best speakers under or around $100?

[mawtangent]

I have to be honest here and take a politically-incorrect position. This is going to get me flamed by a lot of people I respect on this board and will probably lose me some political capital with these people, but I'm going to tell the truth as I see it (and have personally heard it).

In the past year or so I have heard some self-amped computer speakers that sound better and more accurate than some of the low-end crap that the music stores sell as "studio monitors". And I'm not talking real fancy-schmancy computer speakers, either, I'm talking your typical in-line desktop computer speaker system. Granted, some of them sound like crap, and also, granted, none of them would I actually "recommend" for project studio work, even on a budget.

But if what you have now is some $19 or $29 pair of computer speakers that make it sound like you're listening to your music over a landline telephone, a high-quality pair of Altec Lansings or similar for a hundred bucks would be very much an improvement over what you have now, both in pleasure of sound and in accuracy of your work.

And I'd also say that spending twice that for a pair of cheapo "studio monitors" or a pair of consumer bookshelf speakers is not necessarily and automatically going to be a worthwhile improvement over a high-end pair of computer speakers. Not only do a lot of $200/pr "studio monitors" sound absolutely horrible (not all, but many), but if you're driving them off of your PCs SoundBlaster card, it's not going to make a whole hell of a lot of difference anyway.

So while I'd like to see you save your money until you can afford something $300/pair and up, a good $100 pair of computer speakers is better than a crappy pair of $29 computer speakers andy day, and if you choose correctly, can be just as effective as most bargain basement "studio monitors", especially when being driven by a PC sound card.

I don't at this time have any specific brands or model numbers for you, I didn't exactly take names and numbers when I was at my friend's house where I was nost impressed. I know they were not a special purchase; they came with his new PC. But you know what? just go to Best Buy or CompUSA, bring one of your CDs with you, and try them out. They'll let you open a box and plug them in to a display computer if they don't already have the speakers out on the line. Then keep your recipt and take them home. If you're not pleased with their performance at home, exchange them for the nearest model by the competing brand and try those. Repeat as necessary.

G.

I am a recording hack and have no reputation to protect here, but to echo SouthSIDE Glen...I got a Dell computer about two years ago and paid like $30-$50 extra for the speaker upgrade (which appears to be two regular computer speakers interconnected with a shoebox-size bass-producing "woofer") and I find the sound very pleasing (worlds above the "just two tiny computer speaker" system). I think getting a decent mix for one's personal satisfaction is possible through such a system (especially if you pay attention to the "nuance" of comerciail CDs played through the system). Also as nap implied, good songwriting and performance can often mean more than subtle defects in the mix.

 

[lethalastro]

whether you get high-end monitors, or desktop speakers, the main thing is to know ur monitors. listen to many commercial songs thru them to understand them, then use that understanding towards ur mixes. i have some cheap ass edirol ma-5d micro monitors (i will upgrade this month), but i took hours of time listening to various commercial songs of all genres to understand how the montiors translate mixes. i also hook up my stock desktop speakers to check the mix thru the stock soundcard, then a-b to my audio interface with my monitors, and i get decent mixes. so dont be discouraged. i totally agree wit glen, but to add to his post, LEARN THE SPEAKERS/MONITORS. good luck buddy.

 

[SonicAlbert]

For a hundred dollars those M-Audio StudioPro 3 speakers don't look too bad. Although you would break the rule about not buying anything with the word "pro" in the model number.

Also, take a look at the lower end speakers offered by Roland and Edirol. Like the Roland DM-20 or Edirol MA-15D. Not sure of the prices on those units though.

However, as has been already stated, if you can go up in price a bit you'll find yourself able to afford some much better monitors. You choices improve a lot at the $300 range.

 

[Creamyapples1]

The best part of home recoding/playing music for me is: Knowing that there will always been those people that will pick apart your work, not based on the actual music, or performance, but the gear you used to create it. LOVE IT!

 

[mshilarious]

I'm guessing that you take the average of both, like the attached pic.

No, you would have to assume that the crossover point was somewhere around the intersection, maybe 1.5K or 2K, and use the tweeter graph above that and the woofer graph below.

It's a really strange thing to put in a manual. What it says to me is they bought a couple of off-the-shelf drivers with published response curves, and didn't bother to test the assembled unit to save cash. However, the lower bit of the tweeter graph (below 100Hz) has got to be total fiction, it looks like maybe they applied some predicted bass response from the ported cabinet to both tweeter and woofer

And that is to say nothing about their supposed biamped power amp

 

[pandamonk]

Excuse me mshilarious, I'm an idiot, lol.

 

[pandamonk]

It must be fiction. It shows that both the woofer and tweeter function well down at 20Hz, when they even say that the frequency response is 36Hz-20KHz.