

The vast majority of computer speakers, along with all Bluetooth and wireless models, are powered, or "active." That means a built-in amplifier takes the signal it receives and feeds enough power into the drivers to reproduce it. Without electricity flowing into the drivers, a speaker is just a box with some weird paper and metal bits in it. That unpowered part is a very big detail that should please anyone who knows how to set up a high-end home sound system and might frustrate everyone else.Īll speakers require power to run. However, especially among audiophiles, it has a much more important implication: Bookshelf speakers are small, unpowered stereo speakers. The term bookshelf speaker generally describes any speaker that can comfortably fit on a bookshelf and is part of a stereo pair or other multiple-speaker setup.

You might even be able to plug portable Bluetooth speakers into your PC as a one-piece solution if they have a 3.5mm audio input or a USB connection. There are also one-piece solutions (or one-piece with a subwoofer) that offer plenty of power, but they don't provide the stereo imaging you get from multiple satellites. Some serious gamers and cinephiles might want to look for a 5.1-channel (or higher) surround sound system, but the extra cost and inconvenience of placing all those speakers around the room isn't worth it for most users.

Some have accompanying subwoofers, but you won't likely have more than two or three satellites to deal with. The vast majority of desktop speakers are stereo pairs. Some stereo speaker pairs, however, sound great even without a subwoofer, primarily because their woofers (the drivers dedicated to low-mid and low frequencies below 1KHz) are perfectly capable of handling the bass response. A solid sub at a reasonable volume can add rumble to film explosions and depth to kick drums, bass guitars, analog synths, orchestras, and more. The role of the subwoofer is to cover deep bass frequencies, generally below 100Hz. Stereo speakers consist of only a left and a right speaker, 2.1 refers to a pair of speakers with a subwoofer, and surround sound ideally involves at least five speakers plus a subwoofer. To choose the best speakers for your computer, you first need to understand the different types of models you'll encounter most frequently, and those are stereo, 2.1, and surround sound speakers. What are the Best Speakers for a Desktop Computer or Laptop?
