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Questions about Speakers and..

C

Cloughy12

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
68
Well I am gonna be building a new computer soon, and I was woundering about what type of Sound Equiptment to get. I already own a pair of Sennheiser HD 595's so I don't need to worrie about the Headphones. I want to hook up some speakers that are loud enough so that When I watch movies on my 37" Westinghouse, it'll feel like I'm in a movie theater. Also I would like it to be surround sound, but all the computer speakers I've seen don't have enough cord to reach behind me (big room, possibly 15' by 15'), and I herd from an Audio Enthusiest... (my friend) that Problem with Home Theater Systems is that they don't last nearly as long as Computer speakers. I planned on buying the X-Fi Fatality sound card and I/O drive... I usually use my computer for; gaming, Watching Movies, and listening to music. I would like the following abilitys:

-Have 5.1 surround sound for playing games and watching movies
-Be able to Switch between Computer Audio and TV audio (I will use 37" westy as a TV aswell as Monitor"
-Loud enough to feel like a Theater, but keep good sound quality
-Some type of Audio Control (possibly a reciver, with Volume, Bass, Trebble, Control, Ect)
-Cord preferably as long as I can Increase it's length incase it isn't long enough
-Keep it under I dunno... 600-700$

Hopeing this isn't an impossible task, thanks for the help and info!

EDIT:: I don't care if the set is mixed and match, solong as it looks clean... meaning nice, I like actractive and clean, not out of control Crazy :D
 
for that price you can get a Yamaha DTS home theater receiver and speakers. It'll blow any computer speaker set out of the water.
 
Im looking all over for these speakers... can't find em or u mean i could use the Yamaha DTS reciver + 5 speakers
 
i would get an external dolby decoder and some nice speakers...... if u need more cord you could go with the z5450's or w/e they are.... wireless except u have to plug them in and good quality
 
yeah. Yamaha usually has a couple of package deals where you get the receiver (usually these days a 6.1 dts), the 6 speakers + subwoofer for between $500 and $800. Not audiophile quality by any stretch, but the sound's a LOT better than a normal computer speaker set and for watching movies, it's very good.
 
yeah. Yamaha usually has a couple of package deals where you get the receiver (usually these days a 6.1 dts), the 6 speakers + subwoofer for between $500 and $800. Not audiophile quality by any stretch, but the sound's a LOT better than a normal computer speaker set and for watching movies, it's very good.
Click to expand...

Yah I don;t need Audiophile surround sound, just something that sounds crisp and dosn't hiss/crack.. got my HD 595's for Ultra Quality sound.
 
How would I be able to connect the Reciver to my x-fi sound card. Say I want to watch Lord of the Rings, so... What type of cord would I run from my X-FI to my reciver, and When doing that, would I still keep the true 5.1 Surround Sound Audio, or would it all be same signal/sound comming from 5 diffrent speakers positioned arround me? Hope i'm not completly off, and please excuse my newbie questions, gotta learn some time...
 
You'd use a stereo miniplug (male) to stereo RCA cable. You can get 'em at Radio Shack.

I can't remember if the XFi outputs true DTS/Dolby/Prologic or not.

I was able to get full surround sound out of my SB Live! connected to my ProLogic receiver. The stereo's now in another room so I can't verify that it also works with the Audigy.

Basically as long as something is outputting in the DTS format, the stereo is going to see it as just another component that's sending DTS-formatted signals, and process it accordingly. Doesn't matter if it's a sound card or a DVD player.
 
OP, a little research can go a long way here. Check out this subforum that focuses on complete home theatre systems: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=109

Found a few relevant threads for ya:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=690931 (lot of fuss being raised about this setup)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=739556
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=724338

Personally if i were in your position i'd pick up a decent/refurbished receiver + 2 or 3 pairs of BestBuy Insignia speakers + a Bic H100 sub, or a cadence subwoofer. That ought to keep you well under your spending limit, and allow for easy incremental future upgrades.

Bic H-100 subwoofer designed by Dr. Hsu: http://cgi.ebay.com/BIC-Acoustech-H...oryZ3275QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (this merchant supposedly accepts "best offers" of betwwen $190-$210 + shipping)

The new and improved Cadence XSub: http://cgi.ebay.com/CADENCE-XSUB-12...96QQihZ015QQcategoryZ3275QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem .
Click to expand...
 
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Had one more question about speakers, if your doing a 7.1 system, is there a diffrence between the Front left/right, Middle left/right, and back left/right? or do you just buy 6 of the same type and put them into position. (non HTIB) Or am I supposed to look for like better mid's to low for back and better Mid-highs for front? (just an example... all thats bs, just curious) thanks
 
Eh, depends on who you talk to. Most bundles come with identical speakers all around (except of course for the subwoofer). And as long as you have a sub, you can get away with that. But I personally think big - as in tower - speakers on the front L/R sound better. They fill in the range between the bass and the mids that the subwoofer/bookshelf speakers simply cant. Plus they've got a larger air chamber which IMO makes them sound a lot better than the tiny little speakers everyone loves these days.

At any rate, you don't need lows coming out of your sides or surrounds. Bass is omnidirectional, which is why you can stick the subwoofer just about anywhere and it doesn't sound weird. My surrounds are mids/highs, and that's all you need.
 
Timbre matching is a key concept here. I don't think I really need to explain further.

I'll disagree with shadowfax regarding low frequency reproduction in surrounds, but on a budget, there's not much option. It's my opinion that the surrounds be as full range as possible, which means two- or three-way "bookshelf" surrounds (not a huge fan of dipoles from a purely efficiency standpoint) with large woofers.

The typical "rule of thumb" regarding surround bussing during final mixing is that the LFE is not included in any of the surround sub-busses. A subwoofer is only, theoretically, omni-directional if it's reproducing what is absent from the surround busses. In the grand majority of scenarios, it is not.
 
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