Shopping for Speakers

Today I decided that it’s finally time to replace my old Creative 2.1 set that I picked up in 2005. It still works fine, and it sounds great (always has) but the little satellite volume control pod has a short in the wires so it has to be in a very specific position in order to put out stereo sound (and sometimes any sound). So I headed to the Ultimate Destination For Online Shopping™, Amazon, to see what I could find.

I wasn’t looking for anything fancy; I’m replacing a $20 set I got at Wal-Mart six years ago. I did have some criteria for what I wanted, though. I wanted the speakers to have a grill (preferably stiff metal or plastic) to  protect them, and I wanted a satellite volume control like the one I have, except I wanted a headphone jack.

I’ve got two sets of speakers at my desk, one for my computer, and one for my PS3. My Computer has a Logitech X-540 5.1 sound system, and I’m pretty pleased with it. I don’t use the surround functions, but the sound is good and I really like the volume control box. That’s what sold me on the headphone jack on the box.

The set I finally settled on was the Logitech Z313 system. It was really the only thing I came across that fit my criteria. I don’t care for the look, but they look like they are about as good as I’m gonna get with my price range.

I have also decided that the reviews for speakers on Amazon are much more worthless than they are for most products. The majority of people are clueless (5/5, These sound great, maybe even the best ever, but they wouldn’t work at first because I couldn’t figure out how to plug them in! L-O-L!!!) or self professed audiophiles who have a severe case of internet know-it-all-itus (1/5, These are awful, the bass is terrible, highs are tinny, mid ranges are muddy. I threw them away after five minutes because my ears started bleeding from how bad they sound.).

The problem is that there might actually be some people who know something reviewing these things, but they’re drowned out by the deluge of people who know nothing, and also by those who know nothing but act like they know everything.