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Fruitbat · Posted - Sat Aug 25, 2001 4:38 pm

I would like to get some proper studio monitors, but my budget won't stretch to it just now. I am going to have to make do with PC speakers and a subwooder. Are there any subwoofer speaker sets out there that approach the quality of hi fi equipment? I am thinking of spending about £100 ($150).

Graeme · Member Location: Spain

In my opinion, you'd be best to forget this line of approach. I have yet to hear any speaker system, sold for PC use, which will give even a reasonably accurate representation of what is really there.

£100 will buy you a pretty decent pair of second hand "hi-fi" loudspeakers - which will be streets ahead of anything the PC market can offer. There are plenty of good quality (and cheap, go s/h if you need to) amplifiers out there as well.

Spend a bit of time looking in the Exchange & Mart, Loot, or similar publications. Go to your local hi-fi dealer and see what they have taken in part exchange, against some fancy esoteric kit, and are desperate to get rid of - you could be pleasantly surprised.

Do this, you won't regret it, I promise you.

If you are into serious music mixing/appreciation, give sub-woofer systems a wide birth. They will give you a totally false impression of what is really happening.

jester700 · Posted - Sun Aug 26, 2001 5:33 am

Big agreement here. My setup consists of a $200 pair of 2-way bookshelf speakers and a cheap 100w Pioneer receiver. I dare any $300 fancy pants PC rig to beat it. But remember that you'l need power, too. A useable used receiver would run $50USD or so here.

Fruitbat · Posted - Sun Aug 26, 2001 12:49 pm

Thanks for the advice. What about the Video Logic Sirocco range of PC speakers? Anyone used them?

jdechant · Posted - Sun Aug 26, 2001 6:44 pm

I agree that most PC speakers don't do a good job... but I was in this same position and bought a set of Midiland MLI-480 PC speakers... they are discontinued now \, but a few places sell them so you can pick a set up for about $40.. they list for like $150...

They have a flat frequency response of 20Hz-20KHz.... I mastered a CD on them and when played back in a stanard home stereo, it played back pretty much the same as it did on the PC speakers...

These are the absolute best PC speakers I have ever heard..

computer4sure.com has like 3 sets left if you wanted to go this route...

jester700 · Posted - Mon Aug 27, 2001 6:38 am

They may be good speakers; I dunno. But I just want to say one thing:

Please only use frequency response measurements supplied by manufacturers to compare models in their own line. Other than that, it is a totally useless spec.

No full range speaker under $500 I've ever heard (and no sub, either!) will give usable output at 20Hz! You're PC ones sure won't...

urumuqi74 · Posted - Mon Aug 27, 2001 8:23 am

Hi, I will go with Graeme on this one. The original post was asking if there was any subwoofer set that can approach hi-fi.

Yes there's a lot of equipment that can "approach hi-fi". With the budget you are willing to invest on PC speakers and sub, you can offer decent hi-fi speakers, no need to go for a PC option. Avoid PC speakers, they are good for games and that's about it. Subwoofers are good for home theater.

Keep the same budget and look around for new and used audio speakers. First do a little research on the last ten or 15 years best buy in the category of speakers allowed by your budget. There are some old models I would die for (Rogers LS7 Wink

. Since you seem to live in England, it won't be hard to find decent products. Then go shopping.

I am also looking for a pair of monitor to connect to my little studio. My work so far mainly consists of restoring LP so I used headphones. Fortunatly, my listening equipment kit was completed years ago and constitutes "my reference" in terms of sound reproduction. Since my little studio is in another room of the house, I am looking for a pair of monitors that will be able to emulate some of the characteristics of my reference speakers. I have dress down a wish list of models and I am waiting for the perfect "one shot deal" to show up.

Brandnames to look for:

Kef
Rogers
Monitor Audio
B&W
Mission
Linn

Edited by - urumuqi74 on 08/27/2001 08:25:16 AM

Syntrillium M.D. · Location: USA

Just chiming in. Fruit, I'm with the rest of the gang here...

Subwoofers are the modern-day microwave for audio - what does this mean? Well, essentially, every manufacturer would have you believe that you need one - AND, because they come with even $40 PC speaker combo-deals (and can be found rather inexpensively and in small, pretty little fiberglass cubes), they must be (a) pretty good; and (b) a necessity.

Unless you're planning on spending 3 times your lot of money on a sub alone (I like the Velodynes, personally) I'd forget it.

And, as I'm sure many will agree, they're not a good idea for tracking or strict recording anyway...Mastering yes - for some.

---Syntrillium, M.D.

jester700 · Posted - Mon Aug 27, 2001 11:50 am

WRT monitor speakers, those are some good names. But there are many great speakers available - I wouldn't go after brand names. Just listen within your price/size range. B&W and KEF were the only brands listed that I'm familiar with. And I liked them. But there are JBLs, NHTs, and Paradigms that I'd consider as well, and that's not even looking at all the "official monitors" from KRK, Tannoy, Alesis, Mackie, Event, etc...