I have the Primax Soundstorm 240W from the 90's which have nice sound quality.

I may be an outlier, but my PC audio setup circa 1995 consisted of

- JVC RX-217 audio receiver/amplifier
- Yamaha NS694C bookshelf speakers

The JVC receiver/amplifier is long gone, but the Yamaha speakers are still in use at my mother's place and still sound great, IMHO (and my mother's).

Not everybody used crappy beige plastic speakers with their computer in the mid 90s .

I used a Panasonic am/fm/cassette/amplifier and a couple of custom 3-way speakers that had 10" woofers in them in the mid 90's.

Yeah, I was/am in the same boat too. In past when I lived at my parents' place I had my own room which was set up so that speakers were around TV in one end of the room and computer desk in the middle in other end, and sound of computer went to the amp+speakers for some nice wall shaking experience 🤣.
Now I no longer have that luxury at the computer desk, the amp and speakers are in livingroom with their original purpose, and computer desk in the work room has a different amp and small speakers to it instead 🤣.

How things were at the old place :
http://www.tmeeco.eu/Fileden/LaserDanceIsPlaying.jpg
http://www.tmeeco.eu/Fileden/GEMSworks.jpg

At some point I had this going on :
http://www.tmeeco.eu/BitShit/WorkSpaceShot6.jpg

How things are now :
http://www.tmeeco.eu/BitShit/ComputerDesk0.jpg
http://www.tmeeco.eu/BitShit/EntertainmentCenter5.jpg

Just gonna pitch in that a pair of Yamaha YST-M10's and a YST-MSW10 pair great with a rig I built. Looks good next to an old school big beige box, great sound quality, and while I don't think I needed the subwoofer, it adds a heck of a lot of oomph to the satellite speakers that already have rather full sound to my amateur ears.

My only complaint is that there is no headphone jack on the satellite speakers so I can conveniently plug a pair in. But my office is relatively noise isolated, so it's not a huge deal.

Namrok wrote on 2021-11-20, 18:42:

Just gonna pitch in that a pair of Yamaha YST-M10's and a YST-MSW10 pair great with a rig I built. Looks good next to an old school big beige box, great sound quality, and while I don't think I needed the subwoofer, it adds a heck of a lot of oomph to the satellite speakers that already have rather full sound to my amateur ears.

Picture

20211025_225410.jpg

My only complaint is that there is no headphone jack on the satellite speakers so I can conveniently plug a pair in. But my office is relatively noise isolated, so it's not a huge deal.

Nice setup - I like the Quake badge on the case!

I used to have the same speakers but Creative branded years ago:

LunarG wrote on 2019-09-25, 10:50:

something like a mordern set of Creative Gigaworks T20 mkII speakers

This is what I use on my main retro rig. They both look and sounds good, with surprisingly balanced bass reproduction for small speakers. Main complaint is they are not physically stable ... can easily fall over with a crash after the smallest bump. Also the controls are heavily weighted which is good for precise control but can be a bit annoying.

Tiido wrote on 2021-11-20, 08:56:

How things are now :
http://www.tmeeco.eu/BitShit/ComputerDesk0.jpg

Is the custom AWE with the RJA-401-HB a current work-in-progress?

It is a commission to someone on this forum, and work in progress indeed.

This is how I executed my "retro" sound setup: https://youtu.be/VeVgns9m2YI
I did it this way because I wanted to have retro aesthetics but just can´t stand the sound quality of old computer speakers. This solution isn´t exactly cheap nor easy but then again, I didn´t choose this hobby to save money 😁

Here's what I'm using now - temporarily while relocated to another room (away from the Hi-Fi system): a pair of 1990s Harman Kardon HK195 speakers with a 2000s Yamaha SW-P130 subwoofer.

Sounds really good! The subwoofer makes a big difference. (Once you get used to it you really miss its absence.)

Soundsticks II

I've been given these. Anyone had experiences with them?

I do think the mainboard inside with the knobs has room for modifications (let's be real, the caps in most of those are by now probably more dry than Sahara!) but so far they sound alright to me, at least. The external wiring does need upgrading, though.

Bought the 2.1 Videologic Sirocco when they were new (y2k'ish):

Still using them as my main speakers, tho had to replace the midrange and the woofer tho due to the foamy edges turning into dust.
Videologic used Audax speakers and I found upgraded (rubber edges) ones with the same specs.
Sounds just as good today as they did when new.
I'd say I've gotten my money's worth out of them =)