Good, Cheap PC Speakers

[DerHoggz]

I'm looking to get a good set of speakers for my mom for mothers day, the ones she has now suck.

Price Range: hopefully less than $100, I might be able to get some money from my siblings to go in on the purchase, but <$50 would probably be ideal.

Suggestions?

 

[need4mospd]

Unless your mom is an audiophile, just buy whatever Logitech, Altec, Creative, (insert well known brand name) set of speakers fits your budget. Make sure you check if she's got a place to put a sub, or if there's enough space for a larger sized speaker on the desk. Don't want to get something that doesn't fit.

Most people can't tell the difference between a $50 set of speakers and a $500 set of speakers, much less two different $50 sets of speakers.

 

[anyonefortennis]

If you go with logitech - PM me for a discount code.

 

[L-A]

In my experience, two Altec Lansing speakers will give off a pleasant enough sound sans subwoofer.

 

[DerHoggz]

On a side note, her computer always hums (through the speakers/headphones so it isn't just these speakers is it?), any ideas on how to fix it or what might be amiss?

So pretty much anything (within reason) is ok, it was just that the ones she has she always complains about. I think there will be enough room for a sub, and she likes the bass.

 

[Thunderscreech]

Creative makes good ones. Mine are the jams. they got the air cavity to increase bass and a plenty bassy.

 

[cdef]

I can recommend this Philips 1312/27 set, which I recently got for my kid. It sounds surprisingly spacious, and the sub packs a solid punch. The big separate volume control is convenient, and pleasant to use. Fine for a price of under $50. - But you won't go wrong with Creative or Logitech either.

 

[HEIST]

My Altec VS4121 speakers ($100 new at futureshop) rock.
Try craigslist.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I like creative speakers. Like the T7900 set I've got now, the T20 & T40 sets get quite a good write up and look pretty funky too.

If the hum from your PC isn't just from the fans, what it could be is just a cheapy soundcard (or onboard sound as the way it seems to go these days). You could always look into getting a cheaper Soundblaster card or something. In the past I noticed a huge jump in quality between bog standard onboard sound and even a cheaper (named brand) sound card. Tho I'm not sure if onboard sound is still as bad as it used to be.

 

[L-A]

I like creative speakers. Like the T7900 set I've got now, the T20 & T40 sets get quite a good write up and look pretty funky too.

If the hum from your PC isn't just from the fans, what it could be is just a cheapy soundcard (or onboard sound as the way it seems to go these days). You could always look into getting a cheaper Soundblaster card or something. In the past I noticed a huge jump in quality between bog standard onboard sound and even a cheaper (named brand) sound card. Tho I'm not sure if onboard sound is still as bad as it used to be.

On my early 2009 Mac, it is

 

[LEntless]

Speakers help, but a GREAT sound card makes a huge difference. Look into Forte soundcards....normal creative x-fi cards are okay, but these blow the doors off them.

 

[Loel]

+1 to Altec vs4121 31 watts rms w/sub..

My Altec VS4121 speakers ($100 new at futureshop) rock.
Try craigslist.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

On my early 2009 Mac, it is

That's not so good. I don't have a newer computer with an onboard soundcard so I didn't know for sure

Speakers help, but a GREAT sound card makes a huge difference. Look into Forte soundcards....normal creative x-fi cards are okay, but these blow the doors off them.

Ouch, pricey much! I'm using an Asus Xonar DX, pretty cheap PCI-E soundcard, but great quality playback. Only issue is it throws a wobbly with some (only a few that I've tried) games which use EAX. (primarily because Asus tried to backwards engineer an EAX chip to produce their own or something to that extent).

 

[cdef]

This is for the OP's mother, on Mother's Day. I doubt there's much reason to debate specs.

 

[lunarpollen]

For between 60 and 100 dollars you can easily find a good set of PC speakers, with two small stereo speakers and one mini subwoofer. Go to a shop like Fry's, Best Buy, etc. where they have various sets of speaker up on display for you to try out. Bring an mp3 player or something with a headphone jack with some good songs for testing out the full frequency range, choose some stuff that you are extrememly familiar with so you can tell how good/bad it sounds through the various speaker sets. Some definitely will sound better than others. Some have muffled high end, some have weak or imbalanced bass. But some sound really sweet. If I was home I could tell you the makes and models of the two sets I have, but I'm at work right now and I don't remember what they are....

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

cdef, I'd say it's possibly worthwhile looking at sound cards too.

I'd say that a $100 set of speakers is still going to sound gash if the source is the problem. And if the onboard is the problem, a $50 soundcard and a $50 set of speakers will sound a hell of a lot better than a $100 set of speakers!