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.

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).

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 )

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.

For example there are the wireless speakers, and these are speakers that don’t have any wires. They are working with a transmitter that sends radio wave through the speakers. And as long as they are in the specified range from the transmitter, they will work and bring the sound from the computer or from any other kind of music player. You can use these speakers in your room, and place them anywhere you want because you will not be limited by the cables. But you can also take them in another room, and enjoy the sound there. And you can even go further and take them outside the house.

If you want some speakers to use them mostly outside the house, then you must choose some wireless outdoor speakers. These are specially build to last on difficult weather conditions, so they are weatherproof computer speakers. You can use them in the garden, or near the pool, or anywhere you want in your back yard. And you won’t have to worry about water splashing on them, or other weather conditions, because they will resist. Of course it is better to not expose them all the time to difficult weather conditions (so that they will last for longer), but if it’s really necessary you will be able to listen to some music while it’s raining or snowing.

There are many models of wireless outdoor speakers on the market, and some of them come in really interesting shapes. You can find speakers that are looking exactly like a rock, so they can fit much better into your garden. So now let’s discuss about some speakers of this type, and we’ll choose the Acoustic Research 900 Mhz wireless indoor / outdoor speaker AW 811.

The design is quite simple, but thanks to this design the sound will be spread in all the directions. It works with 900 MHz radio waves, and you can have the speaker at a distance of up to 300 feet away from the audio source (computer, other music players or even TV ). You can use this small speaker anywhere you want inside or outside the house – for example in the kitchen, bathroom, near the pool, or spa, in the garden and so on. The speaker is working with 8 C batteries or with an AC adapter. It may be possible that the speaker and the transmitter interfere with other 900 MHz devices around your house, and to avoid this you will have to tune the knobs on the transmitter and the speaker, until they sound good.

And now here are all the technical details for this speaker: -    Manufacturer: Acoustic Research; -  Max Power: 20 Watts from internal amplifier; -  Frequency Response:40Hz to 20,000Hz; -  Amplifier Distortion:< 1.5%; -  Woofer:5″ Waterproof; – Tweeter:1″ Dome; -  RF Frequency Range: 912.5 to 914.5MHz; – Transmitter Range : up to 300 feet-Dimensions:10.25″ h x 7.75″ w x 6.5″ d; – Weight:4.3 lbs.; – AC Power Source: Included 120 VAC to 12VDC adapter; -Battery Power (optional):8 “C” cells  – last 100 hours; – Warranty:1 year

And they are continuing to become even better, with state-of-the-art technologies included. And you won’t even have to pay a fortune to benefit from these advanced technologies…and you will pay around 300 dollars for  desktop computer or about 500 dollars for a laptop.

So the technology is becoming available for more and more people, and in time there will be more laptops than personal computers. In terms of speakers, we can consider that the laptops got back in time. The older versions of computers had a set of built in stereo speakers, that were not sounding so good, and were not powerful at all. In the time the audio industry had evolved more and more, and the speakers became external.

Today there are many types of computers speakers, in all sort of shapes, sizes, prices and with all sort of features. The simplest are the stereo speakers, and even if they are the smaller and simple ones, they can also have a lot of interesting shapes. For example you can find some speakers that are looking just like a gargoyle, or ones looking like a dragon. After the stereo speakers, there are the 2.1 systems. These are composed out of two small stereo speakers and also a subwoofer. The subwoofer will bring the deep and low sound frequencies (the bass), giving a new dimension to the sound. After the 2.1 systems there are the surround sound systems.

They have even more components, and these are: a subwoofer, a center channel and 4 or 6 satellite speakers. With all of these components, you will be able to enjoy a great audio experience. Beside the audio systems, there are also bookshelf speakers, floorstanding speakers, wireless speakers, in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, outdoor speakers and other types. And as you can figure it out, all of them are external speakers.

We have mentioned earlier that the laptops somehow went back in time in term of speakers. And this is because a laptop comes with built in stereo speakers, just like the old models of computers. Of course they sound a little better than those old integrated speakers, but still they are not that good. But this is not such a big problem, and if you want a better sound quality for your laptop, than you can buy some speakers for it. If you want to enjoy the better sound just at your home, then you can buy some regular and more powerful stereo speakers, or a 2.1 system, or even a surround sound system.

But you will be able to use these only at your home, and when you’ll be on the road, you will still have to use the integrated speakers of the laptop. But there is a solution for this problem too, and this is to buy some USB speakers. These are usually small and portable speakers that can be used even when you are on the road. So you might wonder where they get their energy from, because you can’t connect them to an AC adapter when traveling for example by train. They don’t run with batteries either, and they are getting the power right from the laptop. They have just one cable, which is both for the audio signal and for power.

For a laptop to be portable it needs to be small and easy, and also to be able to work without a power source…so the laptops are working with an included battery. But to have the same experience on a laptop as on a computer, you will also need some speakers. The integrated speakers from a laptop does not sound so good, so that’s why many people are choosing to buy some new speakers for their laptop. You can get some regular stereo speakers  or a sound system, but you will be able to use them only at home, because of their size. And even if you get some small stereo speakers, you still won’t be able to use them with your laptop, for example in a train. And this is because they also require a power source. So for some speakers to be portable, they also need to have those 2 proprieties: first of all to be small and lightweight, and secondly to get their power from somewhere else rather than an AC power plug.

Engineers could have made some speakers to run on batteries, but then you will always had to be sure that the batteries are charged, before going on a trip. So they found an even better solution: the USB powered computer speakers. These are usually very small and easy speakers, that have just one cable. This cable is both for the audio signal,  and for the power. And guess where they get their power from?…right from the computer or laptop! They are connected with the laptop through an USB port, so whenever the laptop has power, the speakers will work too. This way you won’t need to worry about batteries, or about finding a power supply.

There are many models of USB portable speakers on the market, and today we are going to discuss about one of them. We’ll take the Tritton Sound Bite digital speaker. Usually an USB speaker has one driver included, that will give a regular sound. But this is quite an unusual USB speaker, that has 3 drivers, and that will give a sound similar to that from a 2.1 audio system. A 2.1 system is composed out of 2 stereo speakers and a subwoofer. And it is pretty much the same with this speaker, that has 2 small drivers and also a bass drivers…all included in one single unit.

So this means you will have a full and rich sound, through all of the sound ranges. All of the included speakers are magnetically shielded so you can place them close to the laptop or monitor without interfering with it. It has a total power of 5 watts RMS, meaning that it’s not as powerful as a 2.1 system. But to use it in a hotel room, or a train, or at a picnic it will be OK. The speaker has a price of 31 dollars, dimensions of 110 mm x 110 mm x 42 mm and a mass of 280 g. So you will easily be able to place it in your luggage, or even in your pocket.

Like we said Samsung is the leader in the electronics market and it produces all kind of devices such as : TV-s, home theaters, blu-ray players, DVD players, Camcorders, mobile telephones, mp3 players, mobile phone accessories, digital cameras, laptops, printers, monitors, hard disk and optical disk drivers and others. Today we are going to discuss about some of the Samsung home audio systems.

The company offers some high quality home theater systems, and you will find both 2.1 and 5.1 systems. A 2.1 system is composed out of 2 stereo speakers and a subwoofer, while a 5.1 system has a subwoofer, a center channel and 4 satellite speakers. Since they are home theater systems they will also include a DVD player or something similar.

The company’s products make nice and elegant gifts for any occasion such as Christmas, a wedding, a birthday, graduation or Father’s day. The company is known mostly for its radio devices, but beside this it also makes Network Global Audio Systems, Hi-Fi Systems, iPod speakers and docks, satellite radios, portable devices and other audio accessories. So today we are going to discuss about some of the Tivoli home audio devices.

As you can see these are stereo devices, meaning that they are composed out of two speakers. Even though you might say that it is looking like an old piece of furniture, because it is made out of wood, you will be really surprised to find out that inside of it there are so many advanced technologies included. One of them, and probably the most important one, is the broadcasting technology. You won’t need to turn a knob on and on until you find the right tune (like you had to do on the old radios), but you will connect to a radio station through the internet. So you won’t be able to listen just the local or national radio stations, but you will have the opportunity to listen to any radio station in the world. Whether it is an Italian opera radio station from Milan or a hip hop radio station from Detroit, you will be able to enjoy anything you want. The speakers can also be connected to a computer to enjoy music from it, or you can combine these speakers with other components such as a subwoofer. The price for these speakers varies between 600 and 750 dollars, depending on the model you choose. The ratings for these devices are quite good with an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. And the reviews are also good, most of the people that used them before are recommending them to anyone.

We’ll let you discover all the other product categories, and we’ll skip to the accessories category. Among other products here you can also find the Model Subwoofer. This comes as an useful accessory to any other device from Tivoli Audio (such as Model Two stereo, Model Satellite or Model Three clock radio), to give an extra amount of bass to that device. This subwoofer has a 5 ¼ inch bass driver and a 20 watts internal amplifier. It has a nice and simple design, made out of wood to easily match your furniture. Like we said it has a total power of 20 watts, so it’s not that really powerful. Actually the Model Subwoofer was designed to subtly enhance the music you are listening to, and not to make your windows vibrate. It features two knobs, one for power on / off, and the other for volume control. When turned on Auto on / standby the subwoofer will automatically start when it receives a signal and will standby when there is no signal. It comes in cherry metallic taupe or black ash silver design, and it costs 160 dollars.