2.1 Computer Audio System

[MonsterMac]

Hey guys,

I've done a little research of my own on here and some other sites and have come to the conclusion that for my computer speaker upgrade, I am going to make it from "scratch" with a receiver, two satellite speakers, and a separate sub woofer. As I said earlier, I intend to use this for my computer set up - they will be playing music the majority of the time, but in my room I do not have a TV so they will also be used as my source of tv/movie/video entertainment as well. That being said, I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations as to what I should be looking at for components, my price range is somewhat flexible but I would like to keep it under $600 if possible, but if I will get a lot more out of it I'll spend a couple hundred more if needed. Thanks in advance for your help!!

Monster

 

[mshan]

If music is primary use, I'd recommend seriously looking at the Audio Engine A2 self-powered speakers. They obviously won't play insanely loud or rattle everything in the room with sub-sonic bass, but sound satisfyingly balanced (despite 60 hz nominal bass extension) and supremely musical at low to moderate volume levels. They really seem to benefit from a good line out signal, so you would probably want a good music sound card, rather than integrated sound from computer mobo.

Music is much more challenging to reproduce convincingly than movie sound tracks, so if you need more bass and volume levels for movies, even modestly priced AVRs and speaker systems can work quite competently for home theater alone (getting a single rig that does both music and movies well can get quite expensive, and a slight boom and sizzle that might work well for movies may be intolerable with music).

Also check out YoYo's sticky at top of forum.

 

[s44]

A friend of mine loves his Audioengine 5s ($350), but with your price range I'd go for something more ambitious, say:

used Era Design 4, pair (~$400)
8" tSC sub ($100) or similar
refurb Onkyo SR505 ($140) or similar

The Eras appear pretty regularly on Audiogon, and sell very quickly when they do. They -- like all their speakers -- both look nice and have a wonderful live midrange that's great for jazz, vocal, classical, etc. The downside to the D4s is that though they sound surprisingly substantial for their size, they're not very efficient (84db). But for computer-distance music and occasional small-room HT that won't matter.

I wouldn't spend on a fancy soundcard: just run optical to the AVR; even cheap ones like this Onkyo have 192khz/24bit DAC sections that, combined with the interference-free connection optical gives, will give you better sound for less.

 

[Chapbass]

Anyone used the new Axiom Audio computer system? I forget what its called, but Axiom makes top notch HT gear. I've thought about taking advantage of their 30 day policy sometime when I have extra money again...

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you act fast you can get a Sherwood stereo receiver from J&R for $85 shipped which should be fine for a 2.0 / 2.1 setup and leaves you with $500 for the speakers:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2304905&enterthread=y

 

[MonsterMac]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
If you act fast you can get a Sherwood stereo receiver from J&R for $85 shipped which should be fine for a 2.0 / 2.1 setup and leaves you with $500 for the speakers:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2304905&enterthread=y

Would a subwoofer work with this? I can't see a picture of the back to see if the 'woofer' inputs are there?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: MonsterMac

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
If you act fast you can get a Sherwood stereo receiver from J&R for $85 shipped which should be fine for a 2.0 / 2.1 setup and leaves you with $500 for the speakers:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2304905&enterthread=y

Would a subwoofer work with this? I can't see a picture of the back to see if the 'woofer' inputs are there?

Heh, I answered you in the other thread accidentally, but to repeat what I wrote... you just need to get a subwoofer with speaker-level connections on it.

 

[s44]

The Sherwood isn't a great deal. Power rating is to .9% THD which means actual power is much less than 100W, and -- more importantly -- *no DACs or optical input*. Which means you have to spend more on a better sound card, ground loop remover, etc. Not worth it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: s44
The Sherwood isn't a great deal. Power rating is to .9% THD which means actual power is much less than 100W, and -- more importantly -- *no DACs or optical input*. Which means you have to spend more on a better sound card, ground loop remover, etc. Not worth it.

I doubt the THD will be noticeable, if you're feeding your speakers 100 watts your hearing loss will make the distortion inaudible

Lack of optical and coax digital inputs is a good point. With a digital connection you can use motherboard audio or any $20 card and not worry about the RFI inside your case bleeding into the audio.

 

[MonsterMac]

OK here is a little update on how my search is going. I still can't decide on a set of speakers for the set. I am going to go with the Dayton SUB-100 HT Series 10" 125 Watt Powered Subwoofer, and a mid-range receiver (Onkyo?). For my use I would like to have them sitting on my desk on either side of my monitor, but most of the bookshelf speakers I have browsed seem a little large and might be a little too loud to be 14" away from where I'm sitting. Does anyone have any recommendations on some smaller (but just as powerful) ones? Any other ideas or comments are welcome as well, thanks for all the help!!

 

[MonsterMac]

bump - opinions anyone??

 

[MonsterMac]

any last thoughts?

 

[kalrith]

My thoughts are just to shop around and possibly shop used. Speakers and receivers hold up really well, so used or refurbished is usually not a big deal, especially when compared to electronics with moving parts (like DVD players). The speakers being 14" away shouldn't make you shy away from larger bookshelf speakers. Even at lower volumes, larger speakers are going to sound better than smaller speakers (with everything else being equal). All you need to do to save your hearing is turn the volume down

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: MonsterMac
most of the bookshelf speakers I have browsed seem a little large and might be a little too loud to be 14" away from where I'm sitting. Does anyone have any recommendations on some smaller (but just as powerful) ones? Any other ideas or comments are welcome as well, thanks for all the help!!

How small are you looking for?

As for the loudness issue, that's all dependent on the volume control of the receiver. You have complete control over how loud the system is.

Decent deal on cherry ELT525s that are on the small side (and in stock)
http://www.av123.com//index.ph...m_virtuemart&Itemid=37

 

[MonsterMac]

they can be normal sized i guess, I might even get some floor sized ones... I'm moving into my new place tomorrow and I will see how much room I have after all is said and done - I'll keep you guys posted thanks again for all the help!!