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Speakers for iMac?

Hey,

i bought 8 month ago the cheaper Bose Companion set for my parents.
They Sound quite impressive in general Bose Sounds System have always a bit too much Bass IMO.

I don't know if there is anything comparable to the Companion Set when it comes to size and Soundquality.

I will go to my favourite shop and try those Bowers and Wilkison ones they would fit perfectly to the design... have priced tho..

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=4503
 
teleromeo said:
I'm happy with my Bose Companion 5 set. Maybe there is better or cheaper but for me it's ok.
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I have Bose companion 3. Above average, good enough for me. Very discrete. Well designed volume control knob.

I did try Companion 5. I returned it because it takes USB slot, USB bandwidth, and larger speakers. It sounded better and provided 5.1 surround(sort of).

I think Bose gets the stick unnecessarily.
 
Does anyone have a setup of their speakers and their iMac together? :] I would really like to see some.
 
Blair230 said:
Also have to vote for the soundsticks II. They sound GREAT!
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i have the soundsticks and still think they are one of the coolest looking speakers around. definatly for the price. the sound is good, there is better though.

i've got the klipsch promedia 2.1 as well. klipsch sounds good but are ugly little things.

for the price and design (if you like it) i'd vote sound sticks.
 
I'm using my iMac with DAC1 HDR and the KRK Rockit5 G2s. Would have went for the Mackie's, but my desk is very close to the wall behind so I try to stick to a front bass port speaker. And yes, they sound fantastic compared to what I used to have :)
 
I hav the B&W MM-1 and they are fab. Design and build are first-class, these stylish speakers looks perfect next to your iMac. The sound is so good it's now replaced my home sound system but to get the best out of the speakers use a high bit rate mp3. Macuser said "Speakers this small have absolutely no right to sound so damn good" which is true...... the only prob is the price at $499\£399 they are quite expansive bit worth it.
 
Imac and Bose

I realize there are Bose lovers and haters. For me the Companion 5 is solid. Not a big gamer, love music, movies and the sound they provide is really great. Not cheap I know but for me it was also about the look of the system.
 

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I have the Z2300 from Logitech. It's a 2.1 system and I think it sounds great. It cost about $150 and has a control box with a headphone jack. The speakers look like they should be next to my 27"imac and the sub doesn't take up too much room under the desk. I looked at the other options but they all cost more or had nasty reviews at multiple places on the web. I'd buy these again.
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keith6 said:
I realize there are Bose lovers and haters. For me the Companion 5 is solid. Not a big gamer, love music, movies and the sound they provide is really great. Not cheap I know but for me it was also about the look of the system.
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so when you adjust the volume on the remote/ring thing does it reflect on screen? that's what i want. i want to adjust volume and the adjustment to sync. i hate when i forget i have the volume up on one or the other, then fire it up!

here's the desktop as it is with the soundsticks

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I like the look of the sound sticks and the price was in line with what I bought. Even the good reviews were not enough to make me forget how Apple and H-K screwed me by not making OS 10.6 work with the usb iSub I had. I may never buy another H-K product.
 
jrcsh6 said:
so when you adjust the volume on the remote/ring thing does it reflect on screen? that's what i want. i want to adjust volume and the adjustment to sync. i hate when i forget i have the volume up on one or the other, then fire it up!

here's the desktop as it is with the soundsticks
Click to expand...

No it will not reflect on teh screen! To do that you will want to set and hide the remote for the speakers and use this!

I have my iMac now and I think I will be using the built in speakers! :)
 
If you want good sound quality in small, desktop-sized package, Genelec 6010A active speakers are really good. Price might be too much for some though, 200€ a piece (not pair). Pair them with Genelec 5040A subwoofer (400€), and you get pretty darn good setup... for only 800€. There's three colors to choose from: White, silver and charcoal black.


Also if someone is even semi serious about sound quality, don't use the internal sound card of your computer. They are crap. Instead use anything that's connected to USB and has audio out. The more the said USB device costs the better of course.

I use Wavelength Proton USB DAC (digital/analog converter) that costs 850€ along with those Genelecs I mentioned. Pretty darn good setup I might say.
 
teidon said:
If you want good sound quality in small, desktop-sized package, Genelec 6010A active speakers are really good. Price might be too much for some though, 200€ a piece (not pair). Pair them with Genelec 5040A subwoofer (400€), and you get pretty darn good setup... for only 800€. There's three colors to choose from: White, silver and charcoal black.


Also if someone is even semi serious about sound quality, don't use the internal sound card of your computer. They are crap. Instead use anything that's connected to USB and has audio out. The more the said USB device costs the better of course.

I use Wavelength Proton USB DAC (digital/analog converter) that costs 850€ along with those Genelecs I mentioned. Pretty darn good setup I might say.
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800€ + 850€... *chokes and dies*

And to think some people complained about the price of the Logitech Z-5500D's... *pats his from the grave*
 
Vylen said:
800€ + 850€... *chokes and dies*

And to think some people complained about the price of the Logitech Z-5500D's... *pats his from the grave*
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Weeel, if I had few extra thousands of euros I would buy B&W 805 Diamonds, which are about 4000€ a pair. They would also need a proper amplifier, and any amp below 1000€ would be an insult towards the engineers of said speakers. So about 2000 to 4000€ for the amp. And then a good subwoofer to go with them. 4000€ for that too, why not? Or perhaps lil' more for some extra kick?

I think 1650€ is actually very cheap. : P


And you can live without the DAC and sub, so only 400€ will kick the (un)living crap out of any Logitech or such out there. The sub just adds a lot to the music, and good DAC will improve* the sound quality far beyond any plastic PC-speaker. The music will actually sound like music.


* DAC doesn't improve sound quality. Instead it reduces sound quality much less than an internal sound card does.
 
iCaleb said:
Well most external speakers are worse than the built in ones.
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I think that's hardly true IMO.

The internal speakers sound pretty crappy, and are are fired down at your desk which doesn't help either. I have a few different sets of external speakers, some cheap, some not, and they ALL blow the factory speakers away.
 
So got my new iMac to its new home and spend 3 hours setting up my new desk chair and cabling it all! I then compared the built-in speakers with a 2.1 Creative set I have had for a while and they are way better than the built in speaker! :)

p1010986extra.jpg


You cant even see the speakers they are there I promise! :p
 
I"m loving everyone's setup of their Macs! [and speakers too.] I really can't wait for my iMac to come!
 
teidon said:
And you can live without the DAC and sub, so only 400€ will kick the (un)living crap out of any Logitech or such out there. The sub just adds a lot to the music, and good DAC will improve* the sound quality far beyond any plastic PC-speaker. The music will actually sound like music.
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For about 150 USD (120 €) the Logitech Z2300 sound pretty great. The bass is decent through about 90% of the volume range but gets a little muddy turned all the way up. As I said, the reviews for the Z2300 were solid and I agree with them after using the speakers for about 2 weeks. I'd buy them again.

If I wanted audiophile quality, I wouldn't be using my imac and Mp3s as the source.
 
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