What do these specs mean: frequency response, signal to noise ratio (SNR), and watts? Well I know watts is the amount of electrical work done but what does that mean when applied to speakers? For example, there are these logitech speakers which are only 4 watts (click on the yellow/orange "specification" tab), whereas these other ones are similarly ridiculously cheap but the specs say P.M.P.O. 600 watts! what the hell? Why the incredibly huge difference and what does the watt rating of speakers mean anyway? And what are these frequrency response ranges and SNR ratings all about?
I dont know about SNR, but all i can say is, watts aint the most important thing, people usually jump at a system thats cheap and have big wattage numbers. but you want to know the RMS value, not max, also P.M.P.O, i am not sure exatly about this, but i read somewere that P.M.P.O can be something like the normal wattage, aint sure if its RMS or Max, and them its been times by 8 or something. The one you linked to second, i wouldent be surprised if it were like 30watts really. Also, i wouldent really count watts much anymore, most PC speaker systems and All in one home theatre system aint really putting out how many watts they say, for example, my Logitech Z5500 is rated at 500W RMS, 62w RMS sattelites, when the drivers are really only rated at 12w RMS, dunno about the subwoofer, sure the system still kicks for what it is, and that proves, watts aint everything, and that Logitech lies
Frequency response is basically how sensitive your speakers are to the signal from you amp/source. Id imagine when they quote "frequency response" figures they are telling you the range of frequencies the speakers will output. Signal to noise ratio is a way of measuring how much sound coming from the speakers is actually supposed to be there. ie If there is background noise which isnt part of the music or sound. Watts is obviously how much power is going to the speakers. I dont know what the difference between pmpo and rms is, it must be something to do with the way measurements are made to the current. Willz said it though, its the rms you want to pay attention to. I feel the reason pmpo is used used in product descriptions is simply to con people into buy a speaker they think is better because it has a higher wattage rating. I remember reading in What Hi-Fi mags some of the most expensive amplifiers (thousands and thousands of pounds) are only rated at 4w! I suppose there will be less noise comping from the speaker if there is less consumption. They were generally for headphones. Id personally ignore the wattage altogether!! Your after 2.0 speakers so if you want volume just get the biggest speakers or get a 2.1. If you will ever play music or games through the speakers id get a 2.1 system everytime. The sound is so so much better than a 2.0 speaker. Its all down to the frequency response. Its the bass which makes modern music good imo and you cant get enough through small speakers which a big range in tones.
Well it depends, if you go into seperates, a 2.0 system is perfectly ok, get a nice pair of B&W 602's or something, thats 2.0, but it has loud bass on it all the way down to around 40hz which is damnd good, a propor 2.1 system the subwoofer would only be dealing with 40hz and below, on all in one systems, subwoofers are mid range too, my system, the subwoofer goes all the way up to 120hz! due to small sattelites and onyl goes down to 25-33hz. Obviously he is not looking for anything special though, but those speakers that he linked to, i dont think they would be good for anything now, just windows noises, a nice set of Z2300's from logitech will do, there about £90 though. Just to give you an idea of how much of a con P.M.P.O is, my last speaker set was around 50w RMS, and this was advertised as 500W P.M.P.O, around 9 time difference....
Thanks, guys! That clears up some things. Willz is right, though: I'm really not looking for anything great here. I already have decent 2.1 speakers for my main computer, and therefore I definitely do not plan on listening to my music on the ones that I end up buying. They would actually be for my old computer that I'm restoring, which I'm talking about in my other thread. I figure I don't want to spend much $ on speakers for a computer which I won't even use as much as my main one. The other reason I thought 2.0 speakers would be good is 'cuz I am kinda limited on space. I was planning on sticking them behind the monitor (a CRT), which is jammed in between the wall and the hutch on the desk. Thirdly, I was even thinking that maybe I'll occasionally lug them around with me for use with my laptop. That definitely would not be possible with a 2.1 system lol. - But this leads me to another question if you or anyone else could help me some more. Since I plan to squeeze them in right beside my monitor, is magnetic shielding important?? I notice that some of the speakers tout that as a feature. Like these ones say "Magnetically Shielded For Use Near Monitors" in the list of features (click the orange "specifications" tab if you follow my link). Other speakers don't mention anything about that. So is this another con? Or is magnetic distortion a real concern? I was going to put them really, really close to the monitor. Literally touching it, basically. (Short on space)
What spakers you using? Magnetic field can be an issue for CRT monitors if the speakers are not shielded, but i dont think the magnetic field actually effects other things like LCD monitors, its best to read reviews on your speakers to try to find if there magnetically shielded, but one test is, you place you speaker near the monitor, if the monitor goes a wierd colour in parts closer to the speakers, then there not magnetically shielded, i was tryign to place my subwoofer downstairs once, and because its not magnetically shielded, the screen on the tv went purple, like half of it lol, and it was a meter away from the tv.
Well I haven't bought the speakers yet, of course, so I can't tell you what speakers I'm using. That's why I'm concerned, because if I order them online, I won't be able to test them and take them back if they cause my monitor to act up. But also, is it possible for the problem to go the other way? Can the monitor distort the sound from the speakers?
No the Monitor cant distort the sound from the speakers, if the Monitor does, then the speakers must be faulty and very very crappy, if you see a nice pair of speakers you live, go google then and find some reviews.
Well I decided to buy these logitech ones. They have 40 solid reviews, and no one has said anything about them distorting the monitor display so I figure they must be shielded alright. Just one person said he was catching some stray AM radio waves one time...
Wait a min, why 2.0 speakers when you allready have 2.1?? you do realize going from 2.1 to 2.0 wont be very good, the 2.1 system will have better bass, and the 2.0 system will sound like its missing something, which is the lower end of songs.
