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So...speakers
jamesra
Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
Or, possibly, So... Stereos. Although I don't know if that's even the correct term in our hip, modern era, so abject is my ignorance.
Lo these many years I have met my audio needs with headphones. I have nice pair from Koss; they make me feel vaguely like a space pilot or possibly some form of sub-mariner. They have met my needs more than adequately and rarely if ever annoyed the neighbors, and this is really all I felt I could ask for. On those rare occasions when I wanted to play music at some reasonably blameless individual I performed this task using the speaker built into my laptop.
However, my future bride has been expressing displeasure with this arrangement, at least insofar as it impacts her, ever since her truly ancient boombox gave up the ghost, denying her access to the morning radio programing she finds so valuable and likewise relegating her to the tinny audio quality of her laptop. (Actually, all things considered, her little Dell produces surprisingly good sound, but still.) She has thus far disdained headphones.
Insofar as my always shaky hold on my vision of myself as either virile or masculine is wholly and completely dependent my ability to project an image of myself as all knowing and limitlessly skilled in any field of human endeavor even remotely related to technology, the considerable lacuna in my knowledge represented by all things audio is proving to be a quite considerable embarrassment.
Therefore, with this extensive and disturbing insight into my personality as prologue, I throw myself upon the mercy of you, Penny Arcade Forum Persons.
I'm looking for a audio solution that does as many of the following as possible.
1) Is small. Our place is small, and fairly crammed with things as it stands. Something large will be a pretty complete non-starter.
2) Is nice. I don't want to pay vast amounts of money, but on the other hand our days of starving student, and then starving grad student are behind us; I'd rather spend a little more for something good and lasting at this point in my life, rather than going for the cheapest solution and looking for a replacement in a few years.
3) I don't even know if such a thing is possible, but if I could 802.11 it into talking to at least some of the devices that I'd like it to talk to, that'd be awesome, since, to go along with the lack of space running cables across the floor will have downsides. (That list is my machine /w itunes, her machine (itunes) my ipod touch, the television/cable setup). The PCs are what I really want some kind of wireless solution for.'
4) Has a radio? Do they even still make radios? But she'd like the radio back.
So, yeah. That's my request. Thanks for your attention.
Lo these many years I have met my audio needs with headphones. I have nice pair from Koss; they make me feel vaguely like a space pilot or possibly some form of sub-mariner. They have met my needs more than adequately and rarely if ever annoyed the neighbors, and this is really all I felt I could ask for. On those rare occasions when I wanted to play music at some reasonably blameless individual I performed this task using the speaker built into my laptop.
However, my future bride has been expressing displeasure with this arrangement, at least insofar as it impacts her, ever since her truly ancient boombox gave up the ghost, denying her access to the morning radio programing she finds so valuable and likewise relegating her to the tinny audio quality of her laptop. (Actually, all things considered, her little Dell produces surprisingly good sound, but still.) She has thus far disdained headphones.
Insofar as my always shaky hold on my vision of myself as either virile or masculine is wholly and completely dependent my ability to project an image of myself as all knowing and limitlessly skilled in any field of human endeavor even remotely related to technology, the considerable lacuna in my knowledge represented by all things audio is proving to be a quite considerable embarrassment.
Therefore, with this extensive and disturbing insight into my personality as prologue, I throw myself upon the mercy of you, Penny Arcade Forum Persons.
I'm looking for a audio solution that does as many of the following as possible.
1) Is small. Our place is small, and fairly crammed with things as it stands. Something large will be a pretty complete non-starter.
2) Is nice. I don't want to pay vast amounts of money, but on the other hand our days of starving student, and then starving grad student are behind us; I'd rather spend a little more for something good and lasting at this point in my life, rather than going for the cheapest solution and looking for a replacement in a few years.
3) I don't even know if such a thing is possible, but if I could 802.11 it into talking to at least some of the devices that I'd like it to talk to, that'd be awesome, since, to go along with the lack of space running cables across the floor will have downsides. (That list is my machine /w itunes, her machine (itunes) my ipod touch, the television/cable setup). The PCs are what I really want some kind of wireless solution for.'
4) Has a radio? Do they even still make radios? But she'd like the radio back.
So, yeah. That's my request. Thanks for your attention.
"Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction. . . . This tremendous friction . . . is everywhere in contact with chance, and brings about effects that cannot be measured, just because they are largely due to chance" Carl Von Clausezwitz. (1832),
jamesra on
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As for quality...that one is a little more complicated. My suggestion is to listen to a lot of different models within your price range, fool around with the equalizer settings*, and pick the one that sounds the best to you. Most speakers on pre-fab systems that you can pick up at stores are made by the lowest bidder in lots of many thousands. They sound ok but you aren't going to get movie theater quality audio out of them. My dad was in speaker/acoustic design for a number of years and once companies like Bose starting marketing their little speakers he had to give it up...for the price of one set of his speakers you could buy 100 sets of the mass produced ones. Their sound quality was awful by comparison but the price was fantastic. Things have gotten better and for the price range I quoted you can have a setup that will probably last you for a good long while, 5+ years barring act of god, gravity, or pets.
*This is a whole different can of worms...basically, you want to make the shape of a 'V' with all of the little bars and then adjust if it's got too much bass or is too scratchy. Better speakers usually are much more forgiving and easier to get smooth tones out of. Check the intertubes for detailed explanations as I'm waaay paraphrasing how this actually works.