No matter what kind of activity you are doing at your computer (whether if you are watching a movie, playing a video game or listening to some music) you will definitely need to have some sound too. And in order to have sound, you need some speakers or a set of headphones.



For today we are going to focus just on the speakers. There are all sorts of speakers that you can use, with different shapes, sizes and features. Usually any new PC comes with some default computer stereo speakers. These are small, and most of the times have a rectangular shape but they don’t sound that good and they are not powerful either.

And that’s why many people choose to buy some new speakers for their computer. and here there are many possibilities. Depending on the number of speakers they have there are three types of audio systems: the 2.0 systems (which are the classical stereo speakers – 2 devices), the 2.1 systems (which have 2 stereo speakers and a subwoofer) and the surround sound systems (which can be 5.1 systems – 6 components, or 7.1 systems – 8 components). A 5.1 system is made of 4 satellite speakers, a center channel and also a subwoofer, while the 7.1 system has 2 more extra satellites.

Depending on their type of power source we can have regular speakers (that are connecting in an audio port from the sound card and which are getting their power from an AC outlet) and USB speakers (that are connecting into an USB port and getting their energy directly from the computer). Depending on the type of connectivity there are wired speakers and also wireless speakers. And depending on the environment you can place them there are indoor or outdoor speakers.

But for today we’ll just discuss about a model of computer stereo speakers. And you can find many other articles, about all the types of speakers we mentioned, in other articles from our site. For today we’ll choose some powerful and also expensive stereo speakers, the M-Audio Studiophile AV 30 Professional Reference Speakers. They come at a price of around 100 dollars, and this may depend on the store where you buy them from. We said they are expensive…but compared to other stereo speakers, which can cost much less than this. They are not very big, but they are not tiny either, with dimensions of 15 x 8.5 x 10 inches and a weight of 11.7 pounds.

Each of the two speakers has  3 inch composite woofers and ¾ ferrofluid cooled silk dome tweeters to bring a full and rich sound, through all of the sound ranges. The power is 15 watt per channel, meaning that the total power is 30 watts RMS. And this is quite ok for some stereo speakers that will sit on the desk in front of you. They are also magnetically shielded so that you can place them close to the monitor without interfering with it. They come from a famous audio producer (M Audio) so you can definitely trust the brand and be sure that they will sound good.

Each speaker will offer you a nice and rich sound for music, video games or movies. And these speakers even have a special “bass boost” function allowing you to enhance the low frequency response. So if you like your music with a more powerful bass, you can turn on this function and enjoy the sound. This was just one example of computer stereo speakers but of course there are so many more others on the market. If you don’t know which one to choose just look at the technical details and search for a good frequency response and a good power in watts RMS. And try to choose some speakers from a famous audio producer, to make sure you will have a good quality. Some examples are: Altec Lansing, Klipsch, Harman Kardon, JBL, Creative, Logitech, Bose, Boston Acoustics, M Audio or others.

The term “home audio” usually refers to any kind of audio electronic devices made for home use, such as home stereos and surround sound receivers. The most popular purpose for a home audio system is the reproduction of a movie, and that’s why the primary field of home audio is “home cinema”.



A home audio system usually offers all the components you need to enjoy both a video and audio experience. For the audio reproduction the system has a few speakers. Most of these systems are 5.1, meaning that they are composed out of a subwoofer, a center channel and 4 satellite speakers. Thanks to all of these devices you will have a full and rich audio experience with all of the sound ranges, from a deep and powerful bass to clear high sounds.

For the video experience a home cinema system does not include a TV, so you will have to buy this separate. But any home cinema has an audio video receiver which usually has many features and can play all sorts of video and audio formats from a CD or a DVD.

Whenever you choose to buy a home audio system you will first have to make some research and compare many products to see which is the best, at an acceptable price. So to do this you will have to read the technical details for the systems. You will find a lot of terms that may seem unknown to you, so here are some of the most popular home audio / video terms that you might find in the technical details, and they’re explanation.

Compact disc (or simply CD) – you probably already know what this is. It is a storing device that uses 16 bit / 44.1 khz sampling rate PCM digital signal to encode roughly 74 or 80 minutes of two channel, full range audio on a 5 inch disc.
Blu ray disc – these are discs that are looking similar to a CD or DVD, but which are capable of storing much more information and also movies and pictures in High Definition format.

Deep color – we know that the real world has unlimited colors, and when you see this note it means that you will be able to enjoy deep vivid colors just like the one found on nature, on your TV.
Energy Star – a product that has this note means that is a product which was approved by experts and received this rating because it protects the environment through superior energy efficiency.

HDMI (which comes from High Definition Multimedia Interface) – is a digital interface between audio and video source. It can transmit audio signal, digital video signal and control signal through one cable. For example if you have a HDMI port on your laptop it means that you can connect a High Definition TV here, and enjoy the video from the laptop on the big TV screen.

HDTV – comes from High Definition Television, and is a TV with a large display screen and a 16:9 image with twice  the horizontal and vertical resolution of a normal TV. A HDTV also has a scan rate of 720p (progressive) and 1080i (interlaced active). Usually a High Definition TV is accompanied by a 5.1 system of Dolby Digital audio, meaning that both the video and audio experience will be great.

JPEG and JPEG playback – this term comes from “joint photographic experts group” and is a method of compressing pictures. It is the method used for most of the pictures, and that’s why you will often find this extension on the pictures from your computer. A device that has JPEG playback is capable of showing these kinds of images. So if you’re audio / video receiver has this function you will be able to copy pictures on a CD or DVD, and then play them on the device and watch them on your TV.

PC IN – if you see written on a device “this unit is equipped with a PC IN jack (via RGB or HDMI)” it means that you connect that device to your computer and use it as a computer monitor.
SDTV – is the “Standard Definition TV”
Track – audio CD-s use tracks to divide the content of the disc. You can simply consider a track the same thing as a song.
WXGA LCD Display – WXGA comes from “Wide Extended Graphics Array”. This type of display will give you a widescreen High Definition resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The biggest advantages of an LCD screen that has this feature is that the images will be crystal clear and they will have extremely compact form factor.

The iPod is a really famous music player, and it is actually the best selling digital music player in history. It was launched in 2001 by the company Apple, and since then it sold millions of copies all over the world. It is really popular among teenagers but it used by all sorts of people no matter their age.



It is a very small and lightweight device that can easily be carried in your pocket, but which offers a great memory and it is capable of storing hundreds and even thousands of songs. There are 4 models of notebooks (iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod Touch) and each model has a  few generations, so you will have where to choose from.

Usually any model of iPod comes with an included set of headphones, so that you can enjoy your music in peace, without disturbing the others. But sometimes you may want to share the sound with others…for example when being at a picnic or even at a party. And to do this, you will need some iPod speakers. These are also small and portable devices, that have a docking place for the iPod, and that render the music from it. Almost every audio producer is offering some kind of iPod speakers, and Apple (the producer of the iPod) makes iPod docks too.

Today we are going to discuss about a model offered by Apple. We won’t choose the iP23 iPod speakers because those are quite old now, and we’ll discuss about the upgrade for that model which is the iHome iP29 Portable Speaker System for iPhone and iPod. This cool device comes at a price of around 99 dollars and will allow you to take the music from the iPod (or iPhone) anywhere you are going.

It is actually a speaker case with integrated drivers and a docking place, so this way it is more resistant to shocks or drops. It is available in two colors: black or purple, and it looks quite ok. It works with 4 AA batteries (that are not included) or with an AC adapter (that of course is included). It works with an iPod or iPhone but thanks to the line in jack you can also connect it to another music source (computer, CD or MP3 player). It has two integrated speakers that offer quite a good sound plus MaxxBass technology for a better bass. The device has these dimensions : (H x W x D): 2.8 x 8.4 x 4.8 in. / 7.1 x 21.3 x 12.2 cm and a weight of just 1.32 lbs (0.59 kg).

It is compatible with most of the models of iPods and iPhones and it is quite appreciated by the persons who used it. It has an overall rating of 3.5 stars out of 5, which is ok. Most of the users agree that it is a small and portable device that also sounds quite good. So enjoy it!

No matter if you are playing a video game on your computer, or watching a movie, or especially if you are listening to some music, you will definitely need some computer speakers. Of course you can also use some headphones, because they are really small and can offer a great sound quality, but today we are going to focus just on the computer speakers.



There are so many types of speakers that you can use, and here are some examples of desktop computer speakers. First of all you can use some small and simple stereo speakers, and this is what most of the new computer come with. But if you want something a little more powerful and also not too expensive, then you can choose to buy a 2.1 audio system. This one also has two small stereo speakers, but besides them it also has a subwoofer. The subwoofer will be a slightly bigger speaker that will bring only the bass.

And the low frequencies offered by the subwoofer will complete the mid and high sounds brought by the satellite speakers, and this way your music will sound much better. But if you want the whole range of sounds, and beside this also a surround sound, then you should definitely choose a surround sound system.

There are two types of surround sound systems : the 5.1 and the 7.1. The first one is composed out of 4 satellite speakers, a subwoofer and also a center channel and the 7.1 has is almost the same, with a subwoofer and a center channel but with 6 satellites instead of 4. So a surround sound system is not something just for your desktop, but is a system for your whole room.

The best placement for a 5.1 surround system is this one: a satellite speaker in each corner of the room, the subwoofer under the desk and the center channel on the desk in front of you. It will be a little difficult at the beginning until you set up all the cables and make sure to place a satellite in each corner of the room, but after that there won’t be any problems.

If the surround sound systems are not such a good option for you because you don’t want to have wires and speakers all over the room, and you still want to have a rich and powerful sound, then the floorstanding speakers are the solution for you. These are really big and heavy speakers, but they usually are very thin, so they won’t take so much space from the room.

It is recommended to have 2 of them, and place them in front of you (one in the left and one in the right…or any other way you want) and because they are really powerful they will offer you a great sound experience. They won’t need a subwoofer or any other components because if you take off the detachable grill you will see that it has many drivers. Some of them are for the high frequencies, others are for mid range and others are for the bass, so this way you will have the complete spectrum of sound from just one unit.

But enough with the theory, let’s take an example of floorstanding speakers and discuss more about them. There are many of them on the market, and today we’ll choose a model produced by JBL, the ES 80 speakers. These are powerful speakers that can bring down the house. They feature advanced and innovative technologies so that you (the buyer) can enjoy a great music quality and have the sound from a live concert, or the sound from a night club right into your room. These speakers are available in three different finishes : black, beech or cherry.

You can leave the grill on them and have a more elegant design, or you can take them off to have a more aggressive look. And now here are the technical details for these speakers: -crossover frequencies – 700 Hz, 3.6 kHz – 24 dB / octave; 12 kHz – 18 dB / octave; - frequency response – 45 Hz – 40 kHz; -power handling - 100 Watts Continuous  / 400 Watts Peak; - max recommended amplifier power – 200 watts; - Midrange Transducer – 100 mm (4 ") PolyPlas, shielded; - High Frequency Transducer - 19 mm (3/4 ") Titanium-laminate dome, shielded; EOS waveguide;-         Ultrahigh-Frequency Transducer - 19 mm (3/4 ") Polyester-film ring-radiator, shielded; EOS waveguide; -Nominal Impedance - 8 Ohms; -Dimensions (H x W x D) 1084 mm x 223 mm x 330 mm / 42-11/16 " x 8-3/4 " x 13 "; - Weight 21 kg / 46.3 lb

So if you are not an audio specialist, and these figures don’t say anything to you, then you should know that the Frequency Response from 45 hz to 40 khz shows just what we said earlier – that these speakers will offer a complete range of sounds, from a very deep and low bass to ultra high frequency sounds. The power handling of 100 Watts Continuous / 400 Watts Peak shows that they are quite powerful, and will be more than enough for an apartment room. But it won’t be just you to enjoy the sound at loud volumes, and your neighbors will enjoy it too (or maybe not J )

No matter what kind of activity you are doing at your computer, you will also need some sound. And to have sound you must have some speakers or headphones. But today we are going to discuss just about speakers. there are so many types of speakers that you can choose from, with different sizes, shapes and characteristics.



There are also many audio producers on the market, and some of them are: JBL, Harman Kardon, Bose, Altec Lansing,. Boston Acoustics, Logitech and so on. Today we are going to focus on the Boston Acoustics company, that was founded in 1979 in the United States of America by Fran Reed and Andy Kotsatos. Since then the company continued to develop and to bring great products such as computer speakers, audio systems, iPod speakers and also speakers for the auto industry.

And today we are going to discuss about a specific product from this company, and we’ll choose the Boston Acoustics MM 226 computer speaker system. This is a 2.1 system, that has two small speakers and a subwoofer. This system offers quite a good sound, with clear high sounds and also a deep bass thanks to the subwoofer. You can connect it to your computer, but also to other audio sources such as CD or MP3 player, iPod, and even to your Xbox game console.

Each satellite has 25 watts RMS of power, and the subwoofer has 50 watts RMS, so this means that the total power is 100 watts RMS. And this is quite a good power for a 2.1 system, and it means that you can throw a good party using this system. The design is simple but elegant, and the dimensions of the system are: 251 mm x 70 mm x 73 mm for each satellite speaker and 140 mm x 327 mm x 203 mm for the subwoofer. Each satellite speaker weighs 1.1 kg (2.6 lbs) and the subwoofer has a weight of 6 kg (13 lbs). So it is not a small system, but it is not very big either.

The Boston Acoustics MM 226 system has a price of about 180 dollars, so it is not such a cheap system. But it also sounds really good, so it will worth its money. It is available in two colors : black or white, depending on how the rest of your room looks. Besides the two speakers and the subwoofer you will also get a wired control pod. This device has the on and off switch and the knob for the overall volume. You can place this pod right on the table next to your hand, so you will easily be able to control the volume of the system. On the rear of the subwoofer there is also the knob for the bass level. And here there is also the AUX jack (for connecting other devices and music players) and the headphones jack.

The ratings and reviews for this system are quite good, and most of the users were really happy with the product. An user is saying that this is a perfect system for an apartment room, and it will sound good and also powerful when it needs to. He also suggests to use a good sound card to have the best sound quality for the system. Other users agree too that the sound is really good, complex and that will bring a new dimension to your music.

And not just the home users are saying that this is a good system…the professional sites and reviewers also agree that the bass and the overall sound for this system is very good. And if you are not pleased with the black or white available colors, you can choose to buy some colored grilles (for 18 dollars), and you can choose between these colors:  glacier, chocolat, rose bud, chili pepper, onyx, silver, caramel or pearl gray.