A total of 3 reviews of this product on Reddit.
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What I used to have(ended up losing two sets of these things to power surges) was this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029Z9UNW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00
They did sound pretty good, and my friend has had his set for 3 or 4 years, and he’s still pretty happy with it.
It’s a ways below your budget, but the only other speakers I have experience with are the Audioengine A2, which are $200 just bookshelf speakers, that require an amplifier. They do have small subs in them, and have amazing bass for the profile, but it’s no substitute for an actual subwoofer.
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The speakers are for my TV. The sound quality is pretty poor for some movies and I’d like a speaker system with 3 pieces. Something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Tech–AR504LR-BK-Soundstage-Subwoofer/dp/B0029Z9UNW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1312896445&sr=8-8
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Are you testing all of these from the same audio output from the motherboard (back of machine, green jack)? Still curious if the results are the same using the headphone jack on the front, under the top bay cover on your case.
Those Eagle Arions look like thy require the use of a 3.5 mm to RCA splitter plugged into the AUX jacks. NOT the CD 3.5mm input at the top. See the 3rd picture down on in the left column of pictures here.
Headphones: Have you checked to make sure you didn’t jostle one of the case connectors on the mobo? Those things will disconnect if you look at them funny…