This is my first post here. I was looking for speakers at Best Buy, and the best they had to offer in the computer dept was some Bose Companion 5's. Almost bought them before I noticed the Axiom speakers. I was going for the Audiobytes with EPZero, then decided to upgrade subwoofer to EP125. Now thinking about also upgrading the satelites to M2 or M3, but need a 2.1 amplifer to go from computer to satelites with an unamplified subwoofer conection. With this, I'm already at $705 USD, and don't want to spend a whole lot more. Anybody out there know of a good little amp for this purpose?
If you have the space, you could pick up a used 5.1 receiver for less than $100. With HDMI connectors and the new audio formats, lots of people are selling resonably recent stuff for cheap.
CB, welcome. Your post isn't entirely clear to me. Do you have the speakers and sub(unamplified sub??)or are you just considering getting them? As Fred pointed out, you can get a modest HT receiver for around $100, which will work well now with two speakers and also allow for possibly adding surround sound in the future.
I think he meant a receiver with an unamplified sub output (i.e. one which can do the crossover processing).
Sorry I wasn't too clear. Thanks for the input. I think the subwoofers have the amp built in, so the 2.1 is amplifier for 2 satalites and 1 feed line(?) for the powered subwoofer.
I originally was only going to spend up to $400 to upgrade my computer speakers, but this got out of hand with $1100 upgrade + amp by the time I got done. Instead, I'm going to use that money for home theater speakers instead, after I purchase a better TV.
I know how that upgrade thing goes. If you still want to upgrade your computer on a budged, go entirely used. Look for older PSB, Axiom or similar speakers used locally or on Audiogone. I picked up a refurb Sherwood 5.1 receiver for $75 CDN. I missed out on a used Yamaha high end receiver for $40 a few days before that. You should be able to keep it to less than $400 and get yourself really good sound on the computer.
Another option is to pick up a pair of Behringer B2030P active monitors. They are about $150 a pair in the US. The measure VERY flat on and off axis and have built in amps. They did very well in a recent Audioholics bookself speaker shootout.
Oops. Johnk pointed out to me that the B2030P is the passive monitor so you would still need an amp/receiver. That would still work out very well.