speakers!! ARGH!

[AD-15]

hello,

As part of my new 'rig', I am looking to buy some new speakers. I have decided to go for either a 2.1 set, or a 5.1 set. What do you guys think?

I will pay no more than around <£100 for the 2.1 set, and no more than £150 for a 5.1 set. What I am looking for, is THX certification, QUALITY SOUND. I do NOT want to waste money on unnecessary 'wattage' (), I do not use my speakers in an attempt to deafen myself.

If possible, I would like the speakers to have DTS/Dolby or whatever it is people call it these days, and digital input would be an added bonus.

I am also looking for a nice frequency range and a very high to signal ratio.

Anybody who can help me out with this absolute nightmare will recieve my recognition for a considerable amount of time.


BTW, I've been considering these for a while:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=280825

[dave87]

Yup, the logitechs were exactly the set of speakers I was going to recommend.

[jackvdbuk]

i have them and they rule!! quality sound and the bass can be well powerfull if you want it to be!

[DecomposingStar]

Creative sound products are brilliant also, such as the Gigaworks G500.

The logitech z-5450's are brilliant, but are £170~... They have wireless rear speakers though, handy.

Try and stretch, otherwise get something like Medusa 5.1 Headphones.

[dave87]

If I'm honest I would spend the money I have on a decent 2.1 set, I went from a 600w Surround Sound set (home) to 2.1 set probably 30w RMS total (7 year old Labtecs - still going strong), and its been fine. The lack of rear speakers in movies like Saving Private Ryan is a bit of a pain, but otherwise you don't really notice it.

[DecomposingStar]

For gaming, i totally rely on surround sounds to pinpoint enemies.

I recently watched Children of Men on my standard 2.0 TV speakers and sat through it thinking "this would be awesome in 5.1"... So i put it on my PC and played it through my 5.1 medusa's.... I was right, it's just that much more emersive.

[FInalD]

For gaming, i totally rely on surround sounds to pinpoint enemies.

I recently watched Children of Men on my standard 2.0 TV speakers and sat through it thinking "this would be awesome in 5.1"... So i put it on my PC and played it through my 5.1 medusa's.... I was right, it's just that much more emersive.

A lot of that is due to the fact that you are running it through a headset.

Run it through a 5.1 Surround Sound system and you'll notice it's not so emersive as you say, it will be more than the TV's stock speakers, but it won't be as good as the headset due to the position of the speakers etc.

-=EDIT=-

Some of the older systems are damn decent. I have found Creative to be a winner when it comes to surroundsound speakers, I currently have these speakers, maywell be 4.1 but they go extremely loud and are very clear on my Audigy.


FinalD

[DecomposingStar]

I can agree with that. Headsets are more emersive. But still, a 5.1 set is a good choice.

[jackvdbuk]

im siorry but the Z5500's always come out on top in reviews... the g500's are simply not as good!

[silentphoenix]

How abouts getting a set of THX 2.1 speakers AND a pair of 5.1 headphones? It'll probably cost about &#163;110-120 all in, but you get the best of both worlds.

[dave87]

How abouts getting a set of THX 2.1 speakers AND a pair of 5.1 headphones? It'll probably cost about £110-120 all in, but you get the best of both worlds.

This man is a genius

[EtheAv8r]

2.1 will get you much better quaility that 5.1 unless the 5.1 set costs twice as much.

2.1 is excellent, and if as you say, you want audio quality, then you should go for:-

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=112146

or even

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=115456

finally these look very good, but I have no personal experience of them:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=480679

[Girdag]

For 5.1, you might want to consider the Logitech X-540s, which come in at just over £50. The sound quality's not as good as the Z series, but it's still pretty impressive.

[FInalD]

That comes in at about £10 a speaker...the 2.1 systems show are closer to £50 per speaker.

Get a decent 2.1 system and you'll have brilliant audio quality. The higher the wattage (and the bigger the brand) will normally mean that you are getting decent sounding speakers (as the higher wattage can handle more, and the makers are decent).

Splurge loads on a decent 2.1 system if you want quality and loudness.

FinalD

[AD-15]

hello,

Thanks for the help!!!

I have been looking at those logitech 2.1 speakers (Z2300), and have noticed 3 things. Firstly, depite their price, they have no DTS/Dolby Decoding. Secondly, despite their price they have do not support digital input. Thirdly, their wattage is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!! I have absolutely no use for speakers that are so loud, in all honesty. I currently have 2 speakers at 2.5W each, and to be honest, they are never turned up beyond the half way point!!! They are definetly loud enough for me. So, what on earth would 200W sound like!?!??!


Also, those Lansing speakers have really cool features like DTS etc, and the Abit also has digital input, which is cool, but despite all of this, they still have a lower SNR than the logitech 2.1 speakers, which have neither digital input, nor DTS/Dolby.

What do you guys think?

[AD-15]

Any thoughts?