How to Buy Computer Speakers

If you play graphics-oriented games or use multimedia CDs on your computer, good external stereo speakers can greatly enhance your experience.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer Speakers
• Computers

1. Buy inexpensive, magnetically shielded, powered speakers if you want basic speakers for speech and computer sounds.
2. Choose a three-piece system with a ported sub-woofer if you want lots of boom to accompany action games.
3. Buy a two-way, two-piece, powered speaker system in sealed enclosures with no port if you want to use your CD drive as a boom box.
4. Decide where you'll put speakers, especially a sub-woofer, to determine which size speakers to consider.
5. Decide which external controls you want, such as on/off, volume, tone, mute and balance.
6. Bring a favorite CD along when you audition the speakers. Make sure the CD includes a wide range of sounds, from bass to treble.

Tips & Warnings

• Speakers priced between $20 and $70 are usually about the same quality as the generic ones that come with computers.
• Plan to spend at least $100 if you want to upgrade from stock speakers.
• Avoid very inexpensive computer speakers that are battery powered.
• Early-model speakers made to connect to a USB port are inferior to speakers that connect to the analog output on your sound card.
• Your sound card, or the sound chip on your motherboard, will be a limiting factor for any speakers you buy. Check the specifications that came with your card or computer for its limitations.
• You must buy magnetically shielded speakers, as unshielded speakers will cause interference on your monitor.
• The inside of a computer is a very noisy environment with conflicting magnetic fields, which degrade sound quality.
• Power and frequency-response specifications are extremely misleading and inaccurate. For example, a powered speaker system rated at 30 watts may exhibit severe distortion beyond 10 watts.

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