Spending $100 at Best Buy on Speakers

[racketboy]

Ok, here's the situation.

I got a $100 gift card to Best Buy from my in-laws.

I really am not much for Best Buy.

I don't buy games at full price -- I usually buy them used online.

But I am looking into getting speakers (regular, not PC) in the next year or so.

So I was thinking about using my gift card towards that.

Unfortunately, I dont' think Best Buy has a setup that lets you listen to speakers too well.

Are there any recommendations of Brands/Models that would be good for the $100-$150 range.

I'm also not sure about getting a 2 channel setup or a surround sound.

I want it to be good for music, so I'm kinda hesitant to get a surround system.

 

[Alexvrb]

That kind of money won't get you a decent surround system anyway. Besides, you wanted it for music. I don't know what to recommend... I have only looked at PC speakers at Best Buy recently, and they were still somewhat overpriced. But they did have a nice 2.1 Altec Lansing set I wouldn't mind having, if only I had large sums of money to blow on stuff I don't need.

Did I mention that the PC games section at my Best Buy has shrunk and is now fairly lame?

 

[racketboy]

It wouldn't only used for music -- but gaming and movies as well. I just don't want it to suck for music.

Lemme point out that I'm not into bass heavy stuff music-wise, so that's not a huge issue.

BTW, if anybody want to buy the card off me for like $90 or something, I might think about that as well 🙂

 

[lordofduct]

ILL BUY IT!

 

[racketboy]

k -- I'll think about it 🙂

I would feel guilty about pawning off a gift, but I'll give it some consideration.

If anyone can give me recommendations on the speakers I would appreciate it 🙂

 

[IceDigger]

They do have an enclosed area just so you can listen to thier speakers. A good idea is to look for boxes that have "open item" listed. I got a really good pair of sony speakers for $60 that were originally listed for $150 just because they were returned. They work and sound awesome.

 

[it290]

My personal opinion is that you should have a seperate sound system for movies/gaming and music. Most surround speaker sets that you will find don't really sound good for music until you move in to the higher end stuff. The same is of course true of stereo setups, but it's a lot easier to find a pair of good speakers either used or on sale than it is to find a complete, good quality surround setup.

You say you're just looking for speakers, but you don't know if you should get surround or stereo speakers... well, what kind of amp do you have? Because $100-150 invested in speakers alone is quite different from $100-$150 invested in a complete setup.

That said, I recently bought an RCA RT2380 surround system for about $150. It supports Pro Logic II and Dolby Digital, and has coax, optical, and RCA inputs. I have no complaints about the quality. It's not super crystal clear, but you're not going to get that for $150. It works great for watching movies and playing games, but when it comes to music, it just won't cut it. Of course, if you live in an apartment, your mileage may vary.

 

[racketboy]

Well I paid $300 for my Pioneer receiver a couple years ago.

I don't have the model # handy.

 

[Runik]

I bought Mission speakers for my dvd setup, the sound is awesome, but I'm not sure you'll find any around 100$ ...

The front ones costed me around 380 euros and it was a real bargain. I don't even need a subwoofer with those 😛

 

[VertigoXX]

Get a good pair of front channel speakers. For music, you can turn surround sound off on your reciever, and the front channel speakers become stereo speakers. Then to complete the surround sound set-up, a set of good mid-range center and rear channel speakers will do. As for a sub-woofer, I'd say go a bit higher on that, but no need to go overboard. But best place to start is with a set of high-end stereo speakers for the front channels. Problem is, brand new at Best Buy, you're looking at $150 each speaker.

Honestly, if nothing else, use the gift card to buy DVD's or computer parts. Or wait till after the new year and get your Nintendo DS with it.

 

[Alexvrb]

DVDs, sure. Computer parts from Best Buy? *shudders*

"I saved negative three-hundred dollars by buying locally!"

 

[Raijin Z]

If I had a hundred bucks to blow, I'd spend it on computer parts... or put it towards a DS...