Surround Sound Speakers

[Ahmad89]

Long time no see, i have a break from exams so i thought id post

 

well, ive been thinking of getting my self some surround sound speakers both for my room and and living room. Ive come down to three:

 

COBY CSP94 150 Watts 5.1 HOME THEATER SPEAKER SYSTEM

 

Logitech X-530 70 watts RMS 5.1 Black Speaker System

 

Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speaker

 

If anybody recommends anything else, i would appreciate it. Dont give me something thats for 100$ or up. I would prefer if it was under 70$ (i didnt graduate yet).

 

Another thing is that these are 5.1 SS. Does that mean my sound card has to be 5.1 compliant. I tried looking in the "Hardware Diagnostic Tools" but all i could find is the driver information and the fact that it is "realtek high definition audio". In my settings for the audio i have the option to change betweeen 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, and 7.1. Im lost. How do i know if it is a 5.1 compliant card or not.

 

Ohh, and im glad i chose the 8600GTS b/c with those new 9 series cards, im glad i didnt buy that 8800

[ken_cinder]

First one, listed as 150 watt on Newegg, but 300 on MFG site. I'm going PEAK on either wattage regardless, they're FAR too cheap for that to be RMS.

 

I OWN Logitech X-530s and that 70 watts is RMS, NOT Peak. They're loud enough for a PC, I don't get buying 500+ RMS speakers for your computer, sheer stupidity.

 

The X-540s are pretty much the 530s in a different package, BUT they come with a remote. The 530s do not. Get the 540s. I wish I had, not having even a wired remote is a bit annoying.

[Ahmad89]

How about the sound card. Do i need to buy a new one. How do i know??

 

The only thing i didnt like about the 540 is the return policy. I looked at tigerdirect.com and they even have it for a cheaper price. Circuit city also has it so i might get it from their since its close to my house and return policies thier are great. I got a 500GB Hard drive from thier a month ago. Im loving it. It was only 120$.

Edited March 24, 2008 by Ahmad89

[Robert]

I find this business of wattage highly confusing.

 

My stereo (which I bought in 1977) claims to output 12 watts, and it makes enough undistorted sound to wake the whole street. It is far, far louder than these so-called hundreds-of-watts pc speakers - and sounds a lot better too.

[ken_cinder]

Robert, these so called hundreds of watts speakers are listed at their PEAK output. At any given milisecond the speaker can output say 300w. Continuous however (RMS, though an incorrect term, but the consumer misnomer) being easily below 50w.

 

I refuse to buy any speaker with a peak value only listed. I'd prefer to know average sine wave, but that's not something you'll be able to dig up on the average consumer piece. You'd need REALLY expensive kit, and I cannot afford this, so the "RMS" value is ones safe bet.

[Shibathedog]

I find this business of wattage highly confusing.

 

My stereo (which I bought in 1977) claims to output 12 watts, and it makes enough undistorted sound to wake the whole street. It is far, far louder than these so-called hundreds-of-watts pc speakers - and sounds a lot better too.

 

This is exactly the problem that pisses off an audiophile like myself

 

There used to be rules and regulations, which still MOSTLY apply to home audio, but not really. Everything you buy that has to do with audio these days has CONSTANT spec bullshitting all over it. You can't even really trust the real numbers below anymore because if a set of speakers has an efficiency rating of 98 on one certain exact frequency (900Hz for example), but something crappy like 83 on every other frequency, they are going to put 98 on the box. I'm going to try and explain the specs the average person would be interested in so you don't get ripped off and end up with something that sounds like crap.

 

RMS Watts: This is the power the amp can deliver constantly

 

Watts Max: This is your peak watts, it can hit this, but it can't keep it there, most ridiculous 2000 watt systems have also ridiculously high THD ratings so most of this power is pretty much lost and does nothing anyway.

 

Watts In General: DO NOT MEAN SOUND QUALITY, Saying one system sounds better than another because it can pump out more watts is like saying my computer is faster than yours because it uses more watts. Another thing I thought I might add is that an amp that drives two channels at 100 watts RMS each, is NOT NOT NOT a 200 watt amp, it is a 100 watt amp. A lot of surround sound systems are listed as 2000 watts to write big numbers on things and they are adding the channels together like this.

 

THD (Total Harmonic Distortion): This is the distortion the amp/speakers add to the signal, the lower the better, the smallest change in this rating can make a huge difference, one of my amps has a rating of 0.1 (crappy) another .01 (WAY better) and another 0.0001 (INSANELY better, but this is a dual power amp/preamp configuration so your not going to find this)

 

dB rating/Efficiency Rating: This is how efficiently power is turned into signal, its basically how loud it gets, but has to do with how responsive it is to a signal too (your going to pick up subtle sounds better on a system with a higher rating) also keep in mind that every 3dB the efficiency DOUBLES, so 1dB of difference is a lot.

 

Frequency Response: This is the range of sound the speakers can accurately produce, Perfect hearing is 20Hz to 20,000 kHz, the first area is how low (bass) it gets, the second is how high it gets. I hate to break it to you but you probably can't hear the full range anymore, especially the lower end. So don't go TOO crazy looking for a full range set. They are probably lying when they say a system is full range if it doesn't cost a lot of money anyway. They are probably saying it can accept a full range signal to again bullshit with specs.

 

2-Way/3-Way speaker systems: 2 Ways typically sound brighter and better at first, but after some time with them you will realize that they do things like when there is a bass thump, other sounds gets quieter. Always go for a 3 way system. Systems that are 4-way/5-way/etc are typically bullshit so stay away from those. So say the satellites have 2 speakers in them and you have a subwoofer, this is technically a 3-way if I can remember right.

 

Basically what you should do is completely ignore the watts, that doesn't mean crap, its an excuse to put a big number on the product so people think its awesome/extreme. Look for the lowest THD rating, the highest dB rating, and the widest frequency response.

 

Oh and if your primarily listening to music, Get a 2.0/2.1 system, Surround sound is complete bullshit for music, Its an effect added to sound, music is not recorded this way nor should it be. Surround sound is strictly for games and movies.

[Shibathedog]

I forgot to mention, Yes your sound card can do 5.1, but it may not be the greatest sound quality, I would recommend getting a better sound card. X-Fis are pretty good, but they have their issues, and don't think they are the best, the price premium is really only for EAX support. Read some reviews on other less expensive cards before you disregard them because a lot of them are the same or better. M-Audio gets special mention here.

 

I OWN Logitech X-530s and that 70 watts is RMS, NOT Peak. They're loud enough for a PC, I don't get buying 500+ RMS speakers for your computer, sheer stupidity.

 

Well if they are the only set of speakers in the room and you like to crank it then its not a bad idea. Or say you wanted to chop the speakers off the amp and wire something better, at least you have the power for something bigger.

[Ahmad89]

I think I'll just go with the X-540, might choose the X-530 since the remote doesnt really bother me much. And I'll keep my sound card since it can do 5.1.

 

I have another question. When i first bought my computer, it came with a remote for the media center. But i cant use it for say vlc media player, is their a way to fix that to make it work with it. If i have to google it i will, just thought one of you guys might know.

[Shibathedog]

It probably depends on the remote, I use the Streamzap remote, I got it for like 20 bucks and it works with everything, even when minimized to system tray, which is AWESOME because it sucks when you have to keep the player as the on top window.