mike88931
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Can you get the best quality audio possible from computer speakers?
mrvco
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The issue isn't so much that the speakers are connected directly to the computer as it is that most computer speakers aren't designed with high-quality music playback in mind.  "Computer Speakers" are typically designed to fit easily on a desktop, be inexpensive, be self-powered and be optimized for near-field listening... design goals that are not typically high on the list of "audiophile" speaker makers.

There are others, but AudioEngine is a good example of a company that makes computer speakers with high-quality music playback in mind.

Bill B
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"Computer speakers" often mean cheap, plastic, speakers made as merely an "accessory" to computers.  But there are excellent self-powered speakers that can give great sound.  You don't usually find the good ones in computer-centric stores or websites; stereophile and related websites (audiostream, inner fidelity, and others) can tell you about them, though

mike88931
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What kind of speakers DO fit the design goals of audiophile speaker makers? Could you link me to some that were not and were (if possible) designed for use with computers? Additionally, can they be hooked up in some way to a computer and be listened to at close range (as my computer is the only way I could think of to store my 5000+ songs in one organized, manageable place). Thank you in advance.

jackfish
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Emotiva Pro Airmotiv 4, 5 and 6

mike88931
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By any chance, just out of curiosity, would these - http://www.corsair.com/pc-computer-audio/pc-computer-speakers/gaming-audio-series-sp2500-high-power-2-1-pc-speaker-system.html - happen to be as good or no? Also, can the audioengines and emotivas produce as much bass as the corsairs without overheating?

commsysman
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I have been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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I ahve been an audiophile for over 50 years, and currently have a dedicated stereo system I have developed through much critical listening to components over the years. I guess I have around $20K in that system at present, and the sound is quite good.

A computer's sound chip typically puts out 16-bit audio, the same a CD; it ain't all that bad.

I have a set of the Audioengine 2 speakers, and a small subwoofer, hooked to my PC, and the sound quality is quite good for the listening I do at the computer. 

You should really read the article where Stereophile evaluated them; it is readily available and has some useful information.

 

 

mike88931 wrote:

Hello everyone, I was researching on the internet for the best pair of speakers for my computer recently, and I found many people mocking the fact that some consider computer speakers to sound good. Were they simply being jackasses or is there some kind of mystical source of incomparably better audio that is not able to be produced by a speaker that happens to be connected to a pc? Seems strange to me that the most common source of modern day music listening could not produce the best sound. Also, I would simply like to educate myself more in terms of the world of hifi audio so that on day I will be able to own the best sounding setup reasonably available.

commsysman
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ROFL...DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THERE....!

I ONLY POSTED IT ONCE.

mike88931
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LOL that is hilarious. I checked back and was like "WOW  9 NEW POSTS!" and then i found this XD. Back on topic, the audioengine a2's review was great, i had already read it. However, they cost the same as the corsair pair i linked earlier without a subwoofer meaning they cannot provide very serious bass. I can spend the extra money but I only want to if it is absolutely worth it and then some. What about the airmotive 6? Do you think they can produce at least equal power/bass as the corsairs while maintaining their superior audio quality and not overheating? Here they are...http://emotivapro.com/products/powered_monitors/airmotiv6.php

mrvco
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Those EmoPro's are triple the price of the a2's, but Emo makes good stuff which has a lot of bang-for-the-buck.  When I was looking for a 2.1 speaker setup for my gaming PC, those Corsair speakers were on my top2 list (I ended up sticking with my inexpensive Creative 2.0 speakers).  The Corsairs are not what I'd choose for pure music listening, but I expect that you'd have a hard time finding a 2.1 computer speaker setup that sounded better.  I own a pair of AE a2's, but if I would have known about those EmoPro's before I bought them I would have definitely demo'd the 4's.

mike88931
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Hmmm, how can a set be beter for games and not music? I thought sound quality was universal in that if it was better for one it would be better for the other.

jackfish
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accurate sound reproduction, they are concerned about effect, which often results in exaggerations of various frequencies. Music should be all about accurate sound reproduction.

mike88931
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Alright, good to know. Well thank you everyone. I have decided to go with the Emotiva Pro 7's!

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