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Boochie · Oct 27, 2002, 05:00 PM

I just made the switch to an LCD monitor. The time has come to replace my Labtec speakers, which looked fine next to a beige Viewsonic CRT but are far too ugly to be placed next to the work of art that is the Apple monitor. Any recommendations for speakers that (a) sound good for games; and (b) will complement the appearance of the flat panel monitor?

idyll · Oct 27, 2002, 08:10 PM

http://www.apple.com/speakers/ ?

raferx · Oct 28, 2002, 01:21 AM

Monsoon rocks... I had the Apple Pro Speakers, and I worked on a machine with Soundsticks... and I'm here to tell you that my Monsoon MM-702's kill anything Apple is putting out.

http://www.monsoonpower.com/index_mmedia.htm

Boochie · Oct 28, 2002, 08:02 AM

These sound OK, alas the cord they come with is far too short to reach my G4, which sits on the ground. Of course Apple had to go and use a proprietary connector, so a mini-jack extension cord won't work. I can see the rationale for a pseudo-proprietary connector such as ADC for the monitor, but for speakers it makes no sense at all.

Originally posted by idyll:
http://www.apple.com/speakers/ ?

duboy · Oct 28, 2002, 08:08 AM

boochie, if you want flat go for the monsoons like raferx said. i am currently selling my set of mm-2000's and floor stands for less than soundsticks would cost. check the buy sell forum or email me at steve@darg.net if you're interested!

tramahound · Oct 28, 2002, 09:29 AM

i like the new Creature speakers. they look cool and sound good from what i could tell at compusa

TimmyDee51 · Oct 31, 2002, 07:16 AM

I have the Pro Speakers for my G4 and the cord reaches to the ground just fine. How far away is your tower?

Boochie · Oct 31, 2002, 12:48 PM

Some of the reviews on the Monsoon speakers suggest that their sound quality drops off quite a bit if you're not sitting in the "sweet spot." Have you found this to be the case? Do they sound excessively bright? The technology Monsoon uses would seem to lend itself to overemphasis on high-frequency content.

Originally posted by raferx:
Monsoon rocks... I had the Apple Pro Speakers, and I worked on a machine with Soundsticks... and I'm here to tell you that my Monsoon MM-702's kill anything Apple is putting out.

http://www.monsoonpower.com/index_mmedia.htm

duboy · Oct 31, 2002, 01:11 PM

boochie,

yes, the monsoon do have a distinctive sweet spot, i found that is not a problem though since i am pretty much always at the sweet spot when i'm listening to them (at my computer). they are not too bright,just very clear. once you listen to all your music, mp3's especially you'll begin to see the flaws of encoding. but if it's a good CD the sound is great. and coming from small speakers. my set is still available if anyone is interested! email me steve@darg.net

Boochie · Oct 31, 2002, 01:13 PM

How do they sound if you're not in the sweet spot; e.g., just walking around the room, standing behind the person sitting at the computer, etc.?

Originally posted by duboy:
boochie,

yes, the monsoon do have a distinctive sweet spot, i found that is not a problem though since i am pretty much always at the sweet spot when i'm listening to them (at my computer). they are not too bright,just very clear. once you listen to all your music, mp3's especially you'll begin to see the flaws of encoding. but if it's a good CD the sound is great. and coming from small speakers. my set is still available if anyone is interested! email me steve@darg.net

duboy · Oct 31, 2002, 01:19 PM

boochie,

they still sound good, but they sound more like traditional cone speakers when you're out of the sweet spot. the stereo imaging is not as apparent and the highs are not as clear. but the sound is still good. because of the design of the speaker, i think the biggest issue with not being in the sweet spot is volume. the volume at the sweet spot seems to be about 15-20% louder than outside. this was never a problem for me though

Mac Zealot · Nov 1, 2002, 09:49 PM

The pro speakers also have a sweet spot like that lol.

*shrug* if you want pro speakers but not the problems involved with them get the jbl creatures, they are identical if I'm not mistaken.

Have fun!

wubrew · Nov 2, 2002, 05:29 PM

www.harman-muktimedia.com:)

wubrew · Nov 2, 2002, 05:30 PM

sorry thats www.harman-multimedia.com

Boochie · Nov 3, 2002, 09:26 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. I listened to the JBL Creatures yesterday at my neighborhood Apple Store, and they both sounded good and looked good next to a FP monitor. Alas the salesman had no empowerment to price match with competitors, so they didn't get my business.

wubrew · Nov 4, 2002, 10:56 PM

Boochie,
Check out www.dealmac.com for coupon for the hk speaker. I got it (creature) for $89 a couple of months ago through a deal posted there. I am using it with my portable CD/mp3 player. I don't know whether the 17" imac comes witha "powered" jack. If so your best bet is with 'apple pro' speaker and hk isub. I have that combo with my G4 800DP. It sounds awsome!

taffy · Nov 6, 2002, 09:48 PM

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
The pro speakers also have a sweet spot like that lol.

*shrug* if you want pro speakers but not the problems involved with them get the jbl creatures, they are identical if I'm not mistaken.

Have fun!

Mac Zealot, how do you come about saying that the pro speakers and jbl creatures are the same?

c.

scottiB · Nov 7, 2002, 12:54 PM

They are the same speaker in a different case. JBL is owned by Harman | Kardon.

And...the Creatures are fugly. Get the SoundSticks--Xmas is coming, that's how I got mine.

Mac Zealot · Nov 7, 2002, 01:15 PM

Originally posted by wubrew:
Boochie,
Check out www.dealmac.com for coupon for the hk speaker. I got it (creature) for $89 a couple of months ago through a deal posted there. I am using it with my portable CD/mp3 player. I don't know whether the 17" imac comes witha "powered" jack. If so your best bet is with 'apple pro' speaker and hk isub. I have that combo with my G4 800DP. It sounds awsome!

ditto!

Boochie · Nov 8, 2002, 04:58 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions in response to my original question. My JBL Creatures just arrived from Amazon, and they look great next to the flat panel Apple monitor. And they don't sound bad at all.