Fair to good active speakers for around £100?

GalacticaActual

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Hi everyone

I have a 32inch Sony Lcd tv that has awfull sound. For the last 3 years we have used some tibbo active speakers , but it looks like they have gone kaput!

We had them connceted via the TV head phone jack so that volume controll was easy. They also had a fairly decent sound. Can anyone recomend a replacement please For around £100?

Its only for a bed room, and a sound bar is a little impaactical due to where everything is located.

Many Thanks.
 
You can't go too wrong with Mackie MR5 or JBL LSR305's, may just be able to find a pair on ebay or facebook marketplace in budget. These have 5" woofers and are true actives (i.e. each one has a pair of amps inside them so you need power to both).
 
You can't go too wrong with Mackie MR5 or JBL LSR305's, may just be able to find a pair on ebay or facebook marketplace in budget. These have 5" woofers and are true actives (i.e. each one has a pair of amps inside them so you need power to both).
Thank you,

You think they would be a good reaplcment for the tibbo plus 2s i have and about the same size?

My concetion is from the tv head phone jack to left and right rca, so i can controll the volume. Will thi still work with those particualr speakers?
 
Thank you,

You think they would be a good reaplcment for the tibbo plus 2s i have and about the same size?

My concetion is from the tv head phone jack to left and right rca, so i can controll the volume. Will thi still work with those particualr speakers?
There is no comparison to be made against those Tibo's to be honest.. the Mackie and the JBL are totally superior in every musical sense. The only thing the Tibo really has is the input advantage

Size wise....

The Mackie MR5 is 27.9cm x 40.6cm x 35.6 and weighs about 8kg each... puts out 55w to the bass and 30w to the treble. Inputs are Balanced XLR, TRS and unbalanced RCA input
MackieMRMk2_02-Lt.Kf470adYNDE5IjXT2FZlRYSLyKpHU.jpg


The JBL LSR305 is 57.2cm x 31.8cm x 43.9cm (its a beast!) and weighs in at about 7kg.. puts out 41w to each the bass and treble giving you 82w. inputs are xlt and 1/4" jack
lsr305-back



Against your Tibo Plus 2... 39cm x 27cm x 29cm and 6.2kg .. putting out 35w which has the edge on the connections against the others
61D5xsDxnXL._AC_SX679_.jpg
 
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Re - Tibo plus 2 - I wonder if anyone has made a successful legal claim against a manufacturer for stating that their powered (passive) speakers are active?
 
The best sounding speakers have already been mentioned in this thread but if you want brand new for around £100, maybe consider these:






Amazingly, both these Behringer speakers are true actives (despite being configured at bit like powered passives) at under £100/pair!

For your usage, it may be prudent for the speakers to have their own volume control so that you can set an 'absolute' maximum volume using the speakers' volume control. That way, even if someone accidentally turns the TV volume up to 11, it won't harm the speakers (or ears). Speakers without volume control are, effectively, fixed at maximum volume all the time and so are reliant on sensible use of the preceding equipment's volume control.
 
Easy way to stop the “max volume“ issue with active speakers is to set the tv volume to around 50% and then increase the active speaker gain/volume to a comfortable listening level, this is likely to be around 30-50% do the speaker range, therefore even if you put the TV on max volume you are still only using half the capacity of the speakers.

If you have spare cash in the future then adding a DAC with variable output (assuming your Tv has optical output) will boost the tv sound significantly over the headphone output. There are a few Dacs around £100 (the most you need to spend) like the Topping E30 and Smsl Sanskrit 10th mk2.
 
There is no comparison to be made against those Tibo's to be honest.. the Mackie and the JBL are totally superior in every musical sense. The only thing the Tibo really has is the input advantage

Size wise....

The Mackie MR5 is 27.9cm x 40.6cm x 35.6 and weighs about 8kg each... puts out 55w to the bass and 30w to the treble. Inputs are Balanced XLR, TRS and unbalanced RCA input
MackieMRMk2_02-Lt.Kf470adYNDE5IjXT2FZlRYSLyKpHU.jpg


The JBL LSR305 is 57.2cm x 31.8cm x 43.9cm (its a beast!) and weighs in at about 7kg.. puts out 41w to each the bass and treble giving you 82w. inputs are xlt and 1/4" jack
lsr305-back



Against your Tibo Plus 2... 39cm x 27cm x 29cm and 6.2kg .. putting out 35w which has the edge on the connections against the others
61D5xsDxnXL._AC_SX679_.jpg

Think it must be the 308s you have the specs for...

The 305s are,


4D5D405F-C6F6-4F31-92D3-5D03962A73AB.jpeg
 
I second the m-audio bx4. I have heard good things about the bx3 from someone I trust, and I have a pair of bx8 which are a different league altogether, but I can vouch for the excellent value m-audio give.

The person I know compared them with the audioengine A2 wireless (whatever the latest ones are) and much preferred the bx3. The bx4 is just bigger I believe, still quite small though. The speakers link up so you don't have to control the volume independently which is convenient. They're more convenient than normal monitors as they're designed to be used for PCs etc.
 
HI all

Thanks for the input, The mrs as a surpirse went out an picked up some JVC one from currys last night.
They were only £80.00
They dont sound quite as good as the tibos but are still miles better than the TV built in speakers.
Voice and dialogue seem a bit sharp , for want of a better term, howver base and general music, see verey good, with a nice steros seperation. Pretty good for movies as well.

Very slight hiss n the back ground, if you put your ear right up to them, but again, they weere only £80. didnt ahve the heart to be ungratfull...so looks like we are keeping them !


 
They have a nice remote and Bluetooth at least, so that is pretty handy.

Once you buy something from Curry's you have no chance of returning unless you say they're faulty, so yes you best not be ungrateful :laugh:
 
Sound is very good through blue tooth.

Average and slightly tinny though the head phone to rca, the tibo was better in that regard.
However, for 80 noted still. Miles better than the TVs speakers!
 

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They look quite nice too. If the TV has optical out, perhaps a cheap DAC will help as it must be the TV's output that is letting you down if the Bluetooth sounds good
 
Yes, exactly like that. I believe I have the same DAC, but the brand name on it is techole instead, they seem identical other than that. I just picked the one that was cheapest at the time I bought it.

Compared to an expensive DAC you can hear it's not quite there, however I think for the price it should be a good upgrade over your TV DAC, just as long as your TV has either SPDIF or coaxial out. I bought mine just to use with TV speakers so I don't have to use the TVs own output, so same reason as you.

I only compared it to the built in DAC on a yamaha as-801 using KEF LS50s, so for normal TV use I imagine there should be little difference
 

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