W
ith gaming
headsets and
high-end
headphones all
the rage, PC
speakers are the forgotten child of
the enthusiast PC market. Not today.
Spending just £30 or so will get you
a huge upgrade in quality and volume.
Not that £30 is as much as you can or
should spend. We’ve compiled a
selection of speakers that runs from
under £20 all the way up to £400.
Whether you’re after something basic
for occasional use or you really want to
make an impact, you’ll find a speaker
set here to suit you.
Q&A
How much bass do I need?
As much as you want. It’s that
simple. If you like how certain
speakers sound, get the
biggest sub you can and
enjoy. However, as general
rule, spending the same
amount on speakers without a
separate sub-woofer will get
you better overall sound
quality, so it comes down to
what sort of music you like.Do watts matter?
The wattage rating you’ll see
on speaker systems is only a
very crude indication of how
loud they can get. That’sbecause there are several
other factors in play, such as
speaker/driver efficiency. As
a rough indicator, wattage can
be useful, but pay attention to
the RMS (root mean square)
level and not the peak level.Quantity or quality?
One of the biggest
considerations is whether to
go for less powerful but better
quality speakers or all out
power. Generally I’d opt for
the former when it comes to
games, but if you’re looking
for something that you can
really crank up for parties – or
just when you’re doing a bit of
housework – then you may
want that extra oomph.Dictionary
2.0, 2.1, 5.1...?
The number of speakers in a
set. The first number tells you
how many satellite speakers
there are, the second how
many sub-woofers. Soundbar
speakers have several
satellites in one bar and often
have virtual surround sound.Frequency response
The range of audio
frequencies – measured in
hertz (Hz) – the speaker set
can reproduce. Somewhere
around 50Hz to 20kHz is
typical, but numbers outside
that range deliver more.Group test
SPEAKERS