What self powered speakers of my PC?

I've used Henry Kloss's Tivoli Audio Model 2 FM stereo radio with my IBM Thinkpad laptop, with excellent results. Admittedly, the Model 2 is $159 list, but you might be able to find it on Ebay or elsewhere for closer to your $100 limit.

I have a pair of Swans and have been listening for a couple of weeks. I think they are head and shoulders above anything else I have heard. Smooth and warm. I have a pair of Dynaudio 122s and I did a A-B comparison. The Swans are not the Dyns equal by any strech, but they didn't embarass themselves either. No subwoofer, but they go pretty low around true 50Hz. They get pretty loud, but I hear they are optimized for use with audio outputs from stand alone CD players so their input sensivity for full output is around .8V. My computer (onboard sound card) does not seem to have enough voltage out to get the most out of these. They seemed much louder connected to my Sony CD player than the computer. And they are on sale for $199 at av123.com. Beware of the shipping costs though as it cost be $42. Overall I think these are tough to beat, although I have considered getting a cheap subwoofer to fill in the lower frequencies.

The Cambridge Soundworks MicroWorks at $150 would be a good choice for self-powered satellite / sub speakers to use with a computer. While the Acoustic Energy Aego speakers have better sound, they cost twice as much. The CS MicroWorks, available from http://www.hifi.com , have a total of about 67 watts of power, and offer far better sound quality for listening to music than the inexpensive ($40) Cambridge Soundworks PCWorks or comparable $50 to $75 sets that you would find in a place like CompUSA, Circuit City or Best Buy. Not high-end equipment, but good value for money.

The monsoon's are excellent. I have the $99 set and they sound fabulous with the dipole ribbon tweeter, and they are stylish to boot. veyond that I would get the Diva av monitors from av123.com. The Monsoon's are in your price range and are the speakers to get. I think compusa carries them?

Try:
http://www.3dsound.com/
the site covers only PC sound systems.

KP

The only $100 speaker I've seen that interest me is possibly the Monsoon flat panels. I haven't heard them, but I've heard ABOUT them. Here's a link:

http://www.monsoonpower.com/index_mmedia.htm

Three different models from $99-$199 each with a sub included.

The AE Aegos are "Da Bomb", but cost $600 new. There's a used pair for sale here for $350.

How about the Swans M200 at $299. See the link below:

http://www.av123.com/divaproducts.html

Enjoy,

TIC

Ed is right the AE Aegos are pretty incredible. You can also plug a cheap cd player into them and bypass your sound card. They are excellent.

If you want it to sound really good (say if you are going to get on line radio etc) find a used pair of AR powered partners and get the smallest YST-80 Yamaha sub."Cour we'd be talikng $150 just for the sub.I hear that Altec lansing and Harmon Kardo make good sub/sat get ups.

Acoustic Energy Aego self-powered. About $300 and well worth it. A true little high-end sub/sat system, almost too good for just computer stuff. Nicely built too. I'd recommend http://www.fidelisav.com/, they are a dealer I have dealt with before, and carry these.

-Ed