Computer speakers are not very different from every day stereo speakers, but your decision will depend on the reason why you are shopping for them to begin with. Do you use your computer for gaming? For listening to music? Do you plug it in to the T.V. and use it to play DVDs? The website wize.com can assist you with ratings and user reviews to understand what you should look for in a set of speakers for your computer.

Built-In Speakers

For every day computing, most computers have speakers built in. Many monitors have speakers built in that are fairly better than a computer’s built in speakers, and also great space saving devices. However if you are shopping for a surround-sound experience for realistic video game sound or in-home theatre, then there are some other things to look for, and some other considerations, such as where you are going to place them.

High Fidelity

Speakers that are built in to your computer usually only have 2 or 3 channels. The more channels your speaker system has, the better the resulting sound will be. You can get 5 or even 7 channel PC speakers, but you will want to check so you’re sure that the speaker system you buy is compatible with the sound card in your PC. If you buy 7 channel speakers and the sound card only supports 2 channels, you won’t reach that special sound quality you were looking for.

Price

Cost is often (but not always) a guide to quality. When it comes to PC speakers, if you don’t spend more than $20 to $30 dollars, you are probably not improving on what comes with the PC. But before you commit to a price range, compare user reviews on wize.com. Comments from other buyers are a really useful way to tell if you are getting what you pay for.

Wireless Speakers

There is a new generation of wireless speakers. Some say these don’t have the same high quality as wired speakers, but they are improving over time. Wize.com shows good reviews for the Parrot Party Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speakers (PR555) Computer Speakers. These small, portable speakers hook up to your phone. For $120, you can take your phone and these speakers and take your party [spin]with you|on the road[spin].

How Much Space Do You Have?

Before making your decision think about where you want to place the speakers. Are they just for the computer and do they need to fit on the desk? Or will you keep them on the floor or even wall-mount them?

Pounding Sound

For heavy bass and pounding sound, think about getting some sub-woofers. These won’t sit on the computer desk though. For really high quality surround sound you may want some speakers that you have to make room for on the floor. You are going to want to decide where you put the computer in relation to the speakers, or whether you want to mount the speakers in the ceiling. But you do not always have to go big to get big sound. Wize.com found these 120 watt R.M.S. AQUATIC SPEAKERS & HORNS (ModelAQ-SPKC7.58R) for an average price of $191.