Inexpensive sound solution for monitor and PC?

[Erik_Twice]

My current PC speakers are terrible. They cost 2,5€ and they were supposed to be a temporary solution. Similarly, I need speakers for my professional monitor because it only has a (surprisingly good) mono speaker.

What can I do? I was going to get my father's amp running but it's bulky and feels like total overkill despite the very low cost of speakers (5-15€).

[Fragems]

Are headsets out of the question? That's pretty much the only way I play anymore.

I'm a big fan of the Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset and it's sub $20 pretty much 24/7 now. I have a TV solely dedicated to gaming so I just leave an extension cable plugged in and whenever I play I just swap my headphones over from the PC.

[CRTGAMER]

My current PC speakers are terrible. They cost 2,5€ and they were supposed to be a temporary solution. Similarly, I need speakers for my professional monitor because it only has a (surprisingly good) mono speaker.

What can I do? I was going to get my father's amp running but it's bulky and feels like total overkill despite the very low cost of speakers (5-15€).

Modded Apple Pro Harmon Kardon Speakers and Lepai LP-220A+ Amp
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=731713#p731713

[isiolia]

Yeah, T-Amps can be good. I've owned that one (or a similar one) and found it to start distorting at moderate volume, but I was also running bigger speakers than that (still not that big though).

In general, I'd favor an amp or receiver plus decent speakers. It might take up more space, but you tend to get better quality and/or flexibility with it. A good headphone setup will likely get you the best quality for the money though.

[Anapan]

If you do not want to use headphones (sub $50 gets best before the $100 mark), get a 2.1 Altec Lansing. You really do need a sub woofer, and the budget pc Altec Lansing do the job well at a cheap price with their own amp.
Given a real receiver, I suggest finding out it's target Ohm resitance, then visit thrift stores and pawn shops looking for name brand speakers. Ask to hear them and let your ears decide. I've set my friends up with great stereo systems for their gaming rooms for under $50 for a full set of oldschol heavy recceiver and speakers. Don't discount the ones from the sides of broken boom boxes (ghetto blasters). They usually have a full set of tweeter, mid and low end with a bit of a resonating chamber. Just make sure you hook them up to a stereo there and play something with some bass and crank it for a second.
There are usually at least two sets of decent monitor speakers in every thrift store. People keep downgrading their sound quality for tiny surround speakers, so some great 80's speakers are always just sitting there with a $8 sticker.

[Erik_Twice]

To be honest guys, I can't tell differences in sound quality unless there's noise or the bass is inexistent and so on. So a good set of speakers would be wasted on me, I just want something cheap that doesn't pick up noise. To avoid having to move them around I need two sets (One for the monitor, one for the PC) so yeah, price is paramount for me.

I've found that my father's amp can support my monitor so it's sitting under it right now. If I could find two speakers less than 14cm tall I could put them on top of the monitor, but most amp speakers are HUGE and totally unfit for this.

I think I'll have to bit the bullet and buy two 30€ PC speakers like the Logitech Z220 or something like that.

[jp1]

Can you get Dayton speakers shipped cheaply? For a cheap set, they sound decent and the B452 is pretty compact.

Other than that, maybe some Realistic Minimus 7's from ebay. Those are often cheap and they are popular for a reason. They are nice and small as well. You could opt for Optimus for a small upgrade.

As for PC speakers, I recommend Boston Acoustics. In fact you can usually pick up some Boston HD5s on the cheap now. Those are small "amp speakers" that would surpass the rest in quality for very little extra expense.