Computer Speakers Not made in China

yes.. forgot about the Mackie.. THOSE would be perfect I think.. Mackie makes good stuff, have used their mixers for years.. (currently using a digital Yamaha board I love)

If you can ever locate them . . . A discontinued product that was marketed to University music dept's. The KOI Tiger ... amazing product and sound. When our main system is down and in transition we set them up in the audio room via RCA i/c's. Fantastic imaging and tonal balance. Each satellite has proprietary front and side firing drivers and a separate powered subwoofer for the connections. It's my sleeper find and the build quality is like a tank. Too bad someone didn't pick up on them for an extended product run.

Using the existing built in sound card on the mother board is a big drop in perfrmance.

You will need an amp of some sort.

I picked up a pair of Infinity kappa 200s (boookshelf size) make in Denmark for 220 a pair used. Am using an M-audio Audiophile 192 card. You can stay with in your buget and buy the speakers and the card.

I agree with Wireless200 that Audioengine 2 is an excellent value. You can adjust the EQ ( to eliminate the bass bump ) and fine tune the rest to your preference. They sound great (and plenty loud for a small room) IMHO and have a small footprint on the desk. Also, they have a sleep function and come in cloth bags to go back in the box (which has a handle), if you want to take them along. I've had mine for about 4 hours, and they are keepers for sure. No, they don't pretend to be high end audio, but I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing. It's hard to go wrong at $200 delivered. I have no connection with AE other than as a customer.

Kanto ipair5 - active speaker made in Canada ($370). I use these in my office, they have an ipod dock on top and you can hook a CD player up to them. I have an Arcam Cd17 with them. Can be a bit bass heavy till broken in, but they sound very good and look good too.