Hi
Felt this may be unsuitable to post in Hi-fi Corner, so it's ended up here!
My younger son has asked for a pair of speakers to plug into his laptop for Christmas.
At the moment he is only listening through the internal speakers and even he has realised that this is rubbish! CIearly almost anything would be an improvement. I would like to get him something of reasonable quality, but budget is an issue, especially as my contract has recently been terminated early.
I was looking at the B&W MM1s which seem to offer everything he wants, and have the advantage that they stream music directly from the USB output, bypassing the PC soundcard, but at £399 are more than I feel I can afford at the moment.,
So what options are available? Is there something which will give a decent sound quality for less money?
Thanks
Steeve
Posted on: 05 December 2011 by pjl2
If you will excuse me saying so, nearly £400 is absolutely bonkers!!! Either your son is VERY fussy, or you have money to burn! Seriously though, there are some perfectly adequate options from the likes of Logitech for far less, around £50 or even less will get your son something decent. Not hi-fi quality, but infinitely better than the built-in speakers. Alternatively, if the laptop is Bluetooth enabled (simple to buy a USB dongle if not) then consider a Bluetooth music receiver from Belkin or QED to plug into a micro-system or something. Even using a very cheap micro-system will still give far superior sound to the laptop's speakers. Good luck.
Peter
Posted on: 05 December 2011 by Alamanka
Bought my 12 years old daughter some Audioengine A2 Powered Monitors.
They sell for $199. The quality level works for pop music.
This is a very nice upgrade to the the laptop speakers.
Since last Summer I have not heard anymore upgrade request. So I think she is happy.
Posted on: 05 December 2011 by trickydickie
I use Acoustic Energy Aego M's on my PC, small satellites and a reasonably large sub.
They sound far better than they have a right to do, and they cost a fraction of your budget.
Richard
Posted on: 06 December 2011 by bhaagensen
I too would recommend Audioengine A2, or its bigger brother, the A5. Both are very nice. Or if you (or your son) want something a bit more "hi-fi" sounding (at the cost of oomph), something like the Fostex PM0.4.
