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Best 2.0 Multimedia Speakers for Mac Pro?

S

supercooled

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2007
737
1
I'm getting rid of the bulk on my desk and that means out goes the aging 5.1 Logitech z6800. Still stacks up well against the best of them but it's just too bulky with the control pod and such.

I'm looking for some 2.0 without the subwoofer. The H/K Soundstick II intrigued me a little but I'm narrowing my search down to subwoofer-less setup for now. It doesn't necessarily have to be the best sounding but something minimalist and isn't going to sound tinny.

Price $100-$200. Are the flatbread style speakers from Altec Lansing any good? I've seen some of them with Mac Pro setups on Flickr and here as well.
 
Looks like i'm going to revive this thread... I'm looking for a good set up of 2.0 speakers (i.e. no subwoofer) for my mac setup.

I took a look at Bose's website and the only thing they have that is 2.0 costs $399. Forget that.

Anyone know of anything in the $100 to $150 range? Preferrably right around $100 actually...
Thanks!
 
Actually, Bose does have a decent 2.0 set... they have displays to let you try them out at all of the Best Buys here in town and the local Fry's, as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Bose-Companion-Multimedia-Speaker-System/dp/B00062QY5W

I took them home and tried them out, but ended up going with the Creative Gigaworks T20's.

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229411546&sr=1-1

Both are less than $100, and sound very good for a 2.0 system, and are similar size speakers. I really liked the Bose speakers for acoustic and vocal music, but the T20's had better highs and lows, and since I primarily run my music through my larger stereo system via airtunes, and just needed the computer speakers as monitors when editing video, I felt like it was more important to have the wider range. I think either set is well worth the money, though.

Other thoughts: The Bose were more efficient, and so a bit louder in general. The T20s on/off switch is the same knob as the volume control, so if you turn them off, you're resetting the volume. The T20's also have a very bright blue light which is strong enough that I don't leave them on all the time, and will eventually consider dabbing a bit of black paint on that LED. The Bose have a spare set of RCA stereo inputs in the back, but no tone control or EQ of any type. The T20's have treble and bass knobs, and two stereo mini-jacks on the front of the right speaker, one for headphones out and one for aux in.

Creative also has the T40's which run around $150 retail, and have even better bass, but they're quite large - nearly twice the size of the T20's and far too big for me to want them on my desk. If you don't mind their size, they may be a good option for you.
 
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The Bose Companion 2.0 set is worth the money and blends with a mac well. A very rich sound for just two speakers.
 
In my experience Bose is way over-priced. From what I've heard from their speakers their engineers are very capable people but they cater to a mass audience that thinks bloated bass is directly related to "quality".

Just start by doing a search in Google and you should be able to come up with something to suit your needs. If you stay away from Bose you'll get better speakers for less money, the glory days of Bose are long over but their name still lets them command a high price tag. Don't fall victim to them.
 
This goes against the "no subwoofer" thing, but the Logitech Z2300 2.1 setup sounds absolutely amazing, and for less than $150 usually. This doesn't help if you really don't have room for the woofer, but if you can fit it, you will thank yourself. The speakers sound great, not tinny at all, and most all of the bass is handled by the woofer which is adjustable via the wired remote. So, if you can sacrifice the space for the sub, definitely look long and hard at these. If not, I think Logitech has some other setups, probably 2.0, that are decent as well.

Also, to the OP, if you have room for a Mac Pro, you should have room for a sub somewhere (i would think. I could be wrong... that happens ever so occasionally, annoying as it is :D)
 
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