What speakers to buy?

[Outrage]

Hey guys, i'm looking for some new speakers and was hoping for some suggestions; basically they need to have long enough wires to be situated at corners of the room about 4m² (can always fit a longer cable if not) and i want a 5.1 system, looking for a price around the £100 figure so if anyone has any suggestions from past experience then please let me know, thanks

[kalniel]

Welcome to Hexus

If you need long enough wires then buy long enough wires - it's not something to pick speakers by

What's your amplifier/receiver?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Adding to what kalniel says,what kind of music do you listen to?? With speakers it is better to demo them before purchase if you can.

[Outrage]

tbh i pretty much listen to everything and i just tend to plug my ipod into the subwoofer using a 3.5mm jack (that's on the ones i have at the moment) so they'll need a 3.5mm jack >.<

[Smudger]

Sounds like you might need to look at an 'in a box' setup. I'd have a look at Richer Sounds or similar, then go and listen to a couple of sets and see which you like best.

Saying that, the only set they have under £100 is a Pioneer set:

http://www.richersounds.com/products...eaker-packages

Have you thought about a soundbar?

[jim]

If you're looking at PC 5.1 systems like the Creative/Logitech options, I wouldn't advise going down that route.

[Outrage]

not really looked at any sound bars, are there any advantages/disadvantages of them?

[Outrage]

okay, i've found two sets which i quite like, obviously i don't know alot about speakers but could anyone give me a comparison between these? pros and cons etc, thanks okay it won't let me post URLs because i'm new so i'll type the names out >.< Hyundai Multicav Surround Sound Speaker Set 1150 Watts MAX - Silver and Yamaha NS-P20 5.1 Channel Speaker Package

[jim]

The question you should be asking is what you intend to plug them into.

These are designed for AV Receivers/Amps, which take inputs like optical, HDMI, etc and output them in 5.1.

You're intending to plug an iPod into them with a 3.5mm jack, which is the equivalent of plugging some headphones in.

Totally different things, for totally different scenarios. You'll need to do a bit more research.

[Outrage]

oh god, now i'm confused >.< sorry for the lack of knowledge so what kind of setup should i look at for using with ipod/tv audio output?

[jim]

So let's get this straight. You want to get some new 5.1 speakers, and you want to plug in both your iPod, and your television. Is that all correct?

What do you have at present?

[Outrage]

yeah, it'll either be one or the other plugged in, currently i have SPEEDLINK Vivo 2.1 Subwoofer System SL-8209-SBK, but they're slowly dying which is why i fancied replacing them

[wasabi]

£100 might get you an off the shelf cheap surround system, maybe one of those ones that comes with a built in DVD player. If you don't already have a powered sub that'll blow your budget before you get going on a passable 5.1 system, IMO a decent powered sub is the core part of any decent surround system. Realistically on that budget you can do quite well with second hand speakers or just buy decent stereo speakers for music and forget surround for now.

[Outrage]

any recommended models?

[jim]

Well, looking at those, they're a £20 ultra-budget option that are designed for computers.

For a direct swap-in, you'd be looking at the options I mentioned like the Logitech/Creatives of this world. Thing is, they're typically going to be 3.5mm input for computers, and they're not going to do 5.1 with your TV. If you go down that route, I wouldn't bother to be honest. You'd be better off with an iPod dock and just use your TV speakers.

For the proper surround-sound systems like the ones you've linked to, I would suggest that you need a much bigger budget. I spent around £600 on a low-end solution a few years back, as a pointer. You can definitely spend less than that, but not as low as £100 really. If you were to go down that route, you would go to somewhere like Richer Sounds, first of all get your hands on an Amplifier/AV Receiver, which would be around £200 new, and then some 5.1 speakers which are powered by the Amp/AV Receiver, which would be another £200-ish new. Or you could just get a pair of floorstanders and wait until your budget allows to fill out the rest of the system.

[kalniel]

Yeah I think snootyjim has summed up the problems.

If you really are stretched for budget then the closest you could get would be virtual surround, using a soundbar - they come with amplifiers/decoders built in, and usually take ipod/aux input as well.

Something like this:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/.../roth-sub-zero

review:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/roth-a...review-summary

But you're only really talking improvements over a TV's built-in speakers, not hifi sound quality.