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[DeletedUser]

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[AgentCooper]

Wot you reckon, @SpyderTracks ?

I’m a bit out of the loop these days (but I can tell you all the best nappy brands) so I’m looking to you on this one.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I didn't respond because @CountingDown and I have the same headset and I'm a huge huge Steel Series fan as a result, just incredible sounding for the price. But I too have no experience of their speakers as yet.

I did take a look at some of the review on these and they looked very positive from a SQ perspective.

The only thing I'd say is that if you're coming from a full Technics setup with speakers, you're going to lack mid range and bass with these as they're just the satellites. Whenever just getting a small PC speaker setup like this, I would personally advocate for at least a 2.1 system with a small sub with it to pad out the lower end.

I did look at the Arena 7 but it's a huge bump up in price unfortunately.

At this budget range of around £120 I did find a couple of 2.1s

LOGITECH Z407

Or Z533 reduced a bit here: https://www.box.co.uk/Logitech-Z533...MIptPlk-mV_gIVkIBQBh3eKQRNEAQYGCABEgI-f_D_BwE

Edifier C2XD: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/edif...m-with-distortion-control-c2xd-sp-039-er.html

Apologies, haven't gone in depth as to if they have the outputs you require, but hopefully that gives you some food for thought.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I was all set to go for the Arena 3s....and then, after doing some testing, realising I didn't need 2 inputs and a headphone out but merely needed a single input so it opened up a lot more speakers.

Having a separate sub is a good call..however, for my uses I don't think it's needed...despite having a powerful Technics system, the bass is almost non-existent due to needing to keep it right down (my block of flats were built on a shoestring budget and bass travels) so I pretty much just use speakers for listening to music when I am surfing the web in the mornings....the rest of the time I use my Arctis 7s either from the PC direct or, as will be the case, wired from the TV when using my 4k Blu-Ray player. And if I ever feel the need to crank the music and/or bass up, I just use my headset.

I'm probably just going to go for something like the Creative Inspire T10s or similar..less than £50 and should do what I need. I've got plenty of time anyway as it's probably going to be a while before my new PC comes given it will be in the 7800x3D queue!

Sorry, you had mentioned that and I totally forgot about bass levels for the neighbours.

In that case, based on the reviews I'm seeing, and my experience with Steel Series, I would say the Arena 3's are pretty fantastic for the price range, they come across as being really detailed and concise. Good for media and gaming.

Creatives are often hard to beat at the budget level though.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I like the Arena 3s...the sound quality is pretty much what I'd expect from a Steelseries product....bass is good and punchy without being over-powering, trebles and mids seem good (from a non-audiophile POV anyway).....listened to Eva Cassidy's rendition of true Colours (her vocals give a good indication of treble) and the Prodigy's No Good (bass).

The speakers themselves don't have a dial to adjust bass etc which I found a little disappointing...however, you can use the Sonar part of Steelseries' GG software....it has various setups for gaming and media, equalisers, spatial sound etc..plenty to adjust.

There are plenty of ports for connecting things (2 inputs + a headphone port) and it has Bluetooth connectivity although what you can connect and how is not something I have looked into.

My only real issue with these speakers is that they are mains-powered and have no off-switch! Luckily, my surge protector/multi plug tower has off buttons so I can turn them off at night but it;s still annoying as I had to rearrange my plugs accordingly.

Overall: For a set of £100 speakers, I would definitely recommend them, providing you have space for them (I ended up spending another £45 to get some speaker stands for them)

This picture doesn't fully illustrate their size due to the angle and where they are positioned but you can still get a general indication of size by the Series X console underneath:

View attachment 36662

It's amazing the sound that can be produced in a frankly tiny package these days.

Steel Series never cease to amaze me, you say you're not coming from an audiophile perspective, I would tend to think I am purely in the essence of wanting decent sound rather than constantly upgrading to the new thing, but I've found Steel Series to be remarkably good sound quality at quite frankly low budgets, they are I would say by far the best when considering price point, there's no one else close. Perhaps Edifier.

 

[Martinr36]

hopefully this appeases the cable management god

You mean @AgentCooper

 

[AgentCooper]