Help a Newb on budget with Computer Speaker setup ?

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Hey there,

I am not an audiophile but an avid music lover. I primarily like Rock music and love the balanced sound of Sennheiser CX 275s that I have been using for last 2 years.

I have a basic PC setup (i.e. no added Audio Card or DAC), so my question is this

If I am looking for a new set of speakers under 7000 INR then should I get a 2.1 Speaker + USB DAC or 2.0 Bookshelf monitors?

I was looking at Creative SBS E2800 which are available for 3,500 + FiiO K1 (3000) . Then there's Edifier's R1010BT 2 Home Cinema for 6,200.

Or any other recommendations in my budget

Alternatively, I can get just a 2.1 for now and upgrade to a 6.5 Boston Acoustics monitors in 8-9 months or so.
 
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Swans M10 will be in your budget. You can buy a sound card / usb dac later as your budget permits.

By 6.5 Boston Acoustics, do you mean the BA A26 ? That alone will cost around 15K and an amplifier will be extra.
 
Swans M10 will be in your budget. You can buy a sound card / usb dac later as your budget permits.

Hey, thanks for replying.

By 6.5 Boston Acoustics, do you mean the BA A26 ? That alone will cost around 15K and an amplifier will be extra.

Yes, BA A26 is what I was going to buy but then my Display kinda burned out and I have to replace that as well, So that ate into my speaker budget.

I will get around to adding a USB Dac in near future (maybe in 6-7 months). I suppose I can get Swan M10 but my question still remains, will they give better performance than Bookshelf Speakers?
 
Haven't heard the M10 personally. In your budget they will be one of the best you can get as per the reviews.

Whether they are better than bookshelf speakers, there is no simple answer. The M10 has a built-in amplifier so your upgrade options are limited to a decent dac. But with your current budget you wont get any decent bookshelf speaker. Then you will also need an amplifier also to drive them, which is again an additional cost.

I personally think a decent bookshelf with a quality amp will surpass the M10 overall. But that combo is going to be 3-4 times costlier than the M10
 
You can pickup a Lepy/nobsound/TDA 3020D amp at around 1-2k. If you stretch your budget to 15k, you might be able to pickup an SMSL amp in 5-6k.

Have typically seen used/on display bookshelves in Home Theatre showrooms for 8-10k. You might just be able to fit in a Pioneer BS22 demo unit or a Boston Acoustics piece.

Keep in mind, these speakers are not typically near field. Not too sure how well they will perform if you're sitting right in front of them.
 
I was looking at Creative SBS E2800 which are available for 3,500

A little late to this discussion but some of these Creative computer setups are pretty good. I have one right now on my home computer and it works great. If you have an on-board soundcard then all you do is connect the speakers and you are off. You don't need an additional DAC. For near field listening like on a desktop these speakers do a great job.

I would recommend a good software for playback. Foobar is free and is worth giving a shot. It will take your playback quality up several notches over the default Windows software. Once you get going there are some other tweaks you can implement to improve the sound later on. Computer playback has some seriously great options.

Hope this helps ...

.
 
I second the recommendation for Creative speakers.
Had a pair of Creative GigaWorks T20 ages back, and later the T40. Well made and decent sounding tiny speakers.
They later got replaced by an even tinier Bose Computer MusicMonitor. A surprisingly good sound from their relatively heavy yet miniature stature.
Eventually, got a pair of MM-1 from B&W for the desk duties.
Unfortunately, they all sound ambitiously overzealous in the bass department in general.
Anyway, not sure about what's out there these days. But at least the Creative models listed above should be around your budget.
Good luck with your search.
 
Or any other recommendations in my budget

I would suggest chinese amplifiers (SMSL Q5 Pro, FX Audio D802 / 200E / 160E) + any pair of inexpensive BS speakers.. Even old Hifi stereo speakers..This would be slightly above your budget, but will make a better system than PC based speakers..
 
Yes, BA A26 is what I was going to buy but then my Display kinda burned out and I have to replace that as well, So that ate into my speaker budget.

I will get around to adding a USB Dac in near future (maybe in 6-7 months). I suppose I can get Swan M10 but my question still remains, will they give better performance than Bookshelf Speakers?

Please do some financial planning and estimate how much you would be able to save and spend on audio. Buying and upgrading leads to loss of money esp for entry level components. If you think would spend 25K overall, please save up and spend. If you spend 7K now and 10-15K later, you might not be able get the combo right.

I bought a good pair of bookshelves (Tannoy) and was driving them with National Panasonic Two-in-one for almost two years before saving money buying a few components (SMSL Q5 Pro and Dared DV-6C). Avoiding rush of blood would save a lot of money.

You can also consider used micro-systems from Sony/Philips from Olx as stop over solutions (one link from Delhi mentioned below). They would not sound bad at all. A lot of folks who upgrade to hifi sell of the micro systems and they can be great deals. if you take care of speaker placement, even regular speakers would sound good.

Used Passive setups would set you back by at least 14-15K. Active setup would also cost you so much (you can consider studio monitors like Mackie, Rokit, Presonus).

Olx, Quikr can be goldmines if your stars are well aligned. If you find speakers like this, you can bargain to right budget and get a micro system like this to use as amp, you would end up with a great system at current budget.
 
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