Cesmith,

Older laptops were notorious for having very poor soundcards and the recommendation was to upgrade your soundcard for improved system sound. This has been greatly improved in recent years.

I have Barry MS-40s that I highly recommend. They are near-field monitors so take a bit of getting used to. They are fully capable of peeling paint or wallpaper so they should handle your bass adequately.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IKSIOM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1