Ask Engadget: Best PC speakers for the office?
By Darren Murph 
posted June 12th 2009 12:21AM
posted June 12th 2009 12:21AM
We know you're struggling to take it in, but you really have just stumbled upon this week's episode of Ask Engadget. Fascinating, the timing, yeah? Now that you're here, we're going to ask you to stick around, answer Chris' question below and then send in one of your own to ask at engadget dawt com. First things first, though:"My desktop is wired through my home theater, so everything sounds great when I listen to music at home, but when I'm at the office I only have little Harman/Kardon speakers that came with my Dell. I work in an office that is music friendly, but no one has any decent speakers. I was hoping the Engadget community might have some good suggestions for reasonably priced computer speaker sets that sound good. You know... so I can share my extensive Matchbox 20 bootleg collection with the rest of my colleagues. Thanks!"
First off, congrats on working in a "music friendly" environment. And for everyone else, why not give this guy a little advice before hitting him up for job opportunities?
For their price, I think there's no better choice.
I also agree, the Bose Companion II Speakers are awesome! I picked a pair up a couple years ago because I wanted to save space from the subwoofer while not sacrificing the quality sound, and I am absolutely satisfied with them. Klipsch 2.0 should be good too, seeing as they're competing products. I'd also be open to those 2.0 Creative speakers, which look cool.
Any 2.0 set from Bose, Klipsch or Creative, I would seriously consider.
Small footprint, but with a Big sound.
BOSE Companion 2 Series ll
These are some decent bose speakers, I never thought I'd say that but it's true. My friend has them for listening to classical and they sound great...until you have a song with any bass.
I know they're not intended for it but as with all 2.0 channel computer speaker systems, the bass is non-existent. I don't mean the skull shaking, idiotic, boomy, muddy Logitech bass people rave about. I mean it lacks any bass, accurate or not.
Bose Companion 2...I wanna buy a second pair for my house computer. They can get surprisingly loud for such sized speakers.
They won't crack up at most moderate to high volumes. Sound fidelity and quality are very very good too.
Its a 2.0 setup but you'll hardly miss having a separate woofer since the drivers do a fine job of delivering bassy punch.
Best mids and pretty good highs too.
Check out the iHome iP71BRC computer speakers: http://www.ihomeaudio.com/iP71
I don't own them yet, but they are on my shopping list because they are computer speakers and iPhone/iPod dock that can play music from your iPhone and your computer. As an added plus, when your iPhone is docked it will also allow syncing with iTunes on the computer.
And it will keep you're iPhone chareged.
jbl are awesome i have the alien head looking ones they look cool and sound so wonderful
I've got a set of Bose Companion 3. Pretty nice, although they have that signature mid-bass emphasis that some people can't stand about Bose. I'd never buy Bose for anything else, but these are nice. If you can't scrounge up the extra coin, the Logitechs are OK if you aren't too particular.
check out AudioEngine.
Yup
+1 on the A2's
Was scrolling down to see who'd mention it first.
you sir, are boss.
as am i :-) for owning A2s and A5s
aseer didn't mention it first. And aseer didn't even point out the A2's specifically.
If you are going to waste space with "mee toooo" comments, at least get the facts straight.
"mikalew @ Jun 12th 2009 11:55PM
Audioengine A2 will blow you away. I replaced my Klispch Pro Media 2.1 with them and don't regret it for a minute. These little beauties will only set you back $200. Google them and read the reviews, don't take my word for it. "
"aseer @ Jun 12th 2009 12:42AM
check out AudioEngine."
btw, I'm not saying that mikalew suggested A2's first, just that mikalew suggested A2's a whole 47minutes before aseer! For me to know who was first I'd have to read the replies to every comment up till 11.55PM. And that's not even including deleted comments and replies.
These sound great, http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-2-1-overview/
i freakin love these speakers, i've had them for a few years now and i can't get over how clear and loud they are.
Agreed, these are the best desktop / office speakers I've ever used.
I have some sony Vaio's that cost me $60, comes with a sub. might be too much for an office setting but these things are the best buy I've ever made for the price.
I don't know what a decent price is for you, but you can't go wrong with some Edirol(Roland) micro-monitors. If you can find some on sale, they beat the fidelity of any "computer speakers" hands down for a comparable price. Plus they have quite a few inputs, so you can hook up both a computer and a media player/game console directly and independently control the volume.
My old MA-10's are in fact the only speakers I use now. I'd rather the quality over sub-par surround anyday.
I am to poor to buy cheap, so the only way to go is with the BOSE computer monitor. 400$, but well spent and they bring you joy every day. Don't trust me, try them out at a Bose store near you.
If you pay $400 you might as well get something decent. The Genelec 6010A start at $300 a piece, and they are IIRC leagues above Bose.
Hump NF02 are the best for size vs sound...
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/09/03/hump-nf01-nf02-revie.html
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's. A little bassy for my taste, and a little loud, but decent.
Try the Acoustic Energy Aego M. The only PC speakers to get 5 stars from What Hifi Magazine.
They may seem expensive at $150, but they have the power (with a surprisingly good mid-range) of a much larger and more expensive system.
http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/Product_range/Aego_series/Aego_M.asp
http://www.google.com/products?q=acoustic+energy+aego+m
I didn't think anyone would mention the Acoustic Energy's. I love mine.
Only other I considered was the Klipsch Promedia 2.1, but definitely have no regrets about buying the Aego M's...especially considering the size difference!
So, this is the setup we use at work:
Buy a older wireless G Airport Express and decent set of powered speakers. I had a pair of Audioengine A2's that I brought in that I hooked up to the Airport Express. I then installed iTunes on old laptop we had lying around, and had everyone turned on "sharing" in their iTunes Library. I then setup a playlist in iTunes that shuffles through everyone's shared library's so we get a good random mix of music. Works awesome, and almost no cords required!
Audio Engine A2: http://www.audioengineusa.com/a2_home.php
Airport Express's are under $40 on Craigslist or Ebay
I have the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1, plenty of power, good sound quality, plus they're a steal at $149.99 ;)
http://klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-2-1-overview/
I've gone through quite a few pairs of speakers. Previously I had a pair of 5.1 logitechs, they were okay, but not very musical (they sounded fake). Then I picked up a Klipche 2.1 set. They sounded amazing, so much better than the logitechs.
Those died sometime early this year, so I picked up a pair of Creative Gigawork T40's. They're probably my favorite out of the bunch so far. They have nice highs, lows, and mids. They sound pretty musical. At low volumes the bass sounds pretty good, and if you turn them out they're definitely respectable. They don't boom, but they're definitely a fun pair of speakers. That being said, I would definitely pick these out of any 2.0 non-professional/audiophile set.
Creative Gigaworks T40s awesome little 2.0 without a sub. There a little tall but work well and aren't too loud. Very nice for a small desk and cubicle space.
I'd check out the AudioEngine A2's. They sound great and are a good size for the desktop.
I personally love my boomtube ex, excellent bass and volume for a small set of speakers, they are also portable with a rechargeable battery and screw together for easy traveling. i bought mine for $50 a few years ago on amazon. Don't know how much they are now though or if they even make them anymore.
I run an old set of Yamaha YST-MS28's they have a tiny footprint on your desktop yet deliver a surprising rich clear sound. Score them on eBay with the sub and you won't go far wrong. Good question, good luck.
Polk i-sonique es2 ;-)
Logitech Z-2300. Crisp highs, and a thundering base. The speakers are fairly small on your desk, but the 8" sub might be a little hard to fit in an office.
If you want decent sound without a sub-woofer, and hate the typically strident sound of most PC speakers, get a pair of little M-Audio powered monitors. They have two models at the bottom end of their line (I don't remember the price, but it's less than other speakers mentioned here). Both sound very clean, but the higher one has a little more oomph. The problem with sub-woofers in very close listening situations, like at your desk, is that the satellites then sound very tinny and will give you a head-ache after a while. I prefer a full-range speaker if their going to be near my head.
Klipsch is the best brand of computer speakers by far...IMO right there pretty much tied with Bose. Any other speakers you'd buy would just be a complete waste of money. Logitech is a keyboard and mouse company, not a speaker company.
Proud owner of 3 pairs of Klipsch speaker sets...Promedia 2.1 THX x2 and Promedia 4.1 x1.
I hope you're kidding...The only bose system I found to be decent at reproducing any genre is the companion II series, and it's only good for classical without bass. All of bose's higher end line sounds like logitech Z5500s for 5x the price. Go to an actual speaker store ( don't buy their cables or anything like that ), you'll be amazed what your money could have bought.
Klipsch Promedia THX 5.1 Ultra were an affordable solution. Too bad they don't make them anymore. It is likely too much speaker for near field listening for many peeps. The only thing that sounds better than the Klipsch for Near-field would be M&K 150 THX or their equivalent Professional powered series 2510, which are utilized for all stages of editing at Skywalker Ranch, Dreamworks, and Pixar studios among other studios. I have moved my M&K 150 system from the home theater to the so-called computer room and they make incredible pc monitors with the right amplification. Try them and they will make the best "pc speakers" sound like clock radios.
Speakers are very subjective, of course. But many many speaker-only companies make better products than larger corporations that diversify into all sorts of products.
I lost all remaining scraps of respect for THX after they certified a door. That said you are correct the Klipsch were pretty decent for their price. I wouldn't say you'd have to spend very much to beat them though. I always preferred high end 2 channel over mediocre 5 channel but if you had to do it I'm sure you could for less than 600 quite easily. The reason they stopped making them was they had an insane fail rate. The durability was complete crap and was giving Klipsch a bad name. 5.1 is a bit silly for computer speakers anyway.
JBL Duet speakers are amazing for the price. I doubt you can find anything better sounding for $45.
I had some Klipsch speakers before, but I got tired of all the wires and them taking up space.
I listen to music a couple hours a day and have no problems with them. If you want loud overdone bass, get something else.
I actually find them better than a few other 50-$100 speakers i've tried, such as some Creative speakers.
Only negative of these is that they feel extremely cheap! There is also no headphone jack and the volume control knob is hard to turn.
They have the new JBL duets sound, but my suggestion is for the first version.
The problem with this question is that sound quality is a very relative measurement, and not many people have multiple sets of speakers to give a sound recommendation; they're just going to defend their purchase decision.
I'd say a pair of decent bookshelf speakers will do the trick.
not much details on the requirements whether needs to be compact/portable or at a certain price range and all...
but if you are looking for a ultimate ultra compact/portable with the best sounding speakers in its size regardless of the price...
then may i recommend something that is not available in stateside soil.. they are almost 3 year old technology and haven't been matched yet to date...
Bose Micro MusicMonitor speakers also known as M3 costing around 500 bucks i think...
http://www.bose.co.jp/jp_jp?url=/promotions/entry_pages/entry_page_m3.jsp
You can get ready to blast the hell out of your colleagues who dare to laugh at its size...
This can be battery operated too... =)
This is way better than the stateside version Computer MusicMonitor...
Don't take my word for it, read the reviews...
So Chris, if you decided to get these, get an extra pair and let me know... i'd like to get one myself...
If you're up for spending some serious money, NHT M-00 and S-00 are powered monitor speakers that work well as computer speakers. For less than that, Audioengine A5 or A2.
Easy answer - Dynaudio MC 15
Of course they're not very cheap, but as they say, you get what you pay for. These speakers will last you a long time and will continue to sound fantastic.
Best speakers for the office? NONE. Wear your headphones. Nobody wants to listen to your music. Don't be so !@#$ing rude.
I'm seconding the recommendation of the Audioengine A2 speakers. But if you have the room, I'd even move up to the A5's and get even more power from the onboard amp - an honest 45 watts (constant, not peak) per channel. Bought a pair to go with my Panasonic 42-inch plasma and never looked back. :-)
A little high in price but the best speakers you could buy:
http://www.axiomaudio.com/audiobytecomputerspeakers.html
And you can get them in any color you can think of!!
Seriously? The best speakers you could buy? I think that's stretching it a bit. There is for example the ME Geithain RL901K. And yes, ME Geithain should happily build them in any colour/wood you want.
Why buy PC speakers?
Browse the local papers or thrift stores for an old stereo amplifier and speakers. Even the oldest wood-trim, tweed-grilled big speakers will sound a million times better than horrid little plastic boxes.
+1