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GOOD pair of powered bookshelf speakers for college

TK2K

TK2K

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 4, 2006
266
0
Hey,
So I'm headed to college in the fall and i need a pair of powered speakers that sound good at low volumes. I've found this pretty hard to find, as generally it takes a certain amount of volume to move the vocal coils in large speakers... regardless I'm wondering if you guys can help...

The audio will be coming out of an M-Audio 2626 card (so 1/4th inch prefered) and relatively inexpensive.
Thanks
 
Swan M10? 2.1 so not really a bookshelf but they sound quite good for around $100 and looks nice too.
 
I love my Logitech speakers. They're a lot better than what most people had in the dorms. They also can be a lot louder. If you want something quiet, you might want to get some noise canceling headphones. Chances are, being in the dorms, you will need your speakers loud so that you can hear your music over other peoples'.
 
Prodipe

Check out the French prodipe range of speakers, if they're available in your area - great sounding and reasonably priced. I recently got their POD3 ipod dock it/they rock. You can connect more than one source at a time (e.g. computer out and ipod) and it even includes a fully-featured ipod remote.
 
What is inexpensive? A used pair of KRKs or Yamaha's should do the trick. But if you are living in the dorm, you might want to think elsewhere, because you might just be wasting your money.
 
I've been surprised just how good the Harman Kardon Soundsticks with sub actually are. My main system's Michell / Arcam / Sonus Faber so I'm kind of picky about these things but I've been genuinely impressed. Much better than the JBL things I demoed.

Your other alternative if you want to spend a little more is of course not going powered at all but getting a "proper" hifi amp & speakers, probably secondhand.
 
speakers

I am going to college in the fall too and I went to best buy and tested many out and the best one I found were Logitech 2.1 speakers with a nice powered subwoofer that is actually really good. They can bump and the best part was they were only $50
 
I'm not recommending a specific brand, but the best bang for your buck will be powered studio monitors. Go to a pro-audio site and find something like the Roland DS-50A's (those are old now, but they are a good example)
 
mr1970 said:
I've been surprised just how good the Harman Kardon Soundsticks with sub actually are.
Click to expand...
I'll 2nd this. I just got a very lightly used pair of SoundSticks II with sub for $50 about 2 weeks ago to replace my aging Altec Lansing speakers and I love them.
 
I use bose Companion 2 speakers, they are powered and do well at low volumes. I once made the mistake of getting rid of my old Bose for Harman Kardon Soundsticks, those sound sticks were expensive pieces of junk.

the M-audio and M-00 seem like they could be good, but if I were you go to target, and play with the speakers, they have set up. give you some idea of powered speakers.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
Actually external hard drives are probably more-so then anything else. Also, powered bookshelf is not the normal "I want a 2.1 for $150"...However, knowing the OP's budget will help.
Click to expand...

sorry, I was offline for a few days..

anyway, my budget is... top $200 which i know is low.. but I'm not looking for volume, it's mostly about clarity, the only thing it'll be competing with is an xserve. It's not for parties, it's just for personal listening really.

Thanks everybody

p.s.
my concern really is a lot of the 'desktop' speaker systems i've seen are... kinda fake. Like, sure a Bose Wave radio sounds good, but it doesn't sound accurate, if you know what i mean.... the bass is all wrong and while the sound comes out 'good' it's very different than a real set of speakers, which is why I tend to shy away from a the soundstick systems etc....
 
The white Audioengine looks great with Macs. You can also look into Swan M200MKII. What speakers do you use at home? It may be worthwhile to save some money getting a cheaper set and buy a set of headphones or just skip the speakers all together. I am in college as well and I find that my headphones gets much more use than speakers.

p.s. You are going to college with a rackmount? lol I would love to see your room :p
 
For $200 and not concerned about loudness, you really should look for a quality pair of headphones. That will be way more accurate then anything at that price range can offer.
 
I had cambridge soundworks speakers that were pretty good. I think like $50 bucks. I also rigged them up with some MB Quart (perhaps out of business now?) speakers that were about 6 inches high that my uncle gave me because he used to work there. Great sound and could literally play music for the entire dorm without a problem.
 
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