The Best Computer Speakers, Ever

When you bought your latest PC,  did you also get a pair of plastic-enclosed, cheap speakers so that your Zoom calls would have better audio than the tinfoil emitters built in to your new pride and joy? If so, I think you might have made a mistake. Over time, I've bought a number of "computer speakers," and since I'm cheap, they have all been under, say, about $75, usually more like $29. And they sounded like it. But that was before YouTube. I like to listen to music--of various kinds.

For years, I had two Maranz floor speakers sitting on my desk on either side of my PC monitor. They were impressive and good, what with a near flat frequency response and   12-inch woofers in an unported three way system. I had them so long as my main stereo speakers that the foam mounting on the woofers crumbled. I liked them so much I had the foam replaced.

But more recently circumstances so occurred (that is, my wife "commented" on them) that I was encouraged to give them to a housekeeper making his start in the world. So, I  had a pair of hand-me-down Pioneer bookshelf speakers, two-way ported jobs, with 6 1/2 inch bass drivers. To power them, I bought a tiny amplifier Lepai LP 2020A+ which produces about 15 or 20 watts per channel. That little amp is great. I liked its performance so much that I bought another for my room with the treadmill, so I could listen to YouTube while exercising.

Long story a bit longer, I saw an ad for some bookshelf speakers by Dayton Audio, for sale by Parts Express. These were the B652, with a 6-inch bass driver. But they were still  just a tad large (and they were sold out, too) so I looked at Dayton's other offerings. And there they were. Our eyes met, the room grew warmer, excitement filled  the air.

So now, my "computer speakers," my musical sound while I am computing, comes from two Dayton Audio B452 speakers, driven by the newest little, cute as ever, Lepai LP2020TI amplifier. Yes, as the secret code hidden in the model number deciphers, these speakers are two-way (4 1/2-inch bass drivers and a tweeter). Not ported.

The speakers are about 9 1/2 inches high and 6 inches wide, so they don't take up much real estate.
The current (May 2, 2020)  price is about $28 for the pair of speakers and about the same for the amp. So, for under $60, you can get a surprisingly wonderful audio system for  your PC. I've tried several kinds of music with them, from vocal like "Be Thou My Vision" to EDM (electronic dance music). Crank up the amp and the bass will stun the termites in  your walls.

Both the speakers and the amp are from Parts Express (who paid me nothing for this plug).

I'm just sayin'.