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I have had a bose companion 5 set for the past 3 months and could not like them. I had a HT system before that but I didnt like dealing with the reciever and didnt really need 5.1. Now I went into this looking for the best sounding audio I could find. I didnt really care about surround sound or loudness/volume. Here is a list of what I got and why, along with my impressions:
First I got a pair of M Audio CX5s ($200 each) to serve as my mains which are head and shoulders about anything I have ever heard in terms of sound quality. I found myself actually enjoying audio from my pc again just from the marvelous sound these speakers produced.
After having them for 2-3 days I decided to up grade my sound card since my onboard sound required me to turn the volume up all the way in windows drive these speakers loud. I then bought a Asus Xonar STX card ($180). Once I put in on i had to turn down the gain on my speakers drastically because of the input difference which was exactly what I wanted to accomplish. The card did make everything sound clearer and just a bit more bright and transparent. No having to deal with Realtek drivers was the biggest win for me in this case.
My last upgrade was the sub and I was really hesitant on this because the CX5s put out some pretty good bass already so the sub didnt seem required. After playing some hip hop music I decided to just go for it since I was already in it this deep. I decided on the SBX10 ($305) because I was now a fan of M Audio and it looked to integrated well with what I already had. After having it for a few days I love it. It produced low Hz that I was not before getting and makes 40 to 80hz a lot more fuller and enjoyable. Another big plus is that explosions sound so much better in games now because of it.
I am now very happy with my audio set up and just need to build some desktop speakers stands to get them off the foam pieces I am using for now. I can still return everything if I need to and would like to know if anyone has a better set up I should look at for the $900 I spent.
First I got a pair of M Audio CX5s ($200 each) to serve as my mains which are head and shoulders about anything I have ever heard in terms of sound quality. I found myself actually enjoying audio from my pc again just from the marvelous sound these speakers produced.
After having them for 2-3 days I decided to up grade my sound card since my onboard sound required me to turn the volume up all the way in windows drive these speakers loud. I then bought a Asus Xonar STX card ($180). Once I put in on i had to turn down the gain on my speakers drastically because of the input difference which was exactly what I wanted to accomplish. The card did make everything sound clearer and just a bit more bright and transparent. No having to deal with Realtek drivers was the biggest win for me in this case.
My last upgrade was the sub and I was really hesitant on this because the CX5s put out some pretty good bass already so the sub didnt seem required. After playing some hip hop music I decided to just go for it since I was already in it this deep. I decided on the SBX10 ($305) because I was now a fan of M Audio and it looked to integrated well with what I already had. After having it for a few days I love it. It produced low Hz that I was not before getting and makes 40 to 80hz a lot more fuller and enjoyable. Another big plus is that explosions sound so much better in games now because of it.
I am now very happy with my audio set up and just need to build some desktop speakers stands to get them off the foam pieces I am using for now. I can still return everything if I need to and would like to know if anyone has a better set up I should look at for the $900 I spent.