Recommend me a set of 2.1s?

[fatlazyhomer]

I'm looking for a set of 2.1s that will be plugged into my house's TV, or possibly my PC if its significantly better than my current system.

The living room isnt that big. The couch is only about 7 feet away from the 52" screen. I don't need anything that will fill the room with sound because the adjacent neighbors will get bothered. But I would like something more immersive than the current TV speakers, and a nice Sub would be wonderful.

I would prefer to keep the budget at 150$ max, which is already double than the set of 7.1s I bought for my PC 5 years ago. I'm not an audiophile or anything, but I would like a good setup that will last me for a decade.

[fatlazyhomer]

I'm thinking about getting these:
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studio...dp_ob_title_ce

[John C]

I loved my AV40's, but they do have some reliability issues. Do a google search.
I went with a pair of Parts express speakers: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-652, and an amp also from Parts Express: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-383
The speakers are very impressived, once again check reviews, they sound waaayyy above their price point. And the little amp works very well and is a good match. This combo simply blows away and 2-channel computers I have ever heard, for $130.

[fatlazyhomer]

It does seem like theres a reason MAUDIO only has a 1 year warranty.

I'm definitely thinking about the Parts one. My god those are cheap. Are the amps really needed?

Add:

I'm gonna order the Daytons. For 40$, what the heck. Amps are just to make it louder right? If its loud enough out the box, I wont need an amp right?

[sttubs]

I bought the Logitech Z523s for my son & my daugther's rooms. They have the computer hooked up & an Ipod, both sound great. The bass is pretty impressive for it's size. The part I liked is the bass has it's own volume separate from the overall speaker volume. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...21036&Tpk=z523

Edit: Were you looking for a powered setup like I posted or were you looking for something like the non-powered Daytons?

[John C]

It does seem like theres a reason MAUDIO only has a 1 year warranty.

I'm definitely thinking about the Parts one. My god those are cheap. Are the amps really needed?

Add:

I'm gonna order the Daytons. For 40$, what the heck. Amps are just to make it louder right? If its loud enough out the box, I wont need an amp right?

No, you will need the amp. The sound card is just a line-level signal that wont power speakers.

[fatlazyhomer]

I'm hooking it up to my TV. Will I still need the amp?

Im looking at this amp:
http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-D...ecc_rvi_cart_2

Its just for my living room. Should I spring for the 50w? That seems a tad excessive.

I just saw this on the front page of slickdeals:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3276846

Should I get it and put it next to the couch?

[fatlazyhomer]

Ok, I ordered the sub too. Now its just the amp I gotta figure out.

I'm also thinking about either one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Lepai-Tripath-.../ref=pd_cp_e_1

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=248-462

I just realized the speakers I ordered use spring clips. I'm not familiar with this format, but it doesnt look too difficult to set up. But will I have to order the wires separate?

[fatlazyhomer]

Ok, so I got the speakers and the Lepai Amp.

Hooked em up, and they sound good.

But how do I hook up the sub when I get that? The Line-Out for my TV is going into the Line-In for the Amp, and the Amp is going to the speakers. How do I hook up another Line-Out for the sub? Do I get RCA splitters?

[John C]

You can get rca splitters for the sub, or even easier you can run the speaker wires to the sub's speaker level inputs. You can run speaker wires to both speakers and the sub from the speaker outs on the amp. Since the sub is only using to signal to amplify, there is no danger to the amp running it hooked up to both speakers and sub.

[fatlazyhomer]

Thanks, I shall try that.

[fatlazyhomer]

Unfortunately the sub got damaged in shipping. The plugs were torn half off. I filed for RMA, but I was able to hook it up anyways. This did seem to put additional strain on the amp though. I can barely turn the knob 1/4 now before it'll start shorting out.

I'm going to return this AMP and get a bigger one. But this one is rated at 20W per channel, and the one you have is only at 25W.