My younger brother will be graduating from college (university) in just over a month and will be moving into an apartment for his new job. As a graduation gift, I would like to get him something to help fill his apartment. I was thinking of getting him a pair of book-shelf or floor-standing speakers, but I really don’t know what is good and what isn’t. I know that I could easily blow my budget on a good receiver, but I’m not looking to go all out. I expect him to use these speakers as TV speakers and they should have the ability for him to play music via a 3.5mm jack. I was hoping the community could answer the following questions for me to help me settle on a decent option.
Is my budget realistic? ($200-$300)
Is it a bad idea to get a pair of speakers (powered) without a receiver?
What brands offer good value? (bang for buck, not strictly cheap)
If I modify my budget slightly(i.e. $50), could I get something significantly better?
The easy solution is something like the Audioengine A2+. Something like the HiVi M20W is another option (it is a Swan product and Swan is generally well regarded). If you want the best bang per buck, then you are going to be looking at getting bookshelf speakers separate from an amp of some sort. People seem to like Lepai for a good, and cheap solution for a bookshelf amp. I am not too experienced with speaker set ups though, so that is about as specific as I can get. You can find more information about such set ups, if you are interested, on more audio oriented forums such as head-fi or avs.
I saw those (A2+), they are a little smaller than what I had in mind for living room speakers, but then again I am using a $50 pair of powered logitech computer speakers in my living room and it sounds worlds better than my TV's built in speakers. I will definitely keep them in mind.
I really don't know much about speakers (I can wax on forever about headphones, amps, and dacs, but not speakers), I would look into what floorstand speakers are available in your price range and then find some reviews of them.
If the OP had more money, I would say that he should look up speaker stores and dealers, and then go listen to speakers to find something good.
Unfortunately the budget is not all that big, and most newage speakers sound like utter crap.
Most of the floor standing market is being eaten up by Klipsh, B&W, and Martin Logan. IDK why, but it is basically like all the Ma and Pa audio stores these days look like the inside of a magnolia center at best buy.
Martin Logans are actually decent, but there is a lot better out there and most of it is cheap vintage stuff on ebay.
I do not mean to sound like a hipster, but unfortunately it is very true.
This is a gift for my brother. I don't like the idea of giving used hardware as a gift. If I was buying this for me then I would absolutely be open to used components.
My brother isn't an audiophile. I just want to get him a decent set of speakers that will sound better than built in TV speakers or a cheap sound bar. If I were to make an analogy with computers, I'm not looking to get him a gaming computer, I'm looking to get him a facebook/youtube machine that won't be unbearably slow.
Like I said, I am by no means an expert in speakers. That said, it sounds like he isn't really looking for bang per buck, used gear. Something that gets loud and sounds decent is about all that he seems to want (gifting used stuff is a bit odd, so that is understandable).
Ah alright, well then just go to a guitar center and listen to their powered speakers.
They have all the commonly recommended powered speakers there, so all you need to do is pick the one that sounds the best to you.
Try and bring an device of some kind (smart phone, mp3 player, or even a cd player would work) and make sure the device has a decent range of music so you can test for things like bass.
Pick the one that sounds most natural to you and buy it.
The reason I suggest that you go and listen to them is that some of them sound warm and boomy, and some of them sound really flat. Your brother will like one tone and hate the other. For what ever reason there is no middle ground with powered speakers like there is with everything else.
As a suggestion I would also recommend that you give your brother cash or a gift card and you can both go together and let him pick out the speakers.
Sound is HIGHLY subjective, and he might like to listen to things in a way that you would never even thing enjoyable.
For instance you might like to listen to 2 high quality speakers in stereo while he might like having two lower quality speaker and a sub woofer. Or vice versa.
So not only do I think he should really listen to and pick out his own speakers, but I also think it would be a much more personal gift if you spent the time with him picking them out.
I am considering getting him cash for the reasons you stated above. Part of the reason I set the budget as low as I did was because as I start considering more expensive items I could get him (furniture, computer parts, etc.), the less capable I am of deciding for him. I thought speakers might be a good gift for him since I know he would use them if he had them, but he isn't an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination. Unless the speakers produce a lot of static or distortion, he won't hate it. Unfortunately my audio knowledge is not much better than his. I could definitely go into a guitar center and test out the different components.
Take a look at these www.amzn.com/B008NCD2S4 . They also go on sale every month or so for under $100 each. I have the bookshelf speakers from that collection and they are excellent. For an amplifier, you could get one of those cheap class T amps. It won't power them very loud, but it should do until he can afford something better.
I'm really for quality audio without the snake oil of audiophool madness. You can't really judge sound quality in showrooms, that's just not representative.
I have to argue with what was said by other: sound quality is NOT subjective. A speaker should give back the original recording without distorting it. If you want to color it to your taste, than use an EQ.
I can recommend this speaker: Thonet and Vander HOCH - 2.0 Have it for 6 month and they are really really good , especially for this price. They have a balanced sound, but can pack a good amount of bass if you turn it up, integrated power amp, enough power for a mid sized room, a simple built in EQ. There is a little more expensive version with built in Bluetooth, to play music from your phone.
IMO it's better to buy powered speakers. You usually don't really need a separate amp, and they just occupy the space.
You are 100% wrong, and I am tired of people who think this is an objective game.
Sound never has been, and probably never will be objective. Period. Full stop.
For sound to be objective, you have to eliminate so many variables that you would go crazy. All of the speakers this guy can afford would be cone speakers.
Cone speakers are not objective. There are at least 4 difference schools of thought on how to make a perfect cone driver. My guess is that none of them are right.
When you cut through all the bull crap that these audio engineers try to feed you, you start to realize that NO ONE has any clue on how to make an objective sound system.
It's about accurate sound reproduction, which is objective.
That has nothing to do with the imperfections of Speakers and that they DO sound different from one another. You simply can not judge which speaker you like from a 5 minute listen in a showroom.
What are your qualifications for something having superior accuracy?
Because I can tell you right now that objective testing is a flat out joke of a pseudo science and any physicist would be happy to explain to you why (spoiler most speaker testing methodologies do not take various natural phenomena into account)
So either you are going to try and convince me that you define objective accuracy by means of objective testing.....which is wrong.
Or you are going to tell me that you think objective accuracy is measured subjectively which in turn makes the whole process subjective.
And imperfections in the speakers has everything to do with sound accuracy.
Break up patterns, room presurization, and all that jazz directly effects sound accuracy.
And lastly, no it is pretty easy to get an idea of what something sounds like in less than a minute.
Just play "come together" by the beatles. If the song sounds flat and boring, get the hell away from those speakers.
if it sounds full and warm, wait a few seconds for the vocals. If those sound too high and scratchy.....get the hell out of there.
If everything sounds warm and smooth....buy them.
If you are incapable of following these simple steps....IDK how to help you.
You guys obviously have different approaches to audio. Both views are common in the audio world. Some want to get as close to accurate as possible. Others are more concerned with how it sounds to you as an individual. That doesn't help this guy out though. We are dangerously off topic here. IF you want to talk about various approaches to the audio world, I would suggest starting a thread about it. I am sure that tons of other people would like to weigh in on it as well. However, this is not the place for it.
As for that OP, honestly, I think that he would be happy with whatever you got him. I know very few people irl who care all that much about audio quality (any fewer still who actually know anything about it aside from baaaasssssssss). I would say to lower your budget some, get some decent sounding speakers that get loud enough for some serious jamming (because what young person doesn't crank up the volume every now and then?), and then give them to him. The fact that you care this much about what you get for him shows that you care a decent amount, and I am sure that he knows that and will be happy with whatever you get him.
This is out of your stated budget, but I will give you first off a largely different answer simply to give you an idea of other options:
Bang for the buck you can try the Monoprice 10565 5.1 surround speakers for $220 going on sale for $180 (make sure it is model #10565 and not their $100 low end system). They are a clone of the Energy Take Classic speakers which retail for $500. You would need a 5.1 av reciever/amplifier for these which would add $200 for a new entry level amp. If you could find a 5.1 receiver with 50-70 watts per channel (preferably 70 or more) for cheaper, this option would be closer to your budget.
There isn't much option for higher end (self powered) 5.1 pc speakers anymore, so this is pretty much the best option for that.
Other than that there are still decent self powered 2 speaker systems for PC. The new Corsair 2.1 system got initially good reviews and is also meant to play more towards the loud end so you could take a look at those.
Is my budget realistic? ($200-$300) Is it a bad idea to get a pair of speakers (powered) without a receiver? What brands offer good value? (bang for buck, not strictly cheap) If I modify my budget slightly(i.e. $50), could I get something significantly better? Thanks
For speakers, you defientely need to go to reveiws rather than what brands are good. Speaker brands are usually known for products outside of your price range. Some brands might make good speakers, but not have great lower end options. Go to Cnet.com and check some of their reviews.
Powered speakers are limited to PCs mostly. You can get adapters to connect to analogue out connections, however. I think it might be rarer for newer TVs to have analogue audio outputs though. I see a lot of HDMI being used for connectivity. You could easily use an HDMI cable to connect a PC to an av receiver for audio if you can afford to buy one.
For AV receiver brands for bang for the buck here are some top brands:
Denon Yamaha (high end brand, but has some cheaper options) Marantz
What i can add to this discussion is my own personal set up. i bought this set of 5.0 surround speakers and i was blown away how good they are for the price. and they are lifetime warranty and the company is in Canada
i have a pioneer surround receiver to power them and added an 8 inch powered subwoofer.
for apartment living without having the pissed off too much it's great! i plan on changing the amp for a 7.2 and have front high speaker and 2x10 inch subwoofers once i move into a house. that will kick ass.