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Figuring out my audio priorities

O

Omnigamer

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Nov 8, 2007
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61
Hello all,

Currently I'm trying to figure out how to go about my audio purchases. Namely, I'm trying to figure out what my priorities should be based off of what I'll be doing and where I'll be. I'm fairly new to much of the equipment in the better end of the audio spectrum, and this is also the first time I'll have some disposable income to toss around.

First off, I'm not in a position to go for a full-powered system right off the bat. I still have another year of college to get through, followed by who knows how many years of grad school. My environment for at least the next year will probably not be able to support too powerful of a system; there are simply too many neighbors and the walls are too thin. Hopefully that shouldn't hamper me entirely and I can at least start looking into equipment, and maybe even get a few of them.

First off, I currently have a Creative Audigy 4 and Logitech X-540 speaker set. From what I understand, the speakers really aren't so great, but they currently work well with my room size and mobility needs. I also have Sennheiser HD202 cans, but mainly use them with my laptop when I'm out and about. That said, I know a lot of stuff needs to get changed for the setup to be considered "good". My question now is the priority that I should assign each portion of the whole upgrade? I'm looking into the following pieces of equipment:

-Receiver
-Speaker sets/active monitors
-Good Sub
-New sound card
-New headphones (not so concerned with this one)

What order should I go about getting these equipment to see some immediate effect, with reference to my situation? I'm currently leaning towards getting a receiver first to also help with some of our HT stuff (we have a pretty decent projector setup, but with some unremarkable speakers). Any suggestions for particular products for any of the above? I don't need something at a true audiophile level, but something for a mild budget with the end goal of simply having clean sound would be nice.

Again, I don't expect anything to happen quickly with this, but I do enjoy product research. While I do have some money to throw around, it won't be getting refreshed too often. My main concern is also with my near-term living environment; it wouldn't make sense to invest in some great speakers if I can't use them to their full potential simply out of courtiousness to my roommates and neighbors. So any advice to my buying priorities with regard to my current situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: I guess it's also worth noting that my friend has a pair of ancient Klipsch full speakers that aren't working but are in great condition. In the long run we'll probably fix them up and be able to toss them into our HT setup, but probably not with the way things are now.
 
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First would be a receiver and two decent passive monitors.

Since you're stuck in an environment where neighbors won't like bass giving them headaches, you can hold off on the sub for a while.
A new sound card isn't truly necessary, as long as your current one has a digital out, then the receiver will do the majority of the work with that signal.

Do research on passive monitors and a receiver at the same time. Will you be going to surround sound in the future? Or sticking to stereo? How much power do your speakers require to operate at your desired listening level? etc. Look around on these forums as well, there should be lots of good advice on quality receivers.

As for speakers, it also depends a bit on whether or not you're going to surround in the future. If so, look into speakers which can act as stereo monitors, but can also be integrated well into a surround sound setup as front left/right monitors. You'll want clean sound, and you'll want to be looking at 5 inch driver minimum so you can get down to a bass level which is listenable without a sub, and can match up with a sub in the future (ie, 40/50hz). Again, lots of good advice should be available on here forum as to particular passive speakers for particular budgets/setups.

Budget's important to know too. :p

Once you've gotten used to the sound of your new system, you'll be able to better categorize what exactly you want out of a sub.
 
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I intend to move on to surround sound later on.

My immediate budget is actually something I'm not entirely sure of. I usually decide how much money I'm willing to put towards something after I've put in adequate research. At this point I've only decided on $500 +- $100 for the receiver, as that's something I've looked into quite a bit more. I generally like to be right at the price per performance sweet spot, but I'm not sure where that is for the remainder of the equipment yet.
 
Working backwards:

1) Klipsch speakers generally have a horn tweeter and big woofers which means no mids. I find them terrible for HT use since dialogue is kinda shitty. But since it's an old model, I dunno, maybe it doesn't have only highs and mids?

2) You don't necessarily need a receiver. Are you getting the receiver for its DAC? Preamp? Surround processor? Amplifier? A soundcard will do the DAC, preamp, and sometimes, surround processor job of the receiver. Then you can add an amplifier and you would be all set. You can also get a separate surround processor and get a separate amplifier. There's no reason to get one if you're getting another.

3) Do you need HDMI? For video or audio or both in one?

4) Answer line number 2 and 3 to get some rec's on those components. MisterSparkle had some pretty good suggestions on monitors. I don't have much experience with Epos, but the others are solid choices. However, before I can give you suggestions, are you going to use these speakers on top of your desk? AKA will you be using them for nearfield use? Or will you be able to set them a little behind the desk (perhaps on speaker stands)? Most passive speakers are actually ideal for HT use which commonly entails a 6 foot or more distance from the speakers. For nearfield use, different (from normal passive) speakers are usually ideal, but not necessary.
 
I would leave the soundcard alone, Audigy 4 (either vanilla or Pro) is basically a repackaged 2 ZS, so you're fine there (EAX 4, 64 voices, good sound quality, h/w acceleration, digital out, 7.1 audio, what else do you want? lol)

I agree with Sparkle, leave the sub out right now, it puts out a lot of bass, and everyone will know where you are, who you are, etc (and will not be happy if it turns on at ~midnight)

a quality pair of speakers will sound good at low volume levels, or high volume levels (you shouldn't lose details is my point)

"I generally like to be right at the price/performance sweet spot" - ok, which price segment? with HT equipment theres about 4 tiers of "price/performance sweet spot" :p

at $600 max on the receiver, that puts you in range of a proper HDMI audio/HD codec receiver that will "do what its supposed to do" for your source components

such as the Yamaha RX-V765, HK AVR 347 or 354 (sparkle: AVR 525?????), Sony DG-1200/DA-2400ES, and so on and so on (Outlaw Audio, Cambridge Audio, Onkyo, Denon, Marantz, etc are all viable considerations)

the featuresets are gonna be roughly the same, HDMI audio, TrueHD/MasterAudio decoding, ~100W/ch spec, 7.1 sound, some beast of a remote, and some brand unique proprietary features (Sony has S-AIR, HK has Logic7, Yamaha has ToP-ART and YPAO, Denon has D-Link, so on and so on), basically pick whichever looks good to you (cosmetics and brand unique features basically)

for speakers, you could look to spend between $500 and $1500 for a (full) 5.1 (or 6.1) setup
 
Alai said:
2) You don't necessarily need a receiver. Are you getting the receiver for its DAC? Preamp? Surround processor? Amplifier? A soundcard will do the DAC, preamp, and sometimes, surround processor job of the receiver. Then you can add an amplifier and you would be all set. You can also get a separate surround processor and get a separate amplifier. There's no reason to get one if you're getting another.

3) Do you need HDMI? For video or audio or both in one?

4) Answer line number 2 and 3 to get some rec's on those components. MisterSparkle had some pretty good suggestions on monitors. I don't have much experience with Epos, but the others are solid choices. However, before I can give you suggestions, are you going to use these speakers on top of your desk? AKA will you be using them for nearfield use? Or will you be able to set them a little behind the desk (perhaps on speaker stands)? Most passive speakers are actually ideal for HT use which commonly entails a 6 foot or more distance from the speakers. For nearfield use, different (from normal passive) speakers are usually ideal, but not necessary.
Click to expand...

2. The receiver's main use would be as a source for a variety of other components, not meant for just audio use. Looking for multi-zone, some amount of upscaling ability (including legacy analog), and of course solid performance. My price range looks about right for those kinds of features, but now I'm just wondering if there's one device that stands out amongst the rest.

3. HDMI, when used, would likely be mainly for the video side, or combined when available. I don't have too many needs for HDMI right now however.

4. In the nearterm, I probably do want to look into a nearfield solution. I'm interested in a full theater system eventually, but I have no way of telling right now when I'll be in a static living environment.

"I generally like to be right at the price/performance sweet spot" - ok, which price segment? with HT equipment theres about 4 tiers of "price/performance sweet spot"
Click to expand...

Assuming those tiers as low/budget, mid, high, and enthusiast/audiophile, let's just shoot for "mid" for the time being. I can always raise the bar later if my wallet and needs permit.
 
Well if its $500 - $1500 for speakers, that opens up some options for decent speakers.

Some other companies to look at aside from the nice choices MisterSparkle gave

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/ (Their Sierra 1's are very nice and can go pretty deep for bookshelves)

http://www.svsound.com/ (known for their subs but their bookshelves are pretty nice too)

http://www.aperionaudio.com/catalog/Speakers,19.aspx (nice speakers and good value)

http://www.theaudioinsider.com/product_info.php/p/swan-d2-1se/products_id/69 (though everyone looks at Swan for their lower priced active monitor but their D2.1SE is a very nice pair of passive monitors)

http://www.usheraudiousa.com/ (Their s-520 is a nice budget speaker though its bass may be a bit low for 2.0. If you don't mind used, you can often find a good price on their Dancer bookshelves from Audiogon (though it will still be high end speakers). http://www.usheraudiousa.com/products/loudspeakers/dancer-series/Be-718)

http://www.totemacoustic.com/products/compact/dreamcatcher/ (Totems are one of those brand I really would like to get just because they have such nice reviews. The Dreamcatcher would be in the high end of the price range but they can be found for nice price used at Audiogon).

Just some more possibilities.

Edit: Oh yeah one more option to look at are the Polk LSi series (LSi 7, LSi 9). They are 4 Ohm speakers though so get a robust receiver that can drive 4 Ohm speakers.
 
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