Do iMac speakers have good quality?

In a word - no. But there are many external speakers that you can connect to your MAc, and they're not that expensive. The iMac sound is adequate for listening to the radio, and casual music listening, but if you are serious about your music, get good speakers.

Hope this helps,
Miriam

You can compare prices here. There are lots of places to get them, you can try your local music store or big box computer retailer or Apple Stores. As far as the best speakers, that's really a matter of opinion, you have to listen to them yourself and see what pleases you in your price range.

Miriam

I would recommend getting some external speakers if your a fan of either music film or games. I've got cambridge sound works speakers pluged in. This includs a bass box under the desk, 2 speakers in front and 2 behind. unfortunatly iMac does not support surround sound 5.1. but still worth every penny. This cost me 55 pounds if my memory serves me correct.

If by "good" you mean "they make sound" then yes, they are good - LOL!

Are they good for listening to music? Not in my opinion. They are small speakers and as such have no hope of generating much volume or a full frequency range.

I am a BIG music fan and there is no way that I would be happy with ANY built-in speakers, so even before I had my first gen iMac, I had the speakers on order. They arrive at about the same time and have been put to good use.

I listen to a broad range of music from classic jazz - Miles, Brubeck, Coltrane, etc. - to modern progressive rock - Spock's Beard, Yes, etc. - and even some harder stuff like Metallica and Dream Theater. All sound great on my Logitech Z-2300s. The Klipsch 2.1s sound even better, but were out of my price range at the time.

Some people will dog on Logitech, but I think their mid-priced speakers are excellent. I also have a set of their Z-4s for my less discerning wife on her PC and they sound pretty close to my Z-2300s.

It all comes down to personal preference, so if you get a chance to go listen to a few sets you can see what you might like.

You might also look at Klipsch. I have the ProMedia 2.1 system & can attest to its great sound. Klipsch has been a respected speaker builder for many years.