New Audio Setup. Headphones or Speakers?

[Donnie27]

Sound taste is personal. If you prefer the sound of the promedia, keep them. I had a promedia 5.1 set once and enjoyed it for one year before the amp broke and overseas replacement was not possible, nor local repair.

Anyway if you feel that they don't sound enough for you, go to a hi-fi store and listen to some monitors of your budget class AND of higher class. Then decide. To avoid the cost of an external amp, you need powered speakers, which means monitors. Monitors will reveal all the defects of the sound source. Many mp3 that you thought were perfect will appear for what they are: crap

You want suggestions, eh? I listened my speakers, the Tannoy Reveal 5A, the Reveal 6A (the sound was not as pure), the Event ALP5 (very good, were my second choice), the M-Audio BX5a (horrible) and others that i dont remember.

People also liked the Swans (not available in EU) and the KRK Rokit RP-5 that i never had a chance to listen.
I dont like 6" woofers, i think 5" is the ideal size for a small-mid-sized room and to listen closely like at the desk.

Most of us here in the USA have space for electronic gear that most folks in Europe don't. I visit Germany about every 18 months, was there about this time last year. Now I see we agree on one thing right up front, M-Audio BX5s does suck. I like the Swans as well and they might be the only Computer Multimedia speakers I'd use. Yet, I've heard cheap stuff at Best Buy and Circuit City that sounds much better IMHO. A-B is the way to go though.