you need a stereo on for both speakers. radio shack has them. that mono will only play 1 speaker.
pure bass is clean. it won't sound like that distorted bloat in the corner that computer speakers give.
Keeping in mind your budget was $200 there is no point going for monitors. Sure you can get speakers called monitors in this price range but they are junk.
I am (or aspire to be) a sound engineer myself. There is a difference between speakers used as a tool for your work and speakers for playing music at home.
You use these two differently. It starts with the very narrow sweet spot for monitors. You position them (height, angle) so that you hear best in the exact spot where you sit.
HiFi speakers are typically better suited to give good sound independent from the listening position. They are designed for pleasure not for work.
Of course some monitors used to be actually HiFi speakers and this start with famous NS10s but this does not mean monitor speakers (especially those <$200) would be better then a HIFi set or a decent 2.1 set from Klipsch or Creative. Of course there are better speakers out there but they come with a higher price tag. At home I use Creative I-trigue set and think they are very good value for money. I check my mixes on them as well as this is type of equipment most people use.
I understand your main issue is that one of the speakers does not work. Swap it with another one or swap cables and see if that helps. If it does not test all three outputs from the sound card with headphones. Reset sound card settings. But if you want to buy better speakers be prepared to spend more then $200.
Hope this helps.
I'd ignore both of these statement. 111sins, if you are aspiring to to be a sound engineer, you need to stop giving bad advice here. a sound engineer will never advise somebody to use speakers with severe resonating problems against one that give you the best sound for the dollar.
BS. you know very little about speaker if you say this. you've just generalized every speaker ever made. this all depends on the speaker maker. each has their own design and compromises when they make their speaker. Example Allison acoustics use to design their speakers for the sweet spot whereas Polk audio SDA speakers were stereo everywhere. they had a special design that eliminate crosstalk.
my old ones
Polk Audio Stereo Dimensional Array Vintage Speakers
those who want to read about the technology. it a shame that people don't make speakers like this anymore. but nobody would buy them in this market
Polk Audio SDA Speakers: 1985 Review of SDA-SRS
this is my exact point. the deteriorations of sound has made everybody think that they are an expert. when I coming up and learning about this, I used to go chill and hang out with the old men audiophiles. nobody has an ear like an old audiophile because of their years of experience. they taught me all kinds of stuff. I use to read up (hundred of hours) on it too. you will learn what bs and what's not.
there is a 3 kind of audiophile
(the other 2 are true audiophiles and seasoned sound engineers. their know the art) too. he's called the wannabee. he heard people say things, so he thinks that he's an expert. he didn't really get what they was saying and he can't tell fact from fiction. but he swears that's he's an expert
I will say this again. a guy off the street will never know sound like we do.
The one that I wish that I had.
