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looking for 5.1 audio speakers

D

dnsrunner

n00b
Joined
Nov 23, 2006
Messages
47
hello all,
well, my cambridge soundworks 510D 5.1 speaker system finally died on me. I didn't find out till after i bought them but apparently they have tons of problems, mine just happaned to outlast most others that have owned them from what i read. but while i had them i loved the sound they pushed out and would like to find something comprable but reliable.

at any rate, i have been out of the game with pc audio for a bit, can anyone suggest some 5.1+ systems ? (preferrably under say $350.00) I'm looking for clarity of sound, something that won't burn out on me that is reliable and tested tried and true, a quality product.
The Gigaworks S750 7.1 look nice but i just can't justify spending $500 on a pc speaker system just yet....

any advice & multiple suggestions most welcome
 
I was looking into the Creative Gigaworks S750 and the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 , both seem nice to me , but i'm reading so many negative posts about both these systems with them dying and/or having oddball problems, replacement after replacement after replacement..... gah.....

Is there any hope ? are there any multimedia 5.1+ audio satellite systems out there that are good? disheartening....
 
dnsrunner said:
I was looking into the Creative Gigaworks S750 and the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 , both seem nice to me , but i'm reading so many negative posts about both these systems with them dying and/or having oddball problems, replacement after replacement after replacement..... gah.....

Is there any hope ? are there any multimedia 5.1+ audio satellite systems out there that are good? disheartening....
Click to expand...

Klipsch would be better IMO. You have to bear in mind how Reviews work. Not very often does someone hop on and give a positive review about something thier happy with. More often than not if something gos wrong people will right a bad review, I tend to just take it with a grain of salt. If everyone was forced to review products they bought it would look alot different.

Look at it this way how often do you talk about your day if nothing went wrong at all? Now how often do you talk about your day if it was shitty.
 
This depends a little on what you'll be doing with them, and alot on personal pref (taste).

I personally vouch for the Logitech Z-5500's. I am currently using them as a poor-man's home theater downstairs on the bigscreen. I have the dvd player hooked in via optical, and HD DVR hooked in via coax. The sound is superb and it fills a 16x19 family room quite well for such puny little satellite drivers. Enought that relatives who own serious HT's are quite impressed and even more amazed that they are around the $200 mark.

I have a set of Z-680's upstairs on the PC that I love as well.

I bought one set of Z-680's and let me just say the RMA process and customer service of Logitech is phenomenal. I owe my Z-5500's downstairs to their fantastic RMA's.

Whatever you get, if you would like a nice set of reference dvd's to show off your new kicks, then I recommend you stop by the AVS Forums and check out the demo tree currently going on. They are currently into the 20's on quality user-created demo discs.
 
pfunkman said:
Look at it this way how often do you talk about your day if nothing went wrong at all? Now how often do you talk about your day if it was shitty.
Click to expand...
This is true, and i've definatly taken into consideration not to take these reviews too literally since there are always going to be disgruntled customers. However with regards to the Klipsch in particular, its a bit tuff when i read countless complaints , all of them reporting that their amps died very shortly after usage without abuse. maybe someone that owns these speakers can give some further insight.

I started looking into the Gigaworks Pro-Gamer G550W.... seems ok.... also took a look at the Logitech Z-5500's darknyt ... i'm not inclined to purchase speakers from logitech....but maybe after a demo who knows. i'll have to see if i can find one setup somewhere....
 
I'll also vouch for the Z5500s. Been using them just under a year now for all my network HD tv shows, movies, and a few games.
 
dnsrunner said:
This is true, and i've definatly taken into consideration not to take these reviews too literally since there are always going to be disgruntled customers. However with regards to the Klipsch in particular, its a bit tuff when i read countless complaints , all of them reporting that their amps died very shortly after usage without abuse. maybe someone that owns these speakers can give some further insight.

I started looking into the Gigaworks Pro-Gamer G550W.... seems ok.... also took a look at the Logitech Z-5500's darknyt ... i'm not inclined to purchase speakers from logitech....but maybe after a demo who knows. i'll have to see if i can find one setup somewhere....
Click to expand...

Personally i think the Z-5500's are by far the best choice. Any reason why you wish to avoid logitech? I have been very un-impressed by creatives speakers everytime i hear a set but i have yet to hear a set of logitechs i dont like. Now as far as other suggestions if you REALLY dont want logitech and are put off by the Klipschs look into Altec lansing they have been making a good name for themselves for a while and for the most part i like their offerings.
 
Ok after re-reading your post based on your budget i would definately have to say a reciever and speakers will be better than any "computer only" solution It will sound better right off the bat with some real longevity and upgrade ability.

For example this is at best buy for just over $300
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat40200050004&id=1140391939869

And if you spent just a bill more.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat40200050004&id=1138083309444

Up to you but personally i would go the receiver route (Well i did but you know).

Just some suggestions.
 
pfunkman said:
Personally i think the Z-5500's are by far the best choice. Any reason why you wish to avoid logitech? I have been very un-impressed by creatives speakers everytime i hear a set but i have yet to hear a set of logitechs i dont like. Now as far as other suggestions if you REALLY dont want logitech and are put off by the Klipschs look into Altec lansing they have been making a good name for themselves for a while and for the most part i like their offerings.
Click to expand...
creative i was lookin at mostly since i have this creative surround sound speaker stand that has two arms lurching over behind my head to hang the rears from, pretty cool but they don't fit all speakers course... hmm, logitechs' when i've heard them in the past, tho i can't recall particular models, have found them to be a bit on the muddy/bass-ey side. the bass sounds could be a bit cleaner (higher frequency) and i've also found a bit of a plastic boxy sound if that makes any sense. Lots of lows and highs , few mids . sounded good when gaming (lil bass boomy) but i didn't care for it for listening to music.

as for the receiver / speaker route i guess i was tryin not to have to fire up a reciever and have a pc only solution. but out of curiousity, what would be the best way to hook up my audigy2 soundcard to a reciever ? i usually used an all in one plug that carried the 5.1 signal to the 510D's i was using. or would i really need a new soundcard?

btw, altec's i think put out great sound. I actually was checkin out the FX5051 by altec. considering it... wish harmon kardon made a 5.1 soundstick system....
 
dnsrunner said:
as for the receiver / speaker route i guess i was tryin not to have to fire up a reciever and have a pc only solution. but out of curiousity, what would be the best way to hook up my audigy2 soundcard to a reciever ? i usually used an all in one plug that carried the 5.1 signal to the 510D's i was using. or would i really need a new soundcard?
Click to expand...

Your soundcard would do fine. Depending on the receiver you get some have 6 channel input so you would just need a few 1/8" to RCA cables and would be set for surround (This option works best for gaming). And if you dont have that you would just need a 1/8" to mono RCA plug and plug it into the SPDIF connector on your receiver for digital all you would need to do is turn on the digital out through the creative console.

I can say my Yamaha receiver has both the digital and the analog 6 channel connections but not sure about what others do.

I would try and shop around and see if you can find a store with these or similar on display the kind of money your going to spend should not be spent based on others opinions alone. For something like this i tend to shop local that way if i dont like it i just take them back and try another.
 
If you can get the Onkyo S790 HT system, I think you'd be way better off than anything multimedia. I think the Onkyo is able to play to the analog outs of the typical 5.1 soundcard, but you have to double check to be sure.

Thing is, I saw that the Onkyo is on sale at CC for $399, which is pretty much at the exact price level of the upper strata MM setups.

I've had the Klipsch 4.1, my brother has had the Klipsch Ultras (broke after 1.5 years), I bought a friend the Logitech Z2300 (which is similar to the sound you'd get from the Logitech Z5500, and my neighbor has the Onkyo HTS790. I will say, the Onkyo is far better than any of the other ones I listed.

Far better.

onkyo_HTS790B_300x250_s.jpg
 
Alright, two things...

1) I too recommend a "home theater" sound setup too as opposed to computer-only speakers. In my experience, a good set of computer speakers sound better than an introductory HTIB, but the Onkyo and Yamaha are pretty decent setups.

2) Your title says you're looking for 5.1 audio speakers. Are there any non-audio 5.1 speakers? :p
 
Great feedback, thanks to everyone for their help and time.

I'm a bit lost when it comes to audio i must say. From what i am reading SPDIF is a converted digital signal, if i attached the reciever via an 1/8 out to mono RCA plug , would this be converting the audio from digital to analog and back to digital by the time it pushed out of the speakers ? Is there a way for me to get the whole shabang in one digital out line into the reciever for 5.1 or 6.1 sound whilst keeping the signal digital the whole way through? I guess i'm still unsure what i need to look for and a bit lost...

I was checkin out the Onkyo HT-S790 and Yamaha 720W, and see for connections "5.1 audio in" for analog connections, and digital input for optical or coax. Can anyone provide any pics of wires i would need for the various different setup scenarios ? What really is the best method for connection for digital sound?


Since i don't have coax out or optical out on this audigy2 i guess i'm limited in my options. my audigy2 card outputs look like this:
From left to right: Digital Out, Line in, microphone in, Line out 1, 2 & 3, IEEE port
 
dnsrunner said:
T.... also took a look at the Logitech Z-5500's darknyt ... i'm not inclined to purchase speakers from logitech....but maybe after a demo who knows. i'll have to see if i can find one setup somewhere....
Click to expand...

If you are hesitant to purchase Logitech speakers purely because you balk at buying premium speakers for a company often known better for its mice, then I understand completely as I did once as well.

However, I'm very glad I let all the glowing reviews convince me otherwise with the Z-680's and furthermore with the stellar improvement that is the Z5500 control pod (the Z-680 was ghastly for HT use).

You can certainly get better sound than the Z-5500's, but certainly not easily for that price. They sound phenomenal in my HT.
 
pfunkman said:
Ok after re-reading your post based on your budget i would definately have to say a reciever and speakers will be better than any "computer only" solution It will sound better right off the bat with some real longevity and upgrade ability.

For example this is at best buy for just over $300
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat40200050004&id=1140391939869

And if you spent just a bill more.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat40200050004&id=1138083309444

Up to you but personally i would go the receiver route (Well i did but you know).

Just some suggestions.
Click to expand...


I second this, but would not get either of those systems.

i would get some of the marantz refurbs from accessories4less, and add in a DD-Live/DTS-C sound card.
 
For good 5.1s speakers I, as willl many [H]ard forum go'ers will recommend, are the

Logitech Z series 5.1s, This includes

Logitech Z-5500-Totally awesome, Nice bass, Sound awesome, Perfection for cheap, Also great for Home Theater use. (wireless remote and digital in)
Logitech Z-5300e-Amazing for 150-200. Same reasons as above.

Look up reviews of these systems, they will convince you.

I don't recommend the Z-5450 speakers due to users saying the two rear wireless speakers emit a low static sound.(common to most wireless speakers)
 
dnsrunner said:
I'm a bit lost when it comes to audio i must say. From what i am reading SPDIF is a converted digital signal, if i attached the reciever via an 1/8 out to mono RCA plug , would this be converting the audio from digital to analog and back to digital by the time it pushed out of the speakers ? Is there a way for me to get the whole shabang in one digital out line into the reciever for 5.1 or 6.1 sound whilst keeping the signal digital the whole way through? I guess i'm still unsure what i need to look for and a bit lost...

I was checkin out the Onkyo HT-S790 and Yamaha 720W, and see for connections "5.1 audio in" for analog connections, and digital input for optical or coax. Can anyone provide any pics of wires i would need for the various different setup scenarios ? What really is the best method for connection for digital sound?
Click to expand...

Ok... for you, because I'm nice, I'll go check the Onkyo 790 reciever that my friend has and I will get back to you with how to connect it. I'm kinda tired of typing long stuff... so if you want, give me a pm and I will send you my cell phone number and we can talk. That way, u can ask me everything u could possibly want to know about audio or the receiver's connections to your audigy 2 (which I've had and am familiar with).

Joey
 
Pinipig523 said:
Ok... for you, because I'm nice, I'll go check the Onkyo 790 reciever that my friend has and I will get back to you with how to connect it. I'm kinda tired of typing long stuff... so if you want, give me a pm and I will send you my cell phone number and we can talk. That way, u can ask me everything u could possibly want to know about audio or the receiver's connections to your audigy 2 (which I've had and am familiar with).

Joey
Click to expand...
sorry, i had a monitor dihlemma to deal with
thank you vm :) i would appreciate that. i'll pm you.

as for the logitechs BMWLover, i read up a bunch on them and they get good reviews , but they seem to have the same complaints about the bass sound it pushes out, i wish it were a little cleaner... but again, i'll have to hunt down one of these systems setup and give it a listen again.

I also looked at the marantz (nice recievers), but either not in stock or its out of my reach financially and i don't want to build another 5.1 surround sound system by component like my living room. i think the farthest i would go is an "all in one 5.1 system" either pc or non-pc based without a very compelling arguement to justify the prices

thank you and as always , I appreciate any and all input
 
dnsrunner said:
I also looked at the marantz (nice recievers), but either not in stock or its out of my reach financially and i don't want to build another 5.1 surround sound system by component like my living room. i think the farthest i would go is an "all in one 5.1 system" either pc or non-pc based without a very compelling arguement to justify the prices
Click to expand...
Just throwing you another option to thoroughly confuse you ;)

The Spherex 51000 uses rebadged omnisat speakers and are supposedly a good value for gaming setups. Google up some discussion threads for more info and feedback.

Froogle price comparison.
Click to expand...
Otherwise a better HTIB set like some of those proposed would also be a fine idea imho.

Have fun either way
 
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hehe npz. all suggestions welcome, I saw those too. i dunno the shape just bugs me but i saw this on another post here , they look pretty damn nice, wood enclosures diggin that. Can't find a whole lot of reviews on it but the ones i've seen seem good.Edifier S5.1 240W Speaker System
 
dnsrunner said:
hehe npz. all suggestions welcome, I saw those too. i dunno the shape just bugs me but i saw this on another post here , they look pretty damn nice, wood enclosures diggin that. Can't find a whole lot of reviews on it but the ones i've seen seem good.Edifier S5.1 240W Speaker System
Click to expand...

So not worth it.

Get the 790, call me.

Joey
 
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