Recommend me some speakers.

eggyhustles

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
101
I was an inch away from buying the logitech z5500...read alot of reviews on newegg..and people seem to love them.. you guys seem to hate them :confused:..but you guys have alot more knowledge than me when it comes to home audio..i'm more of a car audio kinda guy..i'm currently using an old jvc shelf system that comes with 2 subs..it still works fine..and the bass is wonderful(fills up the whole room) but i need something new as i'm putting the jvc system in the living room for my mother..my budget is small...i have exactly 278 dollars for a setup..i would like a sub if possible..i also plan to purchase the asus xonar d2..but if you guys think i can use a cheaper card to make the speaker budget bigger..please do tell...thanks..

edit..card is being bought at a later time..budget is now 520
 
so these 20 watt monitors will be better than a 500 watt logitech system? sorry for the noobish question
 
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=912896

amazon has a sale on logitech G51 5.1 speakers.

edit: n/m, looks like it's dead.

but you should get logitech 5.1 speakers, I had a set but one of the satellites broke and I got a Klipsch 2.1 set. I miss the sound quality and 5.1 aspect (sound positioning, helps in FPS mp) of my logitech set every day, these speakers don't do this sound card justice.
 
I wouldn't go with 2.1 if you game, but the swans m10 look nice and might have some power to them, nowhere near the logitech z-5500's though..
 
logitech 5.1 speakers are pretty much great all around speakers. music, movies, games.
 
I wouldn't go with 2.1 if you game, but the swans m10 look nice and might have some power to them, nowhere near the logitech z-5500's though..

I would like to argue otherwise.
I've recently had a short listen to both in the same room and setup. The Swans sounded a helluva lot nicer to my ears. I was surprised, I thought the Z-5500's would sound nicer but nope, not to my ears. The Swans were also able to crank out the volume with less distortion than with the Logitech set.
Just my observations though...
 
The z-5500s are ~$250. You can do MUCH better 2.1 sound for that, or even for half that. It gets harder to do 5.1 without bumping the ceiling a little bit. But yes, Logitechs are little puny toy speakers.
 
I don't need a 5.1 setup..a 2.1 would be perfectly fine ..i just read so many reviews on newegg about the logitechs and how godly they are lol
 
The Logitechs ARE godly...if all you've ever heard are the $20 piece of crap speakers that came bundled with your Dell. But they are still "computer speakers" and the sound quality that results is still in that category.

Swans would be a great step up. There's better depending on budget. A Dayton subwoofer from PartsExpress runs about $100 (last I looked, the 8" was $95 and the 10" was $110) and will more than serve for a relatively modest budget system.
 
so far we have the swans m10 and the Behringer MS20 with the dayton sub...which do you guys think would be better? or are there any other setups?
 
Oh, and wattage as applied to speakers is mostly a sucker ploy. It doesn't really tell you much other than in a very, very rough way.

The Behringers are nice in that they have their own internal DAC, i.e. it boosts another component of your audio chain at the same time. There are loads of options, though. Is the assumption of roughly a $200 budget accurate?
 
300 i can up the budget to 400 if someone can recommend a cheaper soundcard that will do the job..
 
The Xonar D2 is great as far as it goes, but for $400 I would be thinking about:

Swan D1080MkII ($180)
Dayton 10" sub ($110)
Super Pro DAC707SE ($110)

This is by no means the only option. It should give you very good sound quality for the budget, though. OTOH just the Dayton sub plus the Behringers would be $200 and accomplish most of the same things. There are also a number of respectable options in lieu of the D1080s that would knock it down closer to $300.
 
D'oh, I meant to explain that.

A "DAC" is a digital to analog converter, which is the component of your audio train that takes the digital 1s and 0s that the computer stores and processes sound in and turns them into the analog voltage levels that speakers need to...well, speak. The quality of the DAC, and in particularly its isolation from noise, have a direct effect on the resulting sound quality. You can tell where the DAC is by looking for where you start having analog signals, for example there is one in the sound card or onboard sound circuit of a computer because it takes digital and outputs analog. Speakers that take digital input necessarily have an integral DAC (which would be bypassed if you input analog instead!) - the conversion HAS TO happen somewhere before it turns into actual sound. For any DAC inside the computer, it necessarily has to deal with the electrical noise created by the computer itself - a thing which is very, very hard to do well without becoming very, very expensive. Given an internal DAC and a reasonably implemented external DAC, the external one will usually work better (there are a few potential exceptions, e.g. the DAC in the z-5500s compared to a good soundcard like the Xonar D2 will quite possibly *lose* instead of things going the usual way and the internal solution losing).

Sorry, it's kinda long. But the point of an external DAC is that it can create a more accurate analog version of your digital audio source, and especially should introduce less noise and distortion.

Also, the Xonar D2 really is a very good sound card as such things go. Burr-Brown DAC chips, solid caps, all that love. It just has to deal with the electrical noise from the computer being dumped into it. The fan enclosure actually may provide a bit more shielding than most sound cards get, as well. It's not a complete solution to the problem, but it may help further improve it compared to other internal options.
 
Great explanation..ok so..the xonar D2 is a must buy..which means i won't be able to afford that last setup you posted(sorry for wasting your time with that) which leaves me with 320 dollars for a setup..
 
This is true...i should've thought of that..i am currently using an old audigy 2 zs card..so i guess that can hold me off until i get the xonar d2..that would leave me with 520 dollars..
 
Great explanation..ok so..the xonar D2 is a must buy..which means i won't be able to afford that last setup you posted(sorry for wasting your time with that) which leaves me with 320 dollars for a setup..

The reason I included the DAC is that it would do the same job as the Xonar D2...but better, cheaper, and would probably not need to be upgraded until you have some REALLY nice speakers. There are better around, but for the price it's very good.

You can always buy that at a later time.

With any of these plans, really.

A sub + decent speakers in the "bookshelf" or even "mini monitor" class will be a huge upgrade as it is. The Xonar or an external DAC is still very substantial, but coming from "computer" class speakers you will already be making a large enough step that you can probably be perfectly happy without for a good while.

The Audigy 2 should easily hold you for now, it's not like you're using the onboard solution from some bargain-basement ECS mobo. It will make a nice future point of upgrade, possibly an A/V receiver instead since you might want to do 5.1 at some point.
 
yeah..i feel that anything is better than what i currently have now..i hate the shelf system i have now so much that i just use my denon iems..so i guess i can get the external DAC at a later time when i upgrade the speakers..do you still recommend the same setup even though i now have 520 to play with?
 
Hmm, didn't mention headphones til now. It might be worth it to get a Zero DAC / headphone amp instead, which will run you $156 shipped from the importer on eBay, and work the rest of the build around that.

Throw in the sub again, leaves $254 for sats. Really starting to want better speakers at this point, but then they'd need amplification in many cases.


This comes down to your priorities. The Zero will take digital input (i.e. S/PDIF optical or coax) give you a device that acts as both a combination DAC/amp for your headphones, and a DAC for your speakers (amplification for speakers & headphones generally isn't compatible because of the difference in the power needed). OR, go for a low-budget receiver that will give you decent amplification for both headphones and speakers, and a decent DAC for both. From what you've been saying, I would think receiver.
 
This was actually my first pair of iems(denon ah-c700) i usually messed with cheap 10 dollar sony earbuds..and so far the sound is amazing..but i've been told by so many people that a headphone amp would really make these shine..but for now the sound quality is good..i'd rather go with the reciever for now as i won't be using the headphones as much since i'll have some decent speakers(i will however buy a headphone amp down the line)..i noticed you left the dayton sub out..would i be able to use the old sub that came with my jvc self system until i have funds for the dayton?
 
These are $310, and pretty sweet as integrated-amp speakers go. (Use the "email me a better price" link to get around the "minimum advertised price" shenanigans).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533716-REG/Audioengine_A5W_A5_Bookshelf_Speakers_White_.html

http://audioengineusa.com/store/pro...id=77&osCsid=2e54bbe9dbeb3121647c7b868a41e386

a5_b_1_275w.jpg

a5_b_5_275w.jpg


i noticed you left the dayton sub out..would i be able to use the old sub that came with my jvc self system until i have funds for the dayton?

As to the JVC shelf sub: I don't know, maybe, it depends how its wired. Pics?

Leaving out the Dayton was accidental, I'm a little tired. It will give you the bass extension which, I feel, is important in maintaining the "believability" of reproduction in music and...well, for more obvious reasons with games & movies. Big bada boom. The Dayton is nice in that it has reasonably good clarity and doesn't just go for the biggest thump it can generate.


If you have the floor space, I would get these, the cheapest receiver or speaker amplifier you can find, and hold the sub for now. The result should be extremely good. The one thing I'd worry about is that shipping might kill the deal - these are HEAVY. (They also make some very nice bookshelf speakers, but are out of stock and unpredictable about when they'll be available again.)

de9f3ff9dc871769336a46295e2db29f.jpg
 
These are $310, and pretty sweet as integrated-amp speakers go. (Use the "email me a better price" link to get around the "minimum advertised price" shenanigans).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533716-REG/Audioengine_A5W_A5_Bookshelf_Speakers_White_.html

http://audioengineusa.com/store/pro...id=77&osCsid=2e54bbe9dbeb3121647c7b868a41e386

a5_b_1_275w.jpg

a5_b_5_275w.jpg




As to the JVC shelf sub: I don't know, maybe, it depends how its wired. Pics?

Leaving out the Dayton was accidental, I'm a little tired. It will give you the bass extension which, I feel, is important in maintaining the "believability" of reproduction in music and...well, for more obvious reasons with games & movies. Big bada boom. The Dayton is nice in that it has reasonably good clarity and doesn't just go for the biggest thump it can generate.

subs are hooked up via regular speaker wire..this is a link to the system
http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HX-D77-540-Watt-Bass-Reflex-Speakers/dp/B000FFQ4MS

I also would like to apologize if you are staying up to answer my questions..it's truly appreciated.

edit..just noticed the floorstanders you posted..they are beautful..bad thing is i don't have the space for them so i'm limited to bookshelf speakers..as my bedroom is small and my desk is kinda big..
 
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I don't either, or I'd be all over a config like that. I'm very tempted to MAKE room...

Not staying up...much...I'm a college student and only get early September off every year, so I tend to go wild with various projects I've been thinking of trying. :D

Here's your manual (there are no other good pics of it, anywhere, besides that horrible front view). Is the sub the thing on page 5?

http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/90/LVT1540-001B.pdf
 
Sorry, meant 5 in the document not 5 in the file. Actually, it was the center console I was looking at...the subwoofers are apparently the lower pair on those...things. The switch block has a pair of contacts for each side labeled subwoofer and a pair labeled main. Unplug the ones that say main, and you should have yourself an instant (if extra-special) subwoofer.

The low-end on some of these speakers like the A5 should be good enough that retaining the JVC subwoofer could actually be worse than none at all. But they will definitely benefit from a "proper" sub...even those beautiful towers.
 
Insignias are like Polks. Cheap.

Well, it used to be you could get them there for much less. They're not really cheap enough to justify going over some of the other options now, IMO.

As to the JVC sub: that's just my guess. You have it in hand, so you can always try it and find out for sure.
 
Gotcha...i was looking at the post your systems post..and seen alot of people with them..figured they were an excellent entry level speaker
 
They are. Were. Again, they used to be cheaper and were a very good deal for people just breaking out of the Logitech bracket.

If you're not really sure where to go from here, there are a number of other experienced voices that regularly check the audio section. I'm sure you'll get more input tomorrow if you need it (at more normal hours).
 
see what i mean about not knowing what's good and what's crap lol.

that panasonic is nice..and small which is good since space is pretty limited..same range too..
 
I went with an Onkyo 6xx series for mine, mostly because I wanted a bunch of A/V functions. I'm more audio-minded now thanks to the corruption of better quality audio, so would just do the video stuff with switches if I needed to and stick with what gives better SQ. :D

So, you are interested in the ability to go to 5.1 eventually?
 
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