What kind of speakers should I get?

[ensleepent]

I'm really quite clueless about where to start looking for good speakers. I'm just smart enough to know that there are lots of expensive speakers of poor quality.

What kinds of stereo speakers would be ideal for a retrogame collection from the 80's and 90's? What would be the biggest bang for my buck in buying reasonably affordable speakers?

I really just don't know where to begin looking... some advice would be great!

[d123456]

A friend of mine once did massive research and came to the conclussion that he needed Focal Speakers. I have Dali Speakers which are OK, but they sound like tin cans compared to Focal Speakers. They are reasonably priced, but have great quality. Great bang for buck value here.
He has something like this
http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/Focal-714- ... roduct_903
I´m sure there are sites specialized in speakers. Look into it.
Focal is a good starting point. Good luck.

[bryan_65]

I have a set of RCA floor speakers with 12'' woofers. I like my music loud enough so you can't hear people speak. They do the job but I need a little more in the bass department. I have been thinking about getting some new speakers myself. The RCA speakers sound great and can take a beating ( been dropped 4 1/2 feet of the ground and still get cranked to eleven almost every day), I have had these for 12 years now. Got them at Radio Shack for $160 a pair, not the best sound but worth every penny. My mom (yes my mom is cool) has some 12'' Cerwin Vegas that blow my RCA speakers away. The best thing about the Vega's is they have built in fuses, I have can turn it as loud as possible and can never do any damage to the speakers. If you turn them to loud it just blows the fuses not the speakers. These can make you ears ring for a while. Cost was about $500 a pair though. Here is a pic of the RCA speakers and Cerwin Vega speakers.

[CRTGAMER]

What kind of amp are you running? Are you replacing an old speaker? Check the Watt and Ohm rating of the older speaker to match a new one to.

[eskil]

Bowers&Wilkins make some of the best budget speakers, check out their 600 series.

[Demented Collector]

What kind of amp are you running? Are you replacing an old speaker? Check the Watt and Ohm rating of the older speaker to match a new one to.

+1
Little bit more info would help .

Having no idea what you have presently or what you require the speakers for this may assist you.
If your TV has "audio out" consider a surround sound unit/DVD combo that has 5.1 suround sound, one that has "audio out" itself then can be linked into a home stereo amp for 7.1 surroud sound.

Obviously the ss/dvd combo can be bought second hand for very little money.

[ensleepent]

I'm not replacing any speakers. I've just been using the television for sound.

My ~10 year old CRT TV (a Toshiba) does have audio out jacks though. The typical RCA-style ones. Is that sufficient? And can't the "audio" parts of my AV cables just bypass the television and go straight to the speakers?

Like I said, I really don't know much about speakers. That's pretty sad, being a musician and all. (I mostly play acoustic instruments.) Trying to get advice about speakers from other musicians will usually start a whirlwind debate between them, and I'll wind up being forgotten and no less clueless.

I just wanna get the most out of my retro consoles, some with stereo capabilities and even '90s CD-quality sound. Hopefully without having to take out a loan.

The advice and stories of personal experience I'm getting so far is a great start! Please, keep it coming!

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Get a receiver at goodwill, preferably a Marantz, Pioneer, Onkyo, Denon or some other Japanese brand. Older or newer is irregardless as long as it works and has the features you want (AKA surround sound or plain stereo, amount of inputs, etc...).

Similarly look around for good old speakers, vintage Marantz, Technics, Onkyo, Denon, Kenwood, etc... are all good buys but stay away from cheapos or bargain basement brands. If it doesn't weigh a metric fuckton (relative to size) it's typically not any good.

Getting older speakers usually means the surrounding foam membrane on the edge of the woofers has deteriorated and begun to dry rot. Twenty minutes to an hour and a woofer surround repair kit (usually cost around $20 at max) and they should be as good as new.

I've built up and sold off dozens of amps and speakers in the last year and it's always been easy to get tons of vintage and even modern audiophile grade gear locally at goodwills. Rich people are typically all about following the curve wastefully and older people (40's and onward) usually dump their expensive older hi-fi's when they see modern slimline bookshelf systems.

[isiolia]

Building speakers is also an option, though it'd probably wind up being a lot more expensive if you don't already have tools. There are plenty of designs available online, as well as kits.

Depending on what else you want to use the receiver for, you might want to look at a more modern unit. For example, if you want to use it for Blu-ray, then the current HD audio streams require pulling sound from HDMI (so that it can use HDCP).

It's something you can easily do over time though. A basic receiver from the thrift store would be a fine starting point. Used A/V gear is often dirt cheap compared to new, and outside of the aforementioned dry rot for woofer surrounds, tends to hold up over decades. Older stuff anyway. Newer generations...I dunno. A lot more can mess up, to put it simply.

[CRTGAMER]

I'm not replacing any speakers. I've just been using the television for sound.

My ~10 year old CRT TV (a Toshiba) does have audio out jacks though. The typical RCA-style ones. Is that sufficient? And can't the "audio" parts of my AV cables just bypass the television and go straight to the speakers?

Like I said, I really don't know much about speakers. That's pretty sad, being a musician and all. (I mostly play acoustic instruments.) Trying to get advice about speakers from other musicians will usually start a whirlwind debate between them, and I'll wind up being forgotten and no less clueless.

I just wanna get the most out of my retro consoles, some with stereo capabilities and even '90s CD-quality sound. Hopefully without having to take out a loan.

The advice and stories of personal experience I'm getting so far is a great start! Please, keep it coming!

Go with what Mod_Man_Extreme recommended, the best inexpensive solution. If your TV has decent sound you could compliment it with a basic amp and two speakers. Put a speaker on either side of the couch at the back. With the TV speakers functioning as well, the sound is everywhere, not just blasting from the front.