Computer Speakers
After my CD ripping project was coming to an end I had more energy to devote to being annoyed by my computer speakers. They sucked. They were crappy $99 Altec Lansing power speakers (big powered subwoofer and tiny satellites). I knew they weren't going to be very good when I bought them but I did it anyways, because I really couldn't stand the ones I had before that.
I was also thinking to myself that I spend lots of time in front of my computer and 99% of the time that I listen to music at home it's in front of the computer. I had some really good Paradigm Phantoms that I bought in college but they were way too big for my computer room (and they were being used elsewhere). What I wanted was a set of two one-foot-high speakers that could fit on my desk, with no subwoofers, and a small high quality amp.
I did a lot of research and ended up with Paradigm again, the Atoms this time. Paradigm produces really good, but inexpensive, speakers. It's strange that they aren't more popular. I guess people like really loud speakers, and Paradigms don't get very loud.
They sound excellent!
I had a lot more trouble finding an amplifier that I wanted. Most amps are huge integrated amps with lots of buttons on the front and lots of RCA inputs in the back. I was looking for something much smaller and simpler. I also wasn't very concerned with power. It turns out that most of the time when we listen to music inside, at reasonable levels, we're using less than one watt of power. In fact, you can tell how loud your speakers are going to be by looking at their Sensitivity Rating, which is in dB/watt/meter. My speakers are rated at 89dB/watt/meter, which means that at one meter from my ears (which is exactly how far away they are on my desk) they will output 89 dB when given 1 watt of input. Just to give you an idea how loud that is: 80 dB is as loud as a vacuum cleaner and 90 dB is as loud as a heavy truck. So one watt is more than enough for my computer speakers. That's why you'll sometimes hear an audiophile say that their amp "gives good first watt".
In my next essay I'll write about my quest to find the perfect amp. In the meantime I've been using the $30 6 watt T-Amp which actually sounds pretty good.
I was also thinking to myself that I spend lots of time in front of my computer and 99% of the time that I listen to music at home it's in front of the computer. I had some really good Paradigm Phantoms that I bought in college but they were way too big for my computer room (and they were being used elsewhere). What I wanted was a set of two one-foot-high speakers that could fit on my desk, with no subwoofers, and a small high quality amp.
I did a lot of research and ended up with Paradigm again, the Atoms this time. Paradigm produces really good, but inexpensive, speakers. It's strange that they aren't more popular. I guess people like really loud speakers, and Paradigms don't get very loud.
They sound excellent!
I had a lot more trouble finding an amplifier that I wanted. Most amps are huge integrated amps with lots of buttons on the front and lots of RCA inputs in the back. I was looking for something much smaller and simpler. I also wasn't very concerned with power. It turns out that most of the time when we listen to music inside, at reasonable levels, we're using less than one watt of power. In fact, you can tell how loud your speakers are going to be by looking at their Sensitivity Rating, which is in dB/watt/meter. My speakers are rated at 89dB/watt/meter, which means that at one meter from my ears (which is exactly how far away they are on my desk) they will output 89 dB when given 1 watt of input. Just to give you an idea how loud that is: 80 dB is as loud as a vacuum cleaner and 90 dB is as loud as a heavy truck. So one watt is more than enough for my computer speakers. That's why you'll sometimes hear an audiophile say that their amp "gives good first watt".
In my next essay I'll write about my quest to find the perfect amp. In the meantime I've been using the $30 6 watt T-Amp which actually sounds pretty good.