£300 budget - HiFi speakers for computer and iPod?

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy some 2.0 speakers for my PC and am a bit overwhelmed. Budget goes to £300 which is my absolute max.

I'm currently using my desktop PC as my home-entertainment centre - I use it for TV and radio (via iPlayer), music (iTunes), movies (blu-ray), and gaming. The computer doesn't have a dedicated sound card but has plenty of audio connections on the motherboard. My music is all saved in mp3 format, though I may rip my favourite CDs to FLAC in the future. I'd also like to be able to use the speakers with an iPod (even if only via aux) when the PC is turned off. I'm not an audiophile but I hate crappy audio. Music will be their most important function; jazz and female vocals are my favourite kinds of it.

The PC is in a medium-sized double-bedroom in a semi-detached house with neighbours below and to the side. I don't have room for floorstanders or speaker-stands - whichever speakers I buy will inevitably be crammed into bookshelves (and I do mean crammed). I don't like a lot of bass and don't want to annoy my neighbours, so that isn't a priority. Much of the time I'll be sat two or three feet from the speakers, though not always. They will generally be played at low volume, including late at night.

I could use some help deciding what would be the best solution for my needs please. I want to buy new from somewhere like Richer Sounds or Superfi and am unsure whether to look for powered speakers or passive. Passive seems to give me more choice of speaker (the Wharfedale Diamonds 10.1 look nice), but I don't think my budget will stretch to buying an amp as well. What do you think the options are?

Many thanks.

 

[Deliriumbassist]

Zeppelin Mini, using the aux in on the back could be an idea. It's right on the top end of your budget, but does allow for iPod use as well. The 10.1s do look nice, but they are deep, so take that into account when trying to get something onto a bookshelf. If you could slightly push that budget up, you could always go DM38->Dali Zensor 1 speakers. It does bump the price up by around £80 or so, when you take cabling into account, but at that point you have the stereo separation that a pair of speakers provides, as well as a unit that will play from an iPod, with full control from a distance, aux input for your pc via a minijack->rca cable (assuming that your audio output is via a minijack) and a cd player/tuner to boot.

 

[Timbot]

Have you considered these...?

EPOZ AKTIMATE MINI ACTIVE SPEAKERS WITH iPOD DOCK

http://www.whathifi.com/review/epoz-aktimate-mini

Again they're at the top end of your budget. See what you think. WHF also have a video review of them (link at the bottom of the review page).

They're £299.95 from one supplier (haven't looked further than there though).

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys.

Those aktimate active speakers are an interesting option. Not too keen on the design though, and I'm struggling to see where I have the vertical space to place the speaker with the built-in dock.

The Denon DM38 looks like it might be a good option. I've seen it for £280 with a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s, which are front-ported and therefore shouldn't, I hope, sound too bad crammed into a book shelf. The DM38 has a couple of great features too - a built-in DAC with USB input (but not for a direct-to-PC link, more like a USB drive), and DAB radio too. I wouldn't ever use the CD player though.

Re: the Zepellin or Zep mini. I could find space for the mini, but the full-size one is a bit too long for me to position easily for a good stereo effect. Having listened to both in a shop I wasn't impressed though.

Thanks all, any more input greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

As an alternative to the Diamond 9.1s I've also seen the DM38 and a pair of Q Acoustics 2010s for £280, or £340 for a pair of Mission MX1s.

Any thoughts?