I feel even other Desktop brands do not perform as well as an external speakers.

External Speakers are build for a reason, to provide good quality sound, so I'll just buy a specialised external speakers with deep bass, crisp mid and high tones. But hey, thats just me, cause im quite picky about my sounds.

Sry but the new speakers are good in every way comapred with the old ones...
i've test them in a store. So you cant say its bad.

jstnlzr said:

You might just want to get external speakers, in case your metal would blow your internal, then if you ever want to resell

Click to expand...

I've played metal on all my iMacs full blast and never blown a speaker

I thought the sound quality was really good

I bought a BassJump from TwelveSouth and it works well to increase the bass coming from the machine. It works seamlessly with the internal speakers, so I call it a good purchase. I don't think that it's $70 worth of bass, but meh...I bought it with a gift card.

I finally got some time to unpack my 27" Yesterday and while I was getting it all sorted I decided to conduct a comparative test between my 2008 24", 2011 21" and the new machine.

With them all sat on the same desk, I listened to the same tracks on all machines and I can honestly say the audio from the new machine is far better than the other 2, which makes me happy because I've always loved the sound from the 24" over that of the newer 21"

I'll not be using external speakers on this machine

sjz88 said:

Bass is as weak as you would it expect it from a thin machine, no surprises here. Otherwise the sound is absolutely fine and as clear as you can get on such a thing.

Click to expand...

Those that find the 27" speakers adequate are clearly NOT at all fussy about audio. The speakers are clear at midrange frequencies in the area of human speech and AM radio. Bass and anything above 10K is very low to nonexistent.

It isn't necessary to be apologetic for Apple about the speakers. They are the least of the bad design decisions made in the misguided move to thin, light, locked and diskless.

My new 27" iMac with 3TB FD is super fast and has a magnificent display and comes equipped with great software. That's what Apple has been about since their infancy in 1984. They have always led the pack in their chosen field - personal computers and associated portable gadgets-so far.

20 years ago my daughter bought me a $30 set of externals for one of my early Macs. I've never gone back. I plugged my new one into my medium quality Panasonic bedroom AV stereo system with a pair of Sony bookshelf speakers. It sounds great and matches iTunes quality fine. Apple computers have always provided a great sound SOURCE for those that want to take advantage of it.

Lets face it, Apple makes neat computers, not audio systems. If you want good sound, buy a good sound system. Be happy you've got the very best desktop computer in today's market

lucasfunkt said:

I've got a 13" MBP from 2 or 3 years ago, it'll be better than that surely?


I think some people are bit critical when it comes to sound and you pay hundreds of pounds for maybe a 5% difference, not worth it in my eyes/ears.

Click to expand...

5% difference? You're hearing must be almost gone. I mean, I understand if they're good enough but even then you gotta realize that a dedicated system will be much better than a 5% difference. Or maybe the quality of your music sucks.