Dirt Cheap PC Speakers

[JSmith]

I purchased some very cheap small PC speakers today for a work PC only as the PC speaker is mono and horrible.

They were $11.68AUD, that's about $8.60USD... I have to say, they sound pretty good for the price range!

Basic specs are;

3W x 2
FR 70Hz - 20KHz
USB 5V

They stay surprising composed when turned up... of course bass is lacking and highs a bit tinny, but considering their size the volume is quite good and the bass that is there is actually controlled ok. I just thought they'd sound much worse than they actually do.

One would struggle to get a sandwich and drink for this price.

I also purchased some earbuds for a work colleague... $1.17AUD. Haven't tried those yet, I would assume they're rubbish... but just astounding they can be made, packaged, shipped and profits added all the way and still only be $1.17.

Anyway, this is my positive rant for the day.



JSmith

 

[ad_fletch]

Officeworks?

I have some Jaycar PC speakers with 6" "subwoofer" which I've kept for decades because every set of PC speakers I've tried since has been worse. Engineering on these things seems to be a crap shoot....

 

[Killingbeans]

Everything's relative. Many dirt cheap PC speakers are astonishingly better sounding than the microscopic drivers you find in laptops or flatscreen monitors/TVs. They do of course have a low end extension that drops like a rock before you reach anything remotely resembling bass.

They are perfect when you need great speech intelligibility on a shoestring budget, but I wouldn't use them for music unless I had no alternative.

 

[JSmith]

Officeworks?

Apologies for the late reply, I didn't get any notifications for either reply for some odd reason.

Yes, Officeworks mate.

I wouldn't use them for music

Strangely these seem better with music that speech, so midrange is clearly lacking there. But yes much better than a small mono PC speaker.

I just grabbed them really for shits and giggles, then was a bit surprised they were not as crap as expected.



JSmith

 

[restorer-john]

I bought a little tiny pair of Edifier powered speakers for $2 at my local op-shop (thrift store), several weeks ago.

I'll dig them out and post a few pics- they are really miniature "proper" powered speakers and are quite listenable. Sometimes you can be surprised.

 

[jst]

Mine is Edifier.R12U , and it's pretty good, I pair it with my onboard Realtek soundcard and use it quite often when I just want my PC to have sound but don't want be bothered with big speakers. It has low/bass that can be heard but cannot be felt ofc since it's a small spkr set.

It is that good that sometimes it makes me want to explore small speakers and collect more lol.
The next one if ever I feel the urge to get another one will be a cheap small soundbar.