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Review on πŸ”Š Enhance Your Sound Experience with Edifier R980T Active Bookshelf Speakers - 2.0 Computer Speaker by Josh Ramos

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Slightly better than Logitech up to the Z533 series or so

*Note. The terminals are designed for cables up to 14 ga. Not that it's necessary for this low-power, near-field setup. Just a note. And the included cable is only about 18 ga. So these things are hard to pin down, there's a lot of good and bad that for $60 you have to consider real studio monitors or hi-fi speakers are 6 times the price. to get started usually. My review also comes from the standpoint of using them for computer desk speakers at work versus two other pre-built 2.1 systems I've had in the past. 2.1, let me just say, if you're not very keen on a flatter presentation and average audio clarity, skip the hassle and get the Logitech Z625 instead. It's inherently louder, THX certified and comes with a subwoofer. So for $100, you save some money, crank up the volume, and don't have a headache. BUT. If you like clean music more than volume and bass, this is a good starting point for a pair of powered speakers. I wouldn't normally buy the cheapest monitors the company sells, but I needed a new sound for my desktop and I can't listen to billion-decibel music anyway, so I bought these. I would immediately compare them to the Logitech z333 system in terms of bass, volume and sound reproduction. At 12 watts per side, they're not much louder than Logitech, which only have 5 or 6 watts per side. The difference is that they feed the woofer and tweeter in both enclosures, rather than just a smaller general-purpose woofer like the Logitech satellites. So they share power, and that makes sense. BUT unlike Logitech's junk, you get the whole volume range with it. Logitech kits claim all that power etc in their adverts, but when it comes to bumping it up to 11, you get significant distortion from any Logitech kit. It's the other way around. You can crank it up to 11 and leave it on all day and you won't get any distortion assuming there aren't any issues with your signal etc. And the sound is a lot cleaner and a lot smoother than Logitech's EQ. Now that doesn't mean these things are real monitors and really flat EQ because they aren't. However, you can tell they were still a bit ahead to make a subtle streak in the range. much thinner than other media speakers for computers under $100. Right now Edifier's best speaker set is also under $100 and if I weren't trying to spend as little as possible I'd go for the R1280T instead, which isn't hard, these things are phenomenal speakers for the price. The other positive thing about these speakers is that their amplifiers really aren't powerful enough for what the cones are actually capable of. Some people would see it as a bad thing or like they're sacrificing or something, but no, they need to make sure you can crank the volume all the way up without distortion and make sure their product sounds good. Many companies do this. On that note, if you have a tube preamp or DAC that you can hook up to these things, holy moth, they explode in volume. With a cheap preamp these things range from about the same volume as a Logitech z333 system to something I would expect of 40 or 50 watts RMS for satellites only. With the right add-ons, you can get some serious sound out of these speakers. Because of this, most people can get more bang for their buck with a pre-built 2.1 system, but if you're like me and concerned with sound, you might have a DAC, preamp, mixer, or similar stuff you're experimenting with be able. they can sound very good for the price. Don't forget that these things currently cost $59. And I'm planning to add a small subwoofer right now. They're good at low frequencies, but to get them you need to boost the bass above neutral and I don't like that. Monoprice is currently offering a 60W 8-inch subwoofer for just $60. It's worth supplementing them and creating a legitimate entry-level 2.1 system.

Pros
  • Computer speakers
Cons
  • Almost OK