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As per title, what good and what's shite? I dont have a clue where to start on research and I know nothing about such things, and yet I feel there must be something better than the tinny arse computer speakers I am running now. I also ask because I don't want to get ripped by an overenthusiastic saleswanker.

Stuart Mackey wrote:As per title, what good and what's shite? I dont have a clue where to start on research and I know nothing about such things, and yet I feel there must be something better than the tinny arse computer speakers I am running now. I also ask because I don't want to get ripped by an overenthusiastic saleswanker.

I have an older version of this Altec Lansing model and I've been quite content with them thus far. I've had them for as long as I've known my roommate; about six years and they still sound like new.

It looks like you can order them online at around $65.00, shipping included, but if you go to a retailer like Best Buy you can try them out and return them within 14 days for a full refund.

What's your budget?

Hey, since there's already a speaker thread...

If I were looking at used speakers - say, at garage sales, or Goodwill/thrift stores - is there anything I could look for to figure out if they're any good or not? Or is the only way to tell just to plug them in and try them out?

Uraniun235 wrote:If I were looking at used speakers - say, at garage sales, or Goodwill/thrift stores - is there anything I could look for to figure out if they're any good or not? Or is the only way to tell just to plug them in and try them out?

Pretty much. Don't forget that placement and room acoustics can make a difference (especially important for speakers at a garage sale)

phongn wrote:What's your budget?

Mid range to upper range, roughly. I wont specify a cost, as I am happy to save for what I want, and will pay cash for something decent.

Well, a superior solution would be to use a real amplifier (even something as small as a Trends TA10) and bookshelf speakers instead of computer speakers. Unfortunately, you're down in NZ so I don't know shipping costs.

phongn wrote:Well, a superior solution would be to use a real amplifier (even something as small as a Trends TA10) and bookshelf speakers instead of computer speakers. Unfortunately, you're down in NZ so I don't know shipping costs.

Or you could get something like the Quad 12L Active which has the amps built into the speakers. Plus it's a Quad in the tradition of the company which gave us the revered ESL 57, which is to say it sounds great. They pop up for sale on the used market pretty regularly, there's usually several pairs for sale at any given time on Audiogon and other audio related boards.

M-Audio makes some pretty good powered monitors as well, IIRC.

phongn wrote:Well, a superior solution would be to use a real amplifier (even something as small as a Trends TA10) and bookshelf speakers instead of computer speakers. Unfortunately, you're down in NZ so I don't know shipping costs.

We can get most things here, even if it is at the end of the world
So Trends is a good brand?

They're a pretty specialized firm that make only two products - the TA10 is a small, relatively inexpensive amplifier (15W/channel max ... but you'd be surprised how little power speakers use at normal listening levels).

phongn wrote:They're a pretty specialized firm that make only two products - the TA10 is a small, relatively inexpensive amplifier (15W/channel max ... but you'd be surprised how little power speakers use at normal listening levels).

Nice, I shall look them up, thanks.