2.0 or 2.1 PC speaker advice needed

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Right, my trusty old Cambridge Soundworks PC speakers have started going on the blink and developed this annoying hum, so I need to figure out what to replace them with. I'm pressed for space so it's essential that it's something with a smallish footprint (plenty of room under the desk for a sub-woofer). Standard mini-jack connection only, as I don't want none of that newfangled USB stuff.

Cambridge Soundworks still seem to be in business, so I'm tempted to go for either a Soundworks II or a MicroWorks II, but haven't found any local dealers. The Behringer MS16's are also tempting (and locally available). Any other ideas/recommendations?




As an aside I borrowed a pair of cheap Logitech SB-120's off work over new years to at least have something. After listening to one track I yanked them out and reinstated the Soundworks. Even with the constant hum they sound a thousand times better.

[Analog-X64]

I bought my wife the Logitech Z series. 2 Speakers on her desk and Subwoofer underneath. Has a nice volume control unit, which also allows for Mic and Headphone inputs. Very nice sound. I personally used headphones all the time.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

I bought my wife the Logitech Z series. 2 Speakers on her desk and Subwoofer underneath. Has a nice volume control unit, which also allows for Mic and Headphone inputs. Very nice sound. I personally used headphones all the time.

Checked out the Z series and it's a possibility. Since you mentioned it having a remote unit I'm guessing you got the [exturl=http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/speaker-system-z313]z313[/exturl] or the [exturl=http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/speaker-system-z553]z553[/exturl] ?

[Analog-X64]

Oh the one I got is much much much older its the Z4, got it from a type of computer thrift store.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Acquisition momentarily halted. I had the inspiration to plug the missus old iPod Nano into the speakers - no hum there.

First thought was it was a grounding issue, but the wiring hasn't been changed in 4+ years, so I quickly dropped that idea. Started fiddling with the wired speaker remote instead, and lo and behold - turning the volume on the speakers all the way down, and upping the volume from the computer seemed to get rid of the hum.

Thanks for the pointers, though.

[Analog-X64]

Acquisition momentarily halted. I had the inspiration to plug the missus old iPod Nano into the speakers - no hum there.

First thought was it was a grounding issue, but the wiring hasn't been changed in 4+ years, so I quickly dropped that idea. Started fiddling with the wired speaker remote instead, and lo and behold - turning the volume on the speakers all the way down, and upping the volume from the computer seemed to get rid of the hum.

Thanks for the pointers, though.

Oh Geez... I'm getting rusty... that is a common problem which I should have recommended early on I had to fix a similar issue at my parents house. My dad is 76 and he had the volume on the TV Cranked to 100% but the volume on the Receiver at 25 so there was a loud hiss because of it

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Oh Geez... I'm getting rusty... that is a common problem which I should have recommended early on I had to fix a similar issue at my parents house. My dad is 76 and he had the volume on the TV Cranked to 100% but the volume on the Receiver at 25 so there was a loud hiss because of it

No worries. At least I found out before throwing £50+ after a new set of speakers.

When I uncurled the wiring I found that the remote on the floor volume knob facing down. So I probably managed to slowly crank the volume up by pushing it around on the floor. Time to cellotape it to the side of the sub-woofer.

[NecroPolo]

I'm happy that you could find the root of the problem. Using the already working and preferred system is always the best solution

But who knows, some info maybe useful for someone else. As far as my experience goes, I'd say some can't go wrong with M-Audio AV series as they are somewhat in-between a consumer speaker and a monitor as they are cheap enough to hit the consumer market but accurate enough to make nice mixes on them. I preferred the biggest one (AV40) but for the size and price, an AV20 is a blast, too: