Can anyone recommend desktop speakers mainly for listening to music on my Macbook?

camf

There seems to be quite a bit of choice out there. I don't really need them to be wireless or bluetooth (although I don't mind if they are, as long as they sound good) but I'd prefer just a stereo pair rather than a 2.1 setup. I'd prefer them to be powered rather than having to get a seperate amp but if you think that's the best option, I'll be delighted to listen to your advice. I'd like to be able to hear the music at a decent quality but I'd prefer not to spend much beyond £300. Anyone recommend something that would do the trick?

Cheers,

cam f

stimpsonslostson

I really like the Creative Gigaworks T40 speakers I installed in my lab. Excellent sound (at high and low volumes), not too expensive and have coped with 6years of 8hour days of constant use. 
Theres a headphone socket on the speaker too, which is a nice touch. 

camf

Cheers @stimpsonslostson, these look pretty good and a decent price too. First on and so top of my list at the moment.

fandango

Q-Acoustics BT3 stereo speakers.

Wired or bluetooth connection. Comes with a remote control.
Highly rated on What Hi-Fi.

Got a pair (of the speakers) and I think they're great, and have found the bluetooth connection to be very reliable.

fandango

fandango said:

Q-Acoustics BT3 stereo speakers.

Wired or bluetooth connection. Comes with a remote control.
Highly rated on What Hi-Fi.

Got a pair (of the speakers) and I think they're great, and have found the bluetooth connection to be very reliable.

Less than £200 on Amazon.....

prowla

I've got one of these.



https://www.naimaudio.com/mu-so-qb

It does blow the budget, though!

Fretwired

At around £250 there's only one answer .. IK Multimedia's iLoud Micro Monitors .. so good studios use them as does a lot of well know rock stars .. I have a set and they are awesome. The are Bluetooth enabled as well .. the sound great and are loud if you want them to be ..

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloudmm/

camf

Great suggestions everyone - I’ll check out all of these.

Heartfeltdawn

As my computer is permanently hooked up to my monitors, I wanted a second speaker set for use in the lounge. I set a budget of under £200 and went a-listenin'. I wanted the option of bluetooth or wired connection mostly as my entire music collection is held on a cloud account. The two I liked the most were the Monitor Audio S150 or the Audio Pro T5. £120 for the first one, £150 for the second. I admit it took a while to get used to the design philosophy as I'm so used to two speakers either side of the screen but they both sold me on the sound quality. The T5 is a bit warmer and bigger bottom end, the S150 a little more open. I actually went with the S150 in the end. 

Fretwired

Andertons have a great price on the iLoud Monitors ..

https://www.andertons.co.uk/ik-multimedia-iloud-micro-monitor-studio-reference-monitoring-system-iloudmicro

Axe_meister

M-audio BX10s. They are classes as studio monitors, where they probably fail because the are very musical.

BigBearKris

Fretwired said:

Andertons have a great price on the iLoud Monitors ..

https://www.andertons.co.uk/ik-multimedia-iloud-micro-monitor-studio-reference-monitoring-system-iloudmicro

They sound great but dear me, they're ugly!

Fretwired

BigBearKris said:

Fretwired said:

Andertons have a great price on the iLoud Monitors ..

https://www.andertons.co.uk/ik-multimedia-iloud-micro-monitor-studio-reference-monitoring-system-iloudmicro

They sound great but dear me, they're ugly!

I disagree .. they look cool on the desk ... :-)

Axe_meister

Pair of these https://www.andertons.co.uk/m-audio-bx8-d3-monitor-speakers-bx8d3

horse

As those ilouds are not rear ported, does that mean they can work ok placed against a wall?

camf

I hadn't really considered getting something reasonably accurate that I could also edit on but it makes a lot of sense -- given that I do edit some bits and pieces on Logic. I'm guessing the iLouds will also do a decent job of just playing back music while I work, and the portability seems a nice bonus too. I'm definitely thinking the iLouds might be the best choice for me.

Fretwired

horse said:

As those ilouds are not rear ported, does that mean they can work ok placed against a wall?

Yes.

Fretwired

camf said:

I hadn't really considered getting something reasonably accurate that I could also edit on but it makes a lot of sense -- given that I do edit some bits and pieces on Logic. I'm guessing the iLouds will also do a decent job of just playing back music while I work, and the portability seems a nice bonus too. I'm definitely thinking the iLouds might be the best choice for me.

I edit music using my iLouds - they're pretty punchy. The Eq settings on the back are good - set flat if you want transparent monitoring or boost if you want to listen to music, although most music players come with a graphic EQ these days.

menamestom

I like the look of the ilouds, is their main advantage portability?   If space is not an issue my general feeling would be to go for a set of 5” monitors or even 8’s for a similar price.  Whenever I’ve gone up to bigger speakers they have been generally more revealing.  Samson make an 8” which would not cost much more for a pair and gets good reviews.

That said, I have no space in the house nowadays, so I can see an advantage where the ilouds can be just brought out when needed, wherever you set up.  For a static setup i’d lean towards bigger drivers, but that’s without trying the ilouds.   

guitarfishbay

8” monitors are typically huge. Worth bearing that in mind.

Personally I think 6” is the sweet spot for home use.  5” monitors often don’t quite go low enough for my tastes, but I like to play bass through my monitors as well.

camf

I've bought a pair of the iLouds from Andersons so I'll report back when I get them but they look like a pretty decent compromise for me that suits what I need at the moment. What I REALLY need is a big set of floor standers, a decent amp and turntable but that's a while away yet.