Kanto

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This is how you make your computer setup a thing of beauty [Setups]

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It took months to put together this well-put-together setup.
It took months to put together this well-put-together setup.
Photo: Sygnul@Reddit.com

There’s nothing like stained wood to make a computer setup look like a class act. Today’s featured M1 Max MacBook Pro and custom PC workstation places those powerful machines on shelves off to the side that more-or-less match the desk.

Relocating the computers makes more room on the beautiful wooden desktop, which ups the quality even further with a handsome wooden desk shelf for the external display and other items.

2 key items complete killer workstation [Setups]

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With a good iPad stand and a DAC/amp added for audio, this setup is finally done. For now.
With a good iPad stand and a DAC/amp added for audio, this setup is finally done. For now.
Photo: drhippopotato@Reddit.com

Part of the fun of covering computer setups for Cult of Mac is seeing how a setup is never “done.” Blood, sweat, tears and time may go into it, but it will always need something — whether that’s missing functionality, better decoration or the next generation of a key device.

Today’s featured M2 MacBook Air setup is a good example. Since we featured an earlier version of it just weeks ago, the user made important changes. He added two components to maximize crucial iPad functionality and pump up audio.

WFH gear to get when the boss pays for it [Setups]

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An M2 Max MacBook Pro and a 42-inch OLED display? Yes, please.
An M2 Max MacBook Pro and a 42-inch OLED display? Yes, please.
Photo: Swagdaddy123456@Reddit.com

Oh, what a joy to go computer-setup shopping — when your employer readily agrees to pay for everything. Today’s featured M2 Max MacBook Pro setup, which features a gorgeous 42-inch OLED smart TV as a display, came into being that very way.

Check out the setup’s gear, below, and see if that’s what you’d buy if your boss handed you a blank check.

How fast can you spot the MacBook Pro in this super-clean rig? [Setups]

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It's an exceptionally clean setup. Even
It's an exceptionally clean setup. Even "absurdly" so, as one admirer said.
Photo: MarsMaher@Reddit.com

If there’s one thing computer-setup fans on social media value above all else, it’s a “clean” workstation. The best ones — neither messy nor cluttered with cables — place everything just so. Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup does a nice job with that.

And it even hides the laptop as well as an iPad. See how fast you can spot them. One commenter noted it took longer than it should have.

Stunning Mac Pro rig sees massive audio upgrade [Setups]

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A pair of KEF LSX speakers on Kanto stands adds to this killer setup's high price tag.
A pair of KEF LSX speakers on Kanto stands adds to this killer setup's high price tag.
Photo: MzeRS@Reddit.com

There’s nothing like a major upgrade. Today we return to one of the most magnificent computer setups we’ve seen lately, as it somehow found a way to top itself. When you’ve already got a loaded Mac Pro, two Pro Display XDRs and a top Apple laptop and tablet, where do you go from there?

You thank the HomePod mini for its service and welcome new $1,250 speakers to the party.

Custom-built man shed houses killer dual-display Mac mini rig [Setups]

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A backyard shed-based setup works especially well when weather isn't much of a concern. This one is in California.
A backyard shed-based setup works especially well when weather isn't much of a concern. This one is in California.
Photo: birdmarket@Reddit.com

As winter shambles coldly toward much of the U.S. and the world, feast your eyes on a beautiful, custom-built backyard shed housing a hot Mac mini computer setup (in the photo above). It doesn’t even need heating because it’s in California. Jealous yet?

Today’s featured setup pairs a Mac mini with dual HP displays, a Logitech webcam designed for the Pro Display XDR and some slick audio gear we haven’t seen before.

Super-clean MacBook Air rig shrugs off all distractions [Setups]

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Solid cable management helps keep this MacBook Air setup clean.
Solid cable management helps keep this MacBook Air setup clean.
Photo: kevohreal@reddit.com

Some of the best computer setups look a little boring at a glance. But that’s just because they include only essential gear and they keep it well lit and free of cable (and other) clutter.

Today’s featured M1 MacBook Air setup is a good example. And that’s not to say it’s plain or overly simple. You can see that in  the well-thought-out gear list below, which features 19 items.

Developer squeezes primo sound out of a solid gaming rig [Setups]

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Premium audio components make this setup a sonic powerhouse.
Premium audio components make this setup a sonic powerhouse.
Photo: IsTowel@Reddit.com

Premium computer setups for gaming are known for their eye-popping visuals, of course — but they need great sound, too. Today’s featured setup gets there with a killer display but also a raft of audio gear by companies like Aiyima, Burson, Kanto and Hifiman. The headphones, in particular, may make you green with envy.

Redditor IsTowel is a front-end developer and designer as well as a gamer. Their post about their “Working and listening station” outlines some pretty high-level gaming specs in a Mac and PC, dual-display setup — especially for stellar sound quality.

Connectivity tricks of a multi-display workstation [Setups]

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Oh, what a difference three external displays make.
Oh, what a difference three external displays make.
Photo: Cypher_27@Reddit.com

Not long ago we wrote about a person who fashioned an ergonomically healthy computer setup with little more than an M1 Pro MacBook. At the time, their fancy new display was still to-be-delivered, so they made-do without it. Now all the screens are in place and they make a magnificent workstation, with the MacBook running with one landscape-mode display and two portrait-mode monitors. It took some special connectivity tricks to make it happen.

M1 all around: Mac mini and iPad Pro drive developer’s workstation [Setups]

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The M1 Mac mini is paired with a 32-inch Samsung 4K monitor, a Keychron Q1 mechanical keyboard and a Logitech MX Master 3 mouse.
The M1 Mac mini is paired with a 32-inch Samsung 4K monitor, a Keychron Q1 mechanical keyboard and a Logitech MX Master 3 mouse.
Photo: PJ Flordeliz
Sometimes you see a workstation and you can pretty much tell by the gear what its owner does for a living. Today’s featured setup has an M1 Mac mini, a 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro and an Acer laptop, plus a custom mechanical keyboard, a network switch and a huge external hard drive. That led me to guess the person might be a IT staffer or a software developer. And I was right.

No external monitor? Build an ergonomically correct setup around your laptop. [Setups]

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It may look complete, but this M1 MacBook Pro setup is waiting for a big secondary display.
It may look complete, but this M1 MacBook Pro setup is waiting for a big secondary display.
Photo: Cypher_27@Reddit.com

From time to time, as you work on making your computer setup all it can be, you order new equipment. And maybe it takes a long time to arrive. Perhaps “supply chain” issues intervene. And if that piece of equipment is your workstation’s visual centerpiece — the magnificent display, placed just so for graphical and ergonomic bliss — then what do you do, when you have no external monitor?

Do you hunch over your laptop until your neck and your back and everything else hurts? Not necessarily.

Blow your ears clean off with perfectly mounted desktop speakers [Setups]

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Ready, aim, fire! Get the perfect sound with mounted desktop speakers.
Ready, aim, fire! Get the perfect sound with mounted desktop speakers.
Photo: rovervogue@reddit.com

These days, you can find computers and monitors with pretty good speakers. Or you can set up a pair HomePod minis or some other nice little Bluetooth speakers for solid computer setup sound.

But some people aren’t happy unless they have massive audio power on the desktop, complete with perfectly positioned speaker stands for maximum balance and clarity — and all of their speakers’ impressive wattage pointed right at their face.

New Kanto SX speaker stands help quell vibration and manage cables

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Kanto's SX series stands can help with audio clarity as well as cable management.
Kanto's SX series stands can help with audio clarity as well as cable management.
Photo: Kanto

Kanto has rolled out a pair of high-quality speaker stands it said can help clarify your sound system’s audio, isolate vibration and even organize some of your cable clutter. You can get the Kanto SX Series Floor Speaker Stands in two sizes: 22 inches high and 26 inches high.