For those of you have external speakers for your iMac...

Was your priority aesthetics or sound quality? i'm sure both came into play but normally one leads over the other, i'm asking as i'll soon be getting a 21.5" iMac and as they're naturally great looking i'm going to make an effort to intregrate some nice looking external speakers into my setup (most likely a 2.0 setup) but ofcourse i'd want some solid sound quality to go along with the looks.

My question really is have any of you found a perfect fit in terms of both sound and aesthetics when it comes to your iMac? and if so i'd really like to see/hear about it, at the moment the only serious contender on my shortlist are the Bose Companion 20's and I know a lot of people don't like Bose in general (not the biggest fan myself) but I do feel the Companions 20's fit very well wit the mac but i'm still exploring other options so if you have any please let me know.

I also considered the Audio Engine A2's but found them a touch on blocky side

Sound quality was my first priority, but the reality is, digital music quality is pretty abysmal in the best of circumstances. I was lucky in that the the speakers I chose were pretty nice looking and sounded pretty good, at least when I bought them 10 years ago LOL. I have Monsoon flat panel speakers and subwoofer. They still sound pretty good. I've heard some remarkable speakers since, but they were FAR more expensive than my computer.

As far as Bose, YOU are the one that has to listen to them. What do your ears tell you? I was involved in ULTRA high end audio for several years and was never a huge fan of Bose, but folks liked them. As speakers go, they are exciting, a bit bombastic, but they do what they do pretty well. Like I said, digital audio, particularly MP3s are seriously lacking in many areas, dynamics and dynamic contrast is one area. Bose excels at dynamics. They are not ACCURATE in the technical sense, but they are fun to listen to.

ken

I go for quality also. Currently using Logitech X-530's which are 5.1 but only using 2 with a sub.
Don't know about accurate but the quality is far better than the internal ones.
Can turn it up halfway and rattle the windows

I like the Harmon Kardon SoundSticks. For an inexpensive system, they sound great. And I agree about Bose, their name may be famous but the quality of their products have taken a slide over the years.

chscag said:

I like the Harmon Kardon SoundSticks. For an inexpensive system, they sound great. And I agree about Bose, their name may be famous but the quality of their products have taken a slide over the years.

Click to expand...

I would like to defend Bose. Just bought one of their Airplay speakers for use in our kitchen. One word - amazing.
Yes, they are very expensive, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Apple products anyone?

A local restaurant here uses what appear to be older sets of Bose 101s to pipe in background music in the main dining room Those sounded pretty good so I listened to a Bose surround system a few years ago and listened to a set of their speakers at in a store at Mall of America. Boy was I disappointed. The sound quality wasn't worth the price.

Sony seems to have taken a nose dive in recent years as well. But then I have said that about all of their great for almost a decade now.

I have a set of large Bose series IV speakers along with their graphic equalizer. These speakers when purchased new sold for well over $600.00 a set. After using them several years, I noticed the sound quality became "fuzzy". To make a long story short, I removed the front cover on both speakers and was shocked to see that the cones had literally fell apart.

I sent a letter to Bose in Boston, MA and they wrote back that they did not recommend repairing them but they would gladly give me a $100 discount on a new set. What absolute BS. I found a speaker repair specialist in Dallas who would re-cone them but he was too expensive. The speakers are now sitting in my living room as decorations. My wife uses the chrome steel stands they came with to hold flowers.

So don't talk to me about Bose or that they're quality, because they're not.

chscag said:

I have a set of large Bose series IV speakers along with their graphic equalizer. These speakers when purchased new sold for well over $600.00 a set. After using them several years, I noticed the sound quality became "fuzzy". To make a long story short, I removed the front cover on both speakers and was shocked to see that the cones had literally fell apart.

I sent a letter to Bose in Boston, MA and they wrote back that they did not recommend repairing them but they would gladly give me a $100 discount on a new set. What absolute BS. I found a speaker repair specialist in Dallas who would re-cone them but he was too expensive. The speakers are now sitting in my living room as decorations. My wife uses the chrome steel stands they came with to hold flowers.

So don't talk to me about Bose or that they're quality, because they're not.

Click to expand...

Wow that sucks, to be honest the only Bose products I currently rate are their in car systems for Audi's and their noise cancelling headphones which are the best NC headphones available.

AR86...when selecting my external speakers, sound quality was the utmost prority. I went with the Adam A5X's and got the matching desk stands...luckily the look as good as they sound. I have them connected by a 3.5 mm plug to balanced XLR connectors on the back of the spekers. I am an audio engineer in my other job.
I purchased a pair of the Audio Engine A5's with the bamboo cabinet for my Mother. They are absolutely beautiful speakers and they sound good, too, for the money.