computer speaker system

[seedubs1]

Alright, heres what I have decided on.

I will get the waveterminal u24. I will hook this up to a Yamaha HTR-5730 Receiver. This will then be hooked up to a pair of jbl e30 speakers. May take some time to get.

Any comments?

Whats your speaker system?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Do you already have the e30s? I've read some good stuff about the JBL e series... just wondering how you decided on these. I can't remember what you said you already had besides your main system 😱

And you already know what I have 🙂

 

[seedubs1]

no. We have some e series in the locker room here at uw, and they sound pretty good. Also have stood up to some major abuse 😀 . Also, they have the best freq responce and spl levels, with pretty low distortion. Still might go with polk r20s though. not quite sure. Still looking.

How are those fluance speakers. I really havent heard anything about them. The specs on some of them look pretty good, but I havent heard of anyone around here having them, nor do any of the av stores have them here.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Whoa... which UW are you talking about? (I'm at UW-Madison... this would be scary 😉)

I think the Fluance are really nice for the money. I don't think there have been any professional reviews of them (positive or negative), which is a bummer.

I don't think there's any stores that have them either... I think it's just online which also is a bummer heh.

I don't know if you're a fan of Infinity, but these look like a good deal right now.

I would have recommended onix rockets that were on sale for $129 a pair in cherry finish, but they finally got rid of them all. (it took a couple months)

 

[seedubs1]

haha, yeah, uw madison. Im one of the cross/track runners here.

I have checked out some infinity speakers, but have not heard them. May need to go to an av store sometime and take a listen to a few.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Whoa... if you want to hear the Fluance sometime let me know lol

Have you gone to University Audio? I haven't, but a friend of mine has. They carry the Paradigm line. Maybe a couple atoms or titans would be a cool option. A little more expensive though... (I think atoms run $199 a pair and titans $220 a pair or so)

 

[seedubs1]

Yeah, if I was going to spend that much, id get klipsch bookshelfs. They sound really good to my ears whenever I demo them, and I know they are really good quality. Demod some paradigms when I was getting my ht system. They have really good specs and should be great, but my ears just dont seem to like them.

Are you in the dorms?

I am over my limit anyways. I will probably get the waveterminal soon, and hook it up to my dorm setup. Then, try to get a cheeper reciever (Yamaha, which isnt really cheep, just cheeper. They have pretty good specs too.) and a couple bookshelfs. The later of the 2 I will probably get at the end of the summer when I am moving into my house.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, I'm in kronshage.

Have you considered looking at refurbished receivers? Ecost has some nice deals on onkyo receivers for under $100 even if you're just looking for stereo.

 

[seedubs1]

Have never bought refurb. I am always worried it will be junked out. Have you tried it. I may consider it. I really like the onkyo equipment. It seems really well built.

By the way, im in Bradley, and bradley BLOWS.

Thanks for the link though. Ill check it out. But, for now, im out. Got a rediculous workout tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Wow, creepy. I'm in Jones Kronshage. I can see Bradley out my window. If you want to hear Fluance right now I could open my window and crank it 😉

I bought my Harman Kardon AVR-325 off ebay through the seller harmanaudio. That's Harman Kardon/Infinity/JBL selling their factory refurbished units. They come with a full 2 year warranty just like if they were new. I was able to get a $600-ish receiver for $350 going that route. It doesn't even have a scratch on it.

I got my headphones at ecost, but haven't tried any of their refurbs though.

Harmanaudio is the ebay seller I used. If you're looking for just stereo, maybe even a 3480 or 3380 or 3375 from them would be something to consider. I think you'd be able to get one for under $200.

I'm serious about coming over sometime if you want to hear the Fluance ever. My girlfriend and I watch a lot of movies over here too if you want to see the biggest screen in the Madison dorms 😉

EDIT: If HK doesn't float your boat, maybe you could even buy your e30s from harmanaudio. JBL for sale

 

[CSMR]

Since your receiver has digital input I will change my recommendation to an M-Audio Transit with optical connection. You seem to have several systems of varying degrees of quality. An expensive system will show up the quality of analog input more than a cheap system. The internal DAC of the receiver will be fine and more than enough for the system you propose. The Transit is also very simple to use and set up.

My current speaker system is an E-MU 1212m, TEAC A-L700P amplifier (excellent, cheap amplifier, resulting from Tripath Class D technology), Spendor S3 speakers. I'm very happy with this setup.

Actually I have a Transit spare if you are interested in buying it from me, but it will be a few days before I can send it.

With the progression of DACs and with the new class D amplifiers speakers should take most of the audio budget IMO.

 

[CSMR]

Originally posted by: seedubs1
I am over my limit anyways. I will probably get the waveterminal soon, and hook it up to my dorm setup. Then, try to get a cheeper reciever (Yamaha, which isnt really cheep, just cheeper. They have pretty good specs too.) and a couple bookshelfs. The later of the 2 I will probably get at the end of the summer when I am moving into my house.

If you are also considering other receivers, then the waveterminal is a good choice; then get a Sharp SD-EX111 for about $100. Don't be shy, this is a really good amp - go to the Audio Circles for reviews. Many people prefer this and similar new class D amps to expensive solid state and tube amps. It will deal with any speakers. I would get used speakers and raise your budget a little, since they are the most critical part of the system.

 

[seedubs1]

Do I really need an amp from the sound card to the reciever if the reciever has 100w rms power per channel, or will this just strengthen the signal going into the reciever. Also, I thought the waveterminal had optical outs (correct me if i am wrong), but that should give a really good signal, or it also has rca out jacks that can also hook directly into the reciever and give a pretty good signal. What would be the positives of getting the transit over the waveterminal? I had read in a few reviews that the waveterminal outpreformed the transit and dac, ie, the waveterminal was standalone while the transit had a dac hooked up to it.

Sounds like most of you who have good computer systems arent buying "computer system packages." But are getting a good card, and are hooking up to basically a ht system reciever and playing through ht speakers.


By the way, yoyoyohowsdajello, are you the one that always has the music blasting everytime I go to Franks?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

No, that's not me blasting music. I mainly blast movies, and even then, maybe only a couple times a week.

I'm waiting to move into a house next year when I can blast all I want.

One of the guys I'm moving in with has a couple Paradigm Phantoms powered by the Pioneer 1014tx receiver. He's getting a center and some titans eventually to make a 5.0 set and he's in the market for a new sub eventually too. (I sold him my dayton 10" for $75 when I upgraded to SVS). He wants some more power too, and I don't blame him as his two speakers he has now cost about the same as my 7.0 setup. I don't think my ears are too picky though so I'm happy with what I've got now 🙂


What I did for sound was get a Chaintech AV710 with optical out and run it to my receiver. It does PCM for regular music and then I run Logic 7 (kinda like dolby pro logic) to get sound from all the speakers. If I play something with DD encoding, the soundcard output is AC3 and the receiver detects the DD signal I get the correct playback from it (DDEX for me). The Chaintech is only $30 too 😀. It came with an optical cable... but it's pretty flimsy so I'm using it to connect my DVD player to my receiver and bought a nicer cable for my longer computer to receiver run.

I'm not using any sort of amp in my system besides my receiver. My girlfriend's computer is hooked up with RCA cables too. It just goes from the TBSC to a 1/8" to RCA adapter and then a 25' run of RCA cable to the receiver. It sounds good to me.

 

[CSMR]

Originally posted by: seedubs1
Do I really need an amp from the sound card to the reciever if the reciever has 100w rms power per channel, or will this just strengthen the signal going into the reciever.

No, not amp and receiver. The receiver is mainly an amp. I'm giving other suggestions for an amp apart from the receiver you mention. If you take my suggestions then the waveterminal is the best choice, using its analog out.

Also, I thought the waveterminal had optical outs (correct me if i am wrong), but that should give a really good signal, or it also has rca out jacks that can also hook directly into the reciever and give a pretty good signal. What would be the positives of getting the transit over the waveterminal?

Easy to set up (bit-perfect with its standard drivers), cheaper. Your suggested receiver has decent DACs and your sound limited by the receiver's amplifier and your speakers anyway rather than source quality.

I had read in a few reviews that the waveterminal outpreformed the transit and dac, ie, the waveterminal was standalone while the transit had a dac hooked up to it.

It depends on the DAC of course. If the waveterminal outperforms the Transit plus receiver internal DAC, it will not be significant with your amplification and speakers.

 

[seedubs1]

Makes sence. Thanks. I will probably just get the waveterminal right now, and hook it directly into my dorm setup (onkyo reciever and boston speakers). Then get another reciever and speakers next year for my dorm. Thanks for the help.

 

[shortylickens]

I use the Yamaha Cavit system. RP-U200 reciever with the U50 cherrywood speakers. Actually quite nice. Only problem is it uses 6 ohm speakers and they discontinued the U50's.


DOES ANY BODY KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND 6 OHM SPEAKERS??????


It seems nobody uses these except Yamaha in their computer systems. And they dont make 'em anymore.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I use the Yamaha Cavit system. RP-U200 reciever with the U50 cherrywood speakers. Actually quite nice. Only problem is it uses 6 ohm speakers and they discontinued the U50's.


DOES ANY BODY KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND 6 OHM SPEAKERS??????


It seems nobody uses these except Yamaha in their computer systems. And they dont make 'em anymore.

A ton of higher end speakers are 6 ohm. Is there a reason you need 6 ohm instead of 8 ohm? A higher impedence will not hurt a receiver, the speakers just wont play as loud. It's going to lower impedence that will be a problem.

Is this just a regular receiver that can drive 6 ohm speakers? How much are you looking to spend?

 

[shortylickens]

The receiver runs at 6 Ohms.
Have already tried a ton of 4 and 8 Ohm speakers from Radio Shack.
They didnt work at all.

I dont want to spend more than $100 a pair. I need two pair or 3 single speakers to make 5.1 surround.

When you say high end, do you mean the expensive jobs from Klipsch's series?
They have Heritage, Reference, Synergy, THX Ultra 2, Multimedia and Professional. None of which use 6 ohm speakers. This is the only company I am familiar with.
I tried Crutchfield and they didnt have anything in 6 ohms. Am not an audiophile and not knowledgable of all the high-end stuff available.

EDIT: Klipsch has one speaker at 6 Ohms, but its in-wall. No case.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Whoops, I thought I put this in my old post

The 6 ohm speakers that came to my mind first were the Rocket ELT center channel speakers

The whole Onix rocket line is 6 ohm too.

When I said high end, I did not mean klipsch.

Those are out of your range though. A speaker with a 4 or 8 ohm impedence should work on any receiver. It just would be bad for it if you went with a lower impedence speaker on a receiver that wasn't designed to drive it. If 4 and 8 ohm speakers aren't producing any sound at all, I think there must be something wrong with your receiver.

If you can't get any sound from a 4 or 8 ohm speaker, I don't think finding a 6 ohm speaker is going to help you.

What happened to your original speakers for the system?

 

[shortylickens]

I have the original speakers. They are six Ohms (verified with multimeter). They work well. Clean audio, no problems. Standard spring clips and wire. All the 4 and 8 ohm speakers I try dont work.
Some all-in-one systems at Best Buy use 6 Ohm speakers. But I cant get just those. The sales associate was eye-balling me when I was looking at the backs of all those little speakers.

I forgot a friend once told me of Onix. They look nice but still a little too much.
I can buy a whole ProMedia Ultra 5.1 system for that kind of money. I think I may just do that and put the Yamaha's on an older system.

Thanks anyways fella's.

 

[seedubs1]

The impedence will not make the speakers work or not. If you have a signal getting to the speakers, they will produce sound. Have you tried your old speakers at all of the different outputs of your reciever, and do they work? If so, maby your reciever is not putting out enough wattage to drive the speakers you are trying to drive.

I have a 4 or 6 ohm reciever, i dont remember which, but it definately is not 8 ohm, and my boston speakers are 8 ohm. They work even though they are a higher impedence than the reciever.

Get some psb speakers if you can find any in your price range. They are really really good speakers with polyprop. surrounds. You cant break these speakers, and they will outpreform your reciever. Meaning that it wont be your speakers holding back your audio, but your reciever. I am pretty darn sure these should work with your system. I looked at getting a yamaha reciever and some of these speakers a while back. Sound is really good.