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speakers for college

puckhead193

puckhead193

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 25, 2004
9,591
880
NY
I want to buy external speakers for my pb. would like to spend $100ish. I would like to have 2.1 system cause space is limited. I like the logitech ones that are the g5 the z58 or something....those are nice but a lot of money and have 4 speakers, do they make a 2 system version of that cuse that would be nice!
 
Good dorm solution

I had done a post about Niro 5.1 surround. You get incredibly deep and full sound with only one speaker. I had it in my dorm room last year (And this year), and people from all over school are just blown away by it. I would highly recommend checking it out.

I purchased a mAudio USB - Fiber Optic converter for my G4 PB when I had one and it worked perfectly.

Go to http://www.niro1.com/en to check it out. They have a full 30 day return policy and are well priced. As a student at UCSB myself, I must say I am very pleased with it. Take care and good luck!
 
as a semi-audiophile i would say not to get the niro speakers. i think their web-site is compltely inacurate when it says the speakers work in any sized room. there are no speakers that can do that and have a proper sound. not to mention the single speaker idea. with only one enclosure you would have to have the room perfectly balanced and shaped/sized to get the acurate sound.

but as for the original question, id say go for the creative or JBL speakers that apple sells. ive listened to them in the store and the creative speakers have a bit better of a high to low range. they are both decent sets of speakers for a simple desktop set up. i was wanting to get a pair for my apt (im a college student as well) but just dont have the cash right now :-/ but for the price the creative are probably the best, but the Harman Kardon SoundSticks . . . suck, a lot in sound quality though i still think they look cool, just wish they sounded as good as they looked.
 
Klipsch is my speaker brand of choice. When I started college I splurged and got myself their 4.1 setup and I am very happy with them. And actually in my 2 years of having them I don't have a single complaint about them, they have been great. Although I am not a major fan of their new redesign some people are... I found a link for a refurb 2.1 system:

http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=802

Although this is just after a quick 2 min check, there might be better deals out there though. Klipsch usually gets great reviews in magazines. Although I know logitech also makes some speakers that a lot of college students use. While Im more a Klipsch person might wanna check out the 'ol logi'.

One side point that I learned through experience of living in the dorms, get a speaker setup that has a separate controls for the system volume and another for subwoofer volume. That way when its late out you can quiet down the subwoofer and not have it sound like your hammering in your room at midnight. But then during the day you can have fun again. :D
 
Creature Speakers

Check out JBL's Creature Speakers. Perfect for your size requirements. Perfectly in your price range, and good sound from them. Not to mention they look darn cool.

You might be able to find some of the older blue/white/silver, at an even better price than the new ones. The only difference fromt he first to second gens is just the paint I beleive. (with the first gens using a better paint)

Check them out. They are very nice.
 
Bose all the way

My friend got the Bose ones a few years ago and they are amazing, I can't believe the bass that comes from those little speakers. They are small and don't take up much space including floor space because they don't have a sub.
 
i'd like to 'second' that klipsch recommendation. There is nothing better for the money. Anyone who hears them in my apartment asks about them. Crisp highs, more than enough bass (with separate bass controls), and fulll midrange power (sometimes lacking in desktop speakers) make these speakers ideal.

I am about to sell mine for $100 (upgrading to 5.1), but a friend already has dibs... check ebay?

BTW, i am a huge music freak and work in music... p
 
Amazon.com has the Logitech Z-2200's for sale at only $50 (after mail in rebate). They're pretty awesome. Although I don't have them, I've heard them, and I'll probably get them. They're 2.1, and have 200w (which is a ton, JBL Creatures have like 40 watts) total power. Seems like just what you have in mind.
 
I have the Creative i-Trigue 3300. They are pretty good. I got mine forabout $60 after mail in rebates. My only complaint is that they don't handle classical music as well as they do pop music. Rock music you can play on them at full volume and have it sound good but classical has to be at 75% or less to keep from getting distortion in the sound.

Of course it could have something to do with the fact that I am playing it off of 128bit AAC, but I am no audiophile.

I would recomend them.
 
Headphones are probably your best bet as far as getting good sound for the money with minimal space.
 
JeffTL said:
Headphones are probably your best bet as far as getting good sound for the money with minimal space.
Click to expand...
Agreed!

You can listen as loud as you want without bothering anybody.

Likewise, you can tune out other noises as well.

Sushi
 
Creative iTrigue 3300

I cannot recommend these speakers enough. The sound is excellent -- highs, lows, everything in between is as it was meant to be.

There's also a wired remote with a headphone jack! Very useful.

I have the silver ones; they're the exact shade of my Powerbook. :) They have little black grills that you can leave on or take off.

I bought them for ~$90, but they sell closer to $60 nowadays.

Here's a pic of the white ones (mine look exactly the same, but with silver metal instead of white). In this pic, one speaker as the grill on, one has the grill off (as you can tell, I'm sure).
 

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I'm not sure if this fits in with this topic, but I might as well ask. (We're on the subject of speakers, at least!)

I'm also heading off to college. The sound on my iBook is tinny, at best, when I don't use headphnes. It doesn't really matter, though, since I now use my iPod for music and headphones for watching DVDs. But I've been considering getting a set of speakers to hook my iPod up to. The product that seems to come up most often in my search is the Altech Lansing Portable iPod speakers.

Is this product any good? Worth $150? Will the sound be any good in a small dorm room environment?
 
Pomme said:
I'm not sure if this fits in with this topic, but I might as well ask. (We're on the subject of speakers, at least!)

I'm also heading off to college. The sound on my iBook is tinny, at best, when I don't use headphnes. It doesn't really matter, though, since I now use my iPod for music and headphones for watching DVDs. But I've been considering getting a set of speakers to hook my iPod up to. The product that seems to come up most often in my search is the Altech Lansing Portable iPod speakers.

Is this product any good? Worth $150? Will the sound be any good in a small dorm room environment?
Click to expand...

$150 can get you a lot of very nice speaker sets. Unless you need the portability, or space saving design, get a nice set of computer speakers (like Klipsch THX 2.1's or something) and hook them to your iPod and/or iBook. The iPod speakers are really only worthwhile when you bring them around alot. If you are just going to have the speakers sitting on your desk, get something nicer/bigger.
 
I have just bought the Sound Sticks II they are $200 in the US, but worth every cent as you say. I am using them in a flat and the adjustable bass driver is a great feature.
 
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