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Looking to upgarde speakers.

P

Pr3z

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 10, 2005
Messages
295
I have about 600-700 dollars and am looking to upgrade my pc speakers to something a little more powerfull.

Currentlly I am using and Altec Lansing set-up I ordered with my dell 5 years ago.

http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx?i=1523

They sound great but don't give me what I want. I also just bought a house and the basement has an unfinished section so I plan to try and sound proof this room as best as I can so I can enjoy the audio and leave the wife alone.

I don't know the most about speakers or receivers but I would like to get something I could start out with for now and upgrade as needed. Something that I could eventually run my entire hom sound through. I'm looking for sites that would give a good idea on audio set-ups and what equipment is good and what is junk.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I have an audigy 2 zs sound card and would be willing to upgrade.
 
http://www.alienware.com/intro_pages/alx_speakers.aspx
Is technically the klipsch promedia 5.1 ultra with speakers upgraded to reference speakers (they run about $500 the speakers only).
add a sound blaster audigy x-fi platinum (can be found online for less than $130)

Or
a nice Denon or karma Hardon receiver
and
a set of Cambridge Sound Works reference speakers.
 
At that price, you can get a receiver, and two decent bookshelf speakers (Plus all the cables).

My best recommendation? Goto your local high end audio stores (no, not tweeter, circuit city, etc). Tell them how much money you have to spend at the moment, what your room is like, what you plan to do with them, etc. THey will then make recommendations.

Untill you get into expensive speakers, you won't have to worry about the audigy 2 zs being the bottle neck. Much better to spend more money on speakers and a better quality amp / receiver IMO.

I ended up with a little denon receiver (AVR-685), and two bookshelf speakers (B&W 601 S3). I forget how much the receiver was, but it was around 250$ - 350$. The speakers were 380$ for the pair. So, that's about at your budget. For the price, I'm very happy with the sound quality. If you can find a setup similar to this, you should be very happy, especially comming form those computer speakers.

~Hope this helps, and keep us posted
 
for that budget.. I agree with everyone else.. get a reciever and some nice bookshelfs or some actual powered studio monitors... like some KRK V6's or if you wanted to save some money.. some Alesis Monitor Ones and a Alesis RA100 2 channel amp. I found a nice set on ebay for $200 and $75 or so for the amp. I personally have the Alesis and for $200.. you would not believe the sound they put out. I don't think there is a set of "computer" speakers that would be able to match them for 2x the price. If your patient.. I found a pair + amp on ebay and won it for $150 + shipping for everything.
 
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Awesome, thanks for the replys guys. I have heard people say stay away from the Best Buys, Circut Citys, and ect thats why I posted. I want to make sure I spend the money correctlly for good audio components. Granted you don't get as much but the quality is what I am after here, with the ability to add on in the future.

Thanks again and if anyone else has any ideas please let me know.

Also I am having trouble finidng a dealer in my area for B&W. Anyone know how to look for one. Their website only seems to list re-sellers in Europe and the UK.
 
Or get headphones, headphones beat speaker sound quality at price. That's quite a large budget for pc speakers, I would just get some headphones, Cambridge Sound Works S750 pc speaker set (on sale $300) or spend all the money on the best receiver you can affort and hook it up to your tv with HDMI switching for when you play playstation 3 or 360 on your tv. Unless you will also run your receiver through your television It seems like a rather large budget just to hear sound from your pc.
Good speakers are
Integras
infinity
Cambridge Sound Works
mirage (decent)
Receivers
Denon (High end models have the best upconversion from analog to HDMI 720p and 1080i)
Harman Kardon (more expensive, less features than denon, not a bad system)
Yamaha (they been slipping lately)
 
Just go to Denon, Marantz, KEF, Harmon Kardon... Look up resellers in your area, then see if they have a website or start calling.

I'm sure everybody is giving good advice. But listen to as much stuff as possible before you buy... take lots of CD's. Classical CD's are the best for testing, as far as range.

For B&M chain stores, if you have Ultimate Electronics they handle some quality stuff.
 
Pr3z said:
Also I am having trouble finidng a dealer in my area for B&W. Anyone know how to look for one. Their website only seems to list re-sellers in Europe and the UK.
Click to expand...

On the B&W site click on global home and select United States from the drop-down menu.
 
dandragonrage said:
It means you can't get any B&W stuff worth having for the budget the OP stated.
Click to expand...
Wow, if you could have shown me a speaker that sounds better (to me) then the B&W 601 S3 for roughly the same price, I would be impressed. (I was not able to do it with the local selection within a 100 mile radius of me).

But then again, if you can find a better one, get it in a heart beat ^_^.
 
dandragonrage said:
I'd take Ascend over B&W for the stated budget any day.
Click to expand...
Ah, that's cool. Too bad they don't sell them in stores, or I'de go take a listen.

Still, for someone who doesn't mind buying them and making use of their 30 day money back guarantee, they may be a viable option. Purchase them, listen to them for a week or two, and while your at it compare them to other speakers locally. If you find better, return them. If not, keep them and enjoy ^_^.
 
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