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Anyone have recommendations for some good speakers I can use that won't hurt my wallet? Will not be used for production or anything like that so I don't need monitors. Just need them for when I'm mixing, I'm in a somewhat smaller apartment so they don't need to be super powerful or anything.
Any reasonable 2.1 set of PC speakers will do the trick. If possible, take a couple "example" tracks with you to listen to the speakers. Pick music that you know well, and that covers the reasonable range of music that you will be listening to. Avoid anything too "bass heavy" since the 2.1 system will not really be able to handle much under 40Hz.
I find that orchestral music works best for me. It has an enormous number of instruments to listen for, and covers the frequency spectrum well. It is much harder to "hide" issues with speaker crossover and integration points with "quite(r)" music than it is with songs that are on "11" the whole time. And, in most "nerd friendly" tech stores, no one minds if you play this a little too loud. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D0ZQPqeJkk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTpp8PQSog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsV7TuNMr5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2MxICoggtk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EynZ65x6Tmo
I use a pair of RCF Monitor 8 - even with "monitor" in the name, they are excellent passive 8" woofer + 1" tweeter speakers.
They go out of stock regularly (due to the tweeter availability, I think), but the Overnight Sensations DIY kit is the absolute best bang for your buck: http://www.parts-express.com/overnig...-pair--300-706
(Don't be put off too much by the kit, it's easy to glue together and easy to build the crossovers).
If kits are an option, the Dayton Audio is another great choice...
http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-...-pair--300-640
Keep in mind that you will need to pair with with some kind of "receiver" in order to use the passive speakers.
When I mix I use these old Sony 2-way speakers that came with an old stereo system from the 90s. I just bought a Lepai LP-2020A+ mini amplifier to hook up my gear to it. It only cost like $30.
I use that because when I produce I use JBL speakers and subwoofer... and I got annoyed of having to unhook everything, moving the speakers and hooking it up to my mixing gear every time I mix. So I just bought that mini amp and use those old speakers. I don't need amazing speakers for mixing at home. But it does the job. I can't complain about them.