5.1 speaker set, should i buy :E

[doctor_prox]

I am currently using a 30w RMS hifi attached to my PC atm and the sound is good. I am considering a logitech Z-640 speaker set, but im not sure if i will hear much difference. The main thing thats putting me off is the speakers are something like 6-7 watt each, which sounds pretty small and they look small.
I use it for music / games / tv and dvd sometimes.

[Howard]

Get the Z680s. They own.

[5lab]

i cant over reccomend the creative setups. they are all really really good. and any of their sets >£100 will be far more than enough power..

[doctor_prox]

What would you pick out of:
Logitech Z-640 £36 + vat
Creative inspire P580 £31 + vat
or are they both crap

[fondie]

what hi-fi is it that you've got? surround sound is great and all but i'd prefer to have a quality stereo system than a 5.1 pc speaker set, especially if it's going to be used for music as well as films/games.

[Zak33]

if its for your PC AND you have the right outputs......spend a FRACTION more....you aint on enough dough for an improvement over your HI speakers there....

[Crazy Cricket]

Depends on ya budget really.

If musics ya main bag, and you're happy with your stereo setup you may do better with keeping what ya got and adding a Yamaha surround proccesor. This with the added speakers will add on surround whilst keeping ya currant gear for stereo use.

Rears don't need to be big or match your currant gear IMHO, a lot of setups including cinemas overblow the rears big time. They should really just melt into the background seamlessly.

As for centre speakers, smaller ones often do the job fine. What you can get sometimes is a centre that matches ya stereo speakers, same brand same range, the good thing about this is that having the same tweeter can help blend the front half of the sound stage. If not I wouldnt worry too much, for years I had an el cheapo centre that did the job fine, that said 99% of the time I just listened to stereo stuff.

[Rave]

Yeah, I don't like too many obvious surround effects; they distract you from watching the actual film. I also hate really hard stereo pans that you get when (for example) a truck passes in front of the camera- that's poor mixing frankly.

[Crazy Cricket]

Yup, know what ya mean about 'in your face' pans. Kinda reminds me of early stereo recordings which were mixed really wide

Surround tends to work best when it's being ambient, you shouldn't really be able to hear individual speakers, just their effect if you see what I mean.

[doctor_prox]

I listen to music while i work but im not fussy about the right "trebles" and other musical terms, as long as it sounds decent.
I just thought it would be cool to have sound behind me like in games and stuff, rather than just sound from the front, which will probably mean i won't have to have it so loud.

[Crazy Cricket]

Well IMHO games don't really need uber high quality, or volume, it can help but isn't a need. That said I still have a mono sound card around here somewhere (cost me a ton that did!)

Can't say I am upto date on the currant gear, but I have liked creatives gear for the money.

[Howard]

I agree about these "In yer face" speaker pans too... It should go smoothly IMO, not straight from one to the other

Also IMO the cheaper Creative speakers are far from good quality. I like to have good-quality audio for music as I listen to a lot on my PC, and I still think my Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 speakers beat most <£100ish surround speaker sets in terms of quality.

I think maybe the Z680s are a bit exessive as you don't wanna spend much, but the Z640s used to be excellent speakers. The Z680s overtook them because of all the new features and decoding they have.
So yeah I'd go for the Logitechs over the P580s.

[Sibu]

what about the 5300's logitech do, they are sort of a stop gap between the 640's and the 680's...thats what im considering upgrading to.

[Alex]

I think pink floyd did some really obvious stereo pans quite well in some of their music, so I don't think its always bad. In films it can be, though it can be a good effect, especially front to back rather than side to side. I know what you all mean though, some do take it over the top.

[Howard]

Surround effects in films don't do it for me

Sheer in yer face power and explosions you can feel ripping through your stomach are what I enjoy

[Tifosi]

I just got the Logitech Z680's for £200 from Apple UK and they're not half bad. Amazing bass slightly boomy and the satellites are slightly under powered in comparison to the sub.

But for £200 they're a steal