Over To You: Best Cheap Speakers For DJing and Producing?

Digital DJ Tips reader and beginner DJ Jesus Reyoso writes: “I have some awful speakers for my laptop, and I would like to buy some decent speakers for DJing at home with, but my budget is really low. What speakers do you suggest I start with? I want them just for my bedroom to practise and practise. However, the thing is that I am also beginning to produce music. So my question is, what do you think would be appropiate without paying a lot of money?”

Digital DJ Tips says

For just DJing with, we recommend you start with anything you’ve already got (home hi-fi, home cinema system etc) – as long as it bass and “goes loud”, it’ll do for practise. If not, gaming speakers are good value, especially those with a separate subwoofer for the all-important bass “kick”. But when it comes on to producing, it’s an entirely different ball game, with higher expectations. You could take a look at our Computer Speakers For DJing: 5 Top Pairs Reviewed & Rated article, and look to spend on one of the better pairs there, but my hesitation in recommending speakers that just bang it out for you to practise beatmatching comes back to the higher requirements for producing – you really need good studio monitors, well positioned, whose sound you can get to know intimately and trust, in order to master your music well.

I’d be inclined to suggest you go for a good pair of headphones (that can also be used as your DJ ‘phones) then some loud but cheap computer speakers to carry on DJ practice with. But it’s a hard issue, especially as you have a low budget, so let’s ask the readers.

What would you advise Jesus to do in his position? Is there such a thing as a decent speaker for DJing/production that won’t cost the earth? Or is the “headphones” route the best option for production (and if so, which headphones would you recommend)? Please let him know in the comments.