Can anyone recommend some good desktop speakers?

[ascender]

You won't be disappointed! Great sound and they get really loud considering their size, although no adjustments for the subwoofer

They usually go on sale too on Amazon for about $100 off

Looks like in the UK I can get some from Amazon for over RRP, or its the secondhand market. Strange.

Edit: Have tracked down a sealed set of the 3's! I prefer their look to the 4's.

 

[zachz]

Looks like in the UK I can get some from Amazon for over RRP, or its the secondhand market. Strange.

Edit: Have tracked down a sealed set of the 3's! I prefer their look to the 4's.

Took me a while to get them in Canada as well, seems like they were released in the US and some European countries first (they even got black ones!).

Congrats on the 3's!! You can adjust the angles on those ones, sadly they took them away with the 4's... very annoying

edit - if you still have the Cube, that would be a cool setup just for fun haha I recently got a Cube but I'm waiting for a power cable to arrive, definitely going to set it up with the original Soundsticks

 

[ascender]

Took me a while to get them in Canada as well, seems like they were released in the US and some European countries first (they even got black ones!).

Congrats on the 3's!! You can adjust the angles on those ones, sadly they took them away with the 4's... very annoying

edit - if you still have the Cube, that would be a cool setup just for fun haha I recently got a Cube but I'm waiting for a power cable to arrive, definitely going to set it up with the original Soundsticks

That's great you've got one! I remember heading down got the local Apple reseller as soon as they had one in and buying it on the spot. Having spent so much time working on PCs, it was incredible to see and I loved it, even if it was flawed.

I keep looking at Cubes on eBay with a view to just using one as a retro setup or wondering what internals I could put in it.

 

[ascender]

So much for that, the speakers I received have clearly been used and one of them is starting to come apart in the way I know they're prone to do if they get dropped.

I've ended up buying a set of AudioEngine A2+ instead as it looks like there's no SoundSticks new in the UK other than the set at 2 * RRP on Amazon.

 

[coolerkid]

I've always used Harman Kardon Soundsticks with my Macs. The originals were designed by Jony Ive!

I've had the very first pair and now I have the current 4th gen and they've always done me well, great sound and take up barely any room. They do have a sub with them, but it's not too big either and the speakers themselves are tiny. They also look cool (although some hate the look). Usually go on sale too on Amazon, I got them for about $240CAD ($193 USD, originally $299).

I'm pretty sure you can use your Mac keyboard to control the volume if they're connected with either the 3.5mm or bluetooth, although I run them through a DAC so haven't tried.

https://www.harmankardon.com/home-audio/HK+SOUNDSTICKS+4.html

Is the bass level on the sub pretty reasonable? I have an HK Onyx and the bass is overwhelming with no way to adjust it except using an EQ, which is not ideal. I live in an apartment and don't want bass that's going to disturb the neighbors. Thanks

 

[zachz]

Is the bass level on the sub pretty reasonable? I have an HK Onyx and the bass is overwhelming with no way to adjust it except using an EQ, which is not ideal. I live in an apartment and don't want bass that's going to disturb the neighbors. Thanks

Yea it’s pretty reasonable I would say. I’m not a huge fan of heavy bass (with a few exceptions of certain songs lol or anything Les Claypool) and it’s not overpowering and it doesn’t shake up my whole house. I have them in the basement and as long as the volume is at about half, it can barely be heard in the room above. The sub is on my desk along with my iMac and the speakers and unless it's full blast, the bass doesn't rattle my desk and sounds decent. One annoyance is the cable connecting the speakers to the sub is so short that if you're not going to place the sub right under the speakers, or if you have a tall or wide desk, it's going to be annoying and hard to place.

It’s really annoying not having a bass adjuster, I upgraded from the OG Soundsticks from 1999 and having the bass knob was great.

 

[ibarnett]

Give these a look - small speakers that have small foot print… the sub woofer can be hidden out of sight maybe?? If the speakers are plugged into the audio jack, then the keyboard control should work with that… but i am not absolutely sure of that.

Logitech Support + Download

www.logitech.com

+1 I have these - really good sound & sub can be hidden under desk.

 

[Oreb]

I also have the Harman Kardon Soundsticks (version 3, I think), but unlike some of the others in this thread, I don't like them at all. The sound is thoroughly mediocre, and the look is very dated. They were designed to match the transparent plastic Apple hardware around 2000, and they look completely out of place next to modern Macs.

I've been looking for an upgrade for a while, but I can't find anything I really like. I wish I could use the new HomePods, but for some reason, Apple has yet again decided to not make them work with the Mac.

 

[zachz]

I also have the Harman Kardon Soundsticks (version 3, I think), but unlike some of the others in this thread, I don't like them at all. The sound is thoroughly mediocre, and the look is very dated. They were designed to match the transparent plastic Apple hardware around 2000, and they look completely out of place next to modern Macs.

I've been looking for an upgrade for a while, but I can't find anything I really like. I wish I could use the new HomePods, but for some reason, Apple has yet again decided to not make them work with the Mac.

Agree with the looks -- the transparency definitely doesn't match Apple's design of the last decade or so. I like the 4th gen since they're white and match the M1 iMac nicely. I've "retired" my OG Soundsticks to my G4 Cube setup and it matches much better, as intended haha

And yes, very strange about Apple and the HomePods/Mac. You'd think that they would at least let the minis work as regular computer speakers without lag since they don't make a dedicated set of computer speakers...