PC Speakers for Games and Music

So my speakers are really old, like really old. They sound alright still but I have to imagine I can do better. Listen to music through them while working more than playing games on the PC. Anyone have any recommendations on current speakers?

As always when this topic comes up, my advice is to get a pair of nice bookshelf speakers and an amp. The clarity and depth will be substantially better than you get with even a nice boxed PC speaker system.

I can personally vouch for ELAC speakers, but there are a lot of excellent choices out there.

I’ve been entirely pleased with my very affordable Mackie set. They’re not crazy hi fidelity or anything, but they were priced right and have much better sound than the ancient Creative 2.1 set I had kicking around on my desk for years.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GZ531YV/?coliid=I2XQDYK1TGR02Q&colid=3UB980BB2F9D2&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

My goodness yes.

I got this pair of Miccas back in 2016 and they’ve been delightful. Quite a bit cheaper ($89 as of this writing) than the Wirecutter recs too.

I mean I don’t throw house parties with them or anything, but when I want to have some loud metal or whatever on for coding or gaming they are more than adequate.

My primary advice is to avoid cheap Chinese amps. I’m about to throw this latest stupid garbage away and probably replace it with the $80-ish Wirecutter rec up there.

I had used a pair of Klipsch Promedia 2.1s since, like 1997. They still sounded fine but the potentiometer was dirty so it scratched when I changed the volume and they weren’t cosmetically pretty anymore, so I recently upgraded to Audioengine HD3s. They’re excellent, highly recommend.

To be clear, much larger bookshelf speakers will sound better. There’s no getting around the laws of physics. But if you want a set of reasonably sized computer speakers, these sound great.

I’m still using these:

Edifier has some reasonably priced bookshelf speakers with a built-in amp that sound great for the size and money. Good bass considering the size, bluetooth to make phone connection a snap, and inputs for your PC. I opted for the R2000DBs so I could run the optical out from my Xbox One X to them directly, but if you don’t need optical you can likely save some $$$ and still get good qualiyt.

I’ve been very happy with these:

I’m still surprised by how good my GigaWorks T40 speakers are (first series):

I don’t doubt there are better options out there but for the price and ease of setup, they’re worth considering.

Edit: I hope to be shifting my separates surround system to another room so will probably be moving back over to stereo. This thread should be pretty useful.

I use these, they are excellent, admittedly they are in my study which is not massive but they certainly pack a decent punch.

I also use these on my Record Player and are also really nice and have separate connection for your pc on the back

Edifier Speaker

Hey, me too! Mine might be T20 Series I. They must be like 25 years old now.
I recently bought some electronic spray cleaner to “uncrackle” the volume knob. I’m so happy I did that, it actually made the speakers seem new again. But if I get a bigger desk, these will be instantly turfed!

I looked at mine again and they’re the series I T20 too, not T40 like I thought. They’re still solid. Why would you gleefully turf them?

Why? Need bigger speakers for more bass oomph, but also need something with a cleaner mids, and a touch clearer highs. I also have a pair of really good headphones, and I feel like I should use an outboard DAC/amp for it (either those Schitt/Creative thingies, or an actual receiver) instead of using the amps built into those speakers. I’m not looking for power, though; I don’t listen at high volumes.

Explain. I have crackly volume knob!

Something like this.

Yup. Mine was Motomaster Electrical Contact Cleaner, so the hint is to get it from your auto parts store. Direct the spray into any holes into the potentiometer, and let everything dry before turning the speakers on.

EDIT: waitaminute, that BW-100 is only compressed air?!? That’s different than what I bought…mine has all the good symbols, like flammable/poison/explosive!

Interesting, thank you! I may give that a whirl at some point.

Buying a new gaming PC, after a number of years and looking at speakers (and headsets)

Whatever happened to positional audio? That last time I looked at it was a choice between 4.1 (better for gaming) and 5.1 (better for multimedia).

Yep, electrical contact cleaner is a mostly-alcohol spray that dissolves the corrosion that eventually clogs up all pots and switches. The time-honored brand is DeOxit, but I’m sure all the brands work just fine. My current can is branded by WD-40.

The best way to use it is to open up the device and get the skinny straw thing into the nooks and crannies of each control, blast it out from every direction possible, and switch the switch or turn the knob from end to end a whole bunch of times. But blasting from outside the box into the crevices around the switch or knob also helps.

Since in audio equipment the signal passes through every switch and control, corrosion will fuck it up. A lot of equipment gets tossed that only needed a cleaning.

7.1 is now the “standard” for higher-end headsets. Stereo is still available, as well as monaural if you’re a savage.