What subwoofer do you have for your gaming desktop pc?

[R00kie]

Wharfedale SW-150, had it for like 10 years now

 

[freeagent]

Right now I am using this:

JBL BAR 700 - JBL Canada

The JBL Bar 700 with Dolby Atmos® includes a 10” subwoofer and detachable surround speakers to create an immersive 3D cinema experience.

ca.jbl.com

But before that it was an AVR with a Monitor Audio FB-210.

I might open it up and run a line to my Monitor Audio.. been awhile since I have resorted to such hax.

 

[io-waiter]

None, but tempted.

Yamaha RX-V465 as an HDMI soundcard and 5.0, fronts and center are enter level Dali speakers and rears are 4” diy. Lacks in bass in comparison to my old T5Vs but much more immersive.

It’s a time and moneysink to listen to much for what can be improved

 

[Deleted member 234478]

12" active sub

says dome on it. I got it from a rich guy next door. I have to put it on low power cause that thing will wake the dead.

sub makes a system. I could not be without a sub. it has such a small range but its so substantial to the complete sound.

placement of the sub is really important too. long sound waves which means you need to place it further from you then the mains.

Also nowadays it is really hard to find a decent 2+1 system for pc. Golden era was back in 2010s when altec Lansing, creative and edifier were producing pc sound systems. Now, I could only buy Bluetooth speakers for my pc.

its why I gave up on anything related to the pc/desktop market and went for good quality speakers that I use for music and video. Kef.

all those altec lansing creative klipsch promedia logitech pc/desktop are horrible. its night and day difference youll be shocked that you play songs you normally played and hear frequencies you didnt previously.

with audio, theres no replacement for displacement. those horrible 2-4" drivers are garbaĴe. none of them are quality. not even the hyped edifier. theres a reason why theyre cheap. theyre good, but line up an old pair of paradigms near them and realize what poop sounds like for ears

 

[mclaren85]

12" active sub

says dome on it. I got it from a rich guy next door. I have to put it on low power cause that thing will wake the dead.

sub makes a system. I could not be without a sub. it has such a small range but its so substantial to the complete sound.

placement of the sub is really important too. long sound waves which means you need to place it further from you then the mains.


its why I gave up on anything related to the pc/desktop market and went for good quality speakers that I use for music and video. Kef.

all those altec lansing creative klipsch promedia logitech pc/desktop are horrible. its night and day difference youll be shocked that you play songs you normally played and hear frequencies you didnt previously.

with audio, theres no replacement for displacement. those horrible 2-4" drivers are garbaĴe. none of them are quality. not even the hyped edifier. theres a reason why theyre cheap. theyre good, but line up an old pair of paradigms near them and realize what poop sounds like for ears

You mean for good audio quality I should go for a professional grade speakers?

 

[Chrispy_]

This 8" sealed kit that I got on sale for about 250$ a while back. Not a huge basshead but it integrates quite well and hits when it needs to.

8" speakers really do remove the need for a subwoofer, I think. Hell, many pretty decent dedicated subwoofers only use a single 8" driver.

I've had 5" Yamaha reference monitors, and borrowed a pair of (not great) KRK Rokit 6" monitors - both of which cut off at about 60Hz which isn't quite low enough to avoid needing a subwoofer IMO. For a lot of content, 60-70Hz performance of a good 5" driver is enough that I wouldn't really miss a subwoofer, though I'd probably recognise that I was missing really deep audio if I'd A/B tested it against the living room with a dedicated sub. That was actually the reason I upgraded from the 5" speakers several years back.

 

[Deleted member 234478]

You mean for good audio quality I should go for a professional grade speakers?

I paid $120 for a pair of mint q55 Kef. I was looking on marketplace and local classifieds for around 6 weeks and it was there before but seemed too good to be true. I know the prices and im really patient and stick to that. contacted the seller. rich guy..probably went to higher level speakers and said he wanted someone to give these a good loving home whod enjoy them. and I certainly am. I will never go back to those pc/desktop speakers again. will only get an audiophile brand and kef is not even "high end" but a great brand, they have many different levels of speakers

. I was very tired of the garbage logitech creative klipsch pc speakers. I wanted audiophile or at least respectable sound. you can find used paradigm or b&w for excellent prices. you have to stay on top of it. there were many pairs of elac b&w at good prices (more then the kef I bought) I just missed buying them cause others nabbed them but I would have still found something great. the sub was also timing came a week after buying these. kef is a great company they have many levels of speakers like all known brands but creative logitech altec lansing are all garbage. all of them. no matter what line they sell. the worst is the "full range" 1 driver speaker. they sell people lies.

mine btw, would never be called "professional" if you posted it to a forum like audiokarma but they are respectable first level speakers. I would not even consider edifier as an entry level. once you hear a monitor/desktop speaker like elac, you will realize youre going to be in trouble because the rabbit hole is very deep and very expensive. so I suggest you never get into it. play some of your favorite songs on a good audio system may bring tears to your eyes. im serious

 

[lexluthermiester]

Just wanted to know what kind of subwoofers you guys are using for your desktop pcs for gaming?

I use a JVC mini home theater system for my PC audio. No sub, but then again, it doesn't need one as the speakers are full range and sound great!

 

[Chrispy_]

with audio, theres no replacement for displacement. those horrible 2-4" drivers are garbaĴe. none of them are quality. not even the hyped edifier. theres a reason why theyre cheap. theyre good, but line up an old pair of paradigms near them and realize what poop sounds like for ears

This is why I hate it when people who swear by the Audioengine A2 or A2+ and recommend them to others as good computer speakers.

NO!

They're expensive but they're still tiny little 2.75" drivers that no amount of quality cabinet or DSP can overcome. Don't get me wrong, they sound amazing for such a tiny little driver but it's still dead in the water below about 90Hz, and spending $200+ on some speakers that can't go below 90Hz is pretty dumb unless you really don't have any room for larger speakers. At that point, I'd ask why you're not just buying $200 headphones instead.

 

[BlindZenDriver]

Just wanted to know what kind of subwoofers you guys are using for your desktop pcs for gaming?

No sub here, not sure you'd need it unless you really play with the sound turned up loud. Most of the time I'm well served with my B&W MM-1* desktop speakers, as they do fine down to 30Hz and its only when I really want it loud I need more.

And when I want it really loud I switch over and use my music system, then I get the bass from the 2x2 10" woofers in my vintage Kappa 90's. They do 25Hz and more importantly, there is a lot more power so playing louder is an option.

*Not made anymore, but can be found 2nd hand relatively cheap.

 

[Deleted member 234478]

No sub here, not sure you'd need it unless you really play with the sound turned up loud. Most of the time I'm well served with my B&W MM-1* desktop speakers, as they do fine down to 30Hz and its only when I really want it loud I need more.

And when I want it really loud I switch over and use my music system, then I get the bass from the 2x2 10" woofers in my vintage Kappa 90's. They do 25Hz and more importantly, there is a lot more power so playing louder is an option.

*Not made anymore, but can be found 2nd hand relatively cheap.

lovely set. im all about buying used older gen high end gear. lower price, still delivery excellent performance.

and lets not forget the legendary IRS-V

 

[BlindZenDriver]

This is why I hate it when people who swear by the Audioengine A2 or A2+ and recommend them to others as good computer speakers.

NO!

They're expensive but they're still tiny little 2.75" drivers that no amount of quality cabinet or DSP can overcome. Don't get me wrong, they sound amazing for such a tiny little driver but it's still dead in the water below about 90Hz, and spending $200+ on some speakers that can't go below 90Hz is pretty dumb unless you really don't have any room for larger speakers. At that point, I'd ask why you're not just buying $200 headphones instead.

Don't forget that for desktop use you sit so close to the speakers that not a lot air needs to be moved. Small units can move slowly and play bass, they just can't do so while also playing loud - same thing as when using headphones only that is of course more extreme. Each time you double the distance to a sound source, the level goes down by 6 dB.

For sure small speakers can't fill a room like big ones do, but sitting at the computer is very different than say sitting 10 feet from your stereo.

lovely set. im all about buying used older gen high end gear. lower price, still delivery excellent performance.

and lets not forget the legendary IRS-V

I would love to get to listen to a pair of IRS-V

And yes, buying older gear is great. Almost all my hifi gear was bought 2nd hand, the only exception being the headphones, which are like somewhat personal, and the DAC as I find that type of electronics is still improving like year to year.

Many people that are into hifi as a hobby are never content and instead keep chasing even better sound, which I can certainly get, and this then also means the good gear often gets swapped for new good gear. This then not only means there is an industry of makers and innovators to sometimes insane levels, but also that almost new good gear can be found 2nd hand so with patience one can make great buys.

 

[Chrispy_]

Don't forget that for desktop use you sit so close to the speakers that not a lot air needs to be moved. Small units can move slowly and play bass, they just can't do so while also playing loud - same thing as when using headphones only that is of course more extreme. Each time you double the distance to a sound source, the level goes down by 6 dB.

For sure small speakers can't fill a room like big ones do, but sitting at the computer is very different than say sitting 10 feet from your stereo.

Very true, it's just that the A2+ really do drop off a cliff from 100Hz and below about 70Hz it's going to be hopeless, even at low volumes with the speakers right next to you.

Certain content that doesn't need a subwoofer, played quiet enough that -20dB volumes are acceptable probably sound fine on the A2+ but the other issue is that they're much quieter speakers to start off with. So you need to get much closer to their rolloff limit even when they're within arm's reach.

The blue line on the graph is the true response of the 2.75" driver. The red is the port reverb which will give you some extra boom but it will be muddy and vague, definitely not audiophile quality from products billed as audiophile computer speakers with an audiophile price tag - we can get muddy port boom from $20 speakers off Amazon just fine, thanks

 

[BlindZenDriver]

Very true, it's just that the A2+ really do drop off a cliff from 100Hz and below about 70Hz it's going to be hopeless, even at low volumes with the speakers right next to you.

View attachment 400434

Certain content that doesn't need a subwoofer, played quiet enough that -20dB volumes are acceptable probably sound fine on the A2+ but the other issue is that they're much quieter speakers to start off with. So you need to get much closer to their rolloff limit even when they're within arm's reach.

The blue line on the graph is the true response of the 2.75" driver. The red is the port reverb which will give you some extra boom but it will be muddy and vague, definitely not audiophile quality from products billed as audiophile computer speakers with an audiophile price tag - we can get muddy port boom from $20 speakers off Amazon just fine, thanks

Oh, those sure show some issues. I can think of a bunch of titles where lots of ambience relies on speakers being full range or close to.

I for sure should have qualified my post with a statement emphasizing, that good small speakers can play low, but that this isn't a law of nature.

 

[Harlow]

A pair of really ancient Goodmans Magnums with replacement 150W RMS 12inch drivers after my nephew shredded the foam surrounds on the original units. Not HiFi, but they do shift some air.

My property is detached so no need to worry about the neighbours.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/goodmans_magnum.html

Other speakers downstairs include 4 KEFs and B&W bookshelf.

 

[rv8000]

Polk HTS10, complete overkill for a pc setup but it sure is fun on the weekends midday

 

[MrDweezil]

I use one of these basic Monoprice guys https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=44514. The taller shape tucks neatly to the side of my desk without taking up much floor space. It comes in a couple of bigger sizes, but this is sufficient for filling in the low end missing from small desktop speakers in my small office.

 

[physicsjunky]

I happened to get 2 Klipsch subs from a Christmas and a birthday they've been amazing (R-120SW/12'', R-100SW/10''). This (Logitech X-240 2.1) has been the main sound setup all the speakers run together and increase my chances of getting a noise disturbance.

 

[Konceptz]

Klipsch ProMedia 2.1

 

[Chrispy_]

I'm just pleased that so many people in this thread are using what I'd call half-decent speakers.

I grew up in an era of beige plastic low-fi crap made in China like this where almost everyone had one of the two circled sets.



Creative started improving things with their higher end (usually black) cambridge soundworks sets, though I had the lower-end, fully-plastic 4.1 surround set in beige as a student that weren't actually awful.

My audiophile journey started 20+ years ago with some massive secondhand floorstanding Mission 773e speakers running off a Cambridge Audio 2-channel amp (no relation to Creative Labs' sub-brand). Prior to that I'd been using some of these Cambridge Soundworks DT2200s that were good by plastic computer speaker standards but godawful by even entry-level audiophile standards The difference was night and day and I suddenly started listening to way more of the music I already had.

From this

. . . to this

If anyone is on the fence about what to spend their money on, go looking for good quality HiFi speakers on the used market from a brand that has survived a few decades. Stereo amplifiers are also cheap on the used market and so many people selling their old speakers will have a suitable amp to sell at the same time, since they'll have upgraded their amp for their new speakers half the time...

 

[JoeTheDestroyer]

SVS SB-1000 Pro

Also:
Yamaha RX-V4A AVR (refurb) via HDMI
Sony SS-MS445 Satellites

I've used headphones in situations where noise might have been a problem, but they're never anywhere near as satisfying as a good (even mediocre) speaker set up.

 

[jarablue]

Do you guys think svs makes better subs than klipsch?

 

[OolongGoat]

For gaming? No, headphones.

For music/movies I use Razer Nommo Pro which has large downward firing CNC alu sub I keep under my desk.

View attachment 400356


There's no getting past this.

Same as @dgianstefani

Got my Nommo Pros for $150 at Microcenter. They are amazing!!!

 

[Chrispy_]

Do you guys think svs makes better subs than klipsch?

That depends on the model in question, doesn't it?
Both make decent speakers in general terms, and there are good and bad speakers at various prices at various times in history for both brands.

What you're asking is "Are Ford better than Chevrolet?" - It depends on the model. The extremes are a Corvette ZR1 vs a Ford Fiesta, or a Chevy Spark vs a Ford GT Mk.IV
Brand loyalty is worthless. Assess your speaker purchase on the merits and price of that individial product

 

[jarablue]

Same as @dgianstefani

Got my Nommo Pros for $150 at Microcenter. They are amazing!!!

Damn for 150$ that is a good deal! They go for 350$ on amazon.