Computer Speakers or Home Audio Setup for Computer Sound?

[cchen]

Lets say you have a good amount of money that you're willing to spend on an audio setup for your computer. (This is for my dorm room btw)

Would you get the best computer speakers (klipsch or something equivalent) or just get a good receiver with good speakers?

I mainly listen to music and watch movies, so the quality is very important.... I hardly ever play games. I don't own a TV either.

 

[Tret]

good receiver and speakers will blow klipschs 5.1's ones away

 

[pac1085]

Id get the klipsch promedia 5.1 ultra's when they come out in mid sept. a regular reciever with good speakers will take up too much room in your dorm (unless its really big)

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Tret
good receiver and speakers will blow klipschs 5.1's ones away

Polk makes some nice sub/sat systems in the $600-1200 range. The sats are small and video-shielded so they should be easy to place. Lots of nice pictures at www.crutchfield.com

 

[Arcanedeath]

I'll take a any decent HiFi A/V reciver + speakers over ANY pc audio system period, their is just no comparison, sure some pc speakers sound good, but if you get even a semi decent HiFi / home theater setup and hook your PC to that it will sound light years better, I recently went from a Cambridge Soundworks 4.1 setup to a 4.1 home theater setup w/ an Onkyo TX-SR501 A/V reciver and 4 BIC Addato 52Si's ( got em cheap but they are decent speakers), and an old 12" 200watt powerd sub I had lying around (was using it as a night stand =P) and it's like Night and Day, now admitidly my Cambridge soundworks 4.1 system isn't the best set of PC speakers out there, but it wasn't to shabby, I've also compared my system to somone w/ Logitech Z680's, and Klipschs Pro media's and my system so totaly destroyed theirs in terms of max Vol, Clarity, and Base that its not even funny, so if your willing to invest a decent chunk of change in you audio setup for your PC, I'd definitly suggest getting a HiFi / Home theater system. Hope this helps...

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

to be honest, unless you have a dedicated HTPC i don't see the point in wasting goot HT equipment on a pc using your normal monitor. I'd say get some nice headphones or some decent 2.1 pc speakers and use them for the pc.

 

[bagaki]

soundcard: http://www.m-audio.net/products/consumer/revolution_page1.php

speakers: http://www.harmankardon.com/system_solutions/system_1.asp (minus the dvd player)

is there a better 7.1 audio card?

you can always get some of these speakers:
http://www.martinlogan.com/statement_speaker.html

 

[Auric]

In my professional opinion, computer speakers should be avoided like the West Nile Monkey SARS. I have never used 'em. A boom-box, mini-system or HT gear will always sound better, be more flexible and better value.

 

[rchiu]

Go and listen to the speakers you want and decide for yourself. Sounds like you got money to spend so make sure you are spending on the stuff you like, not something people on this forum like.

IMHO, high end computer speakers like klipsch is pretty good compare to the lower end receiver/speaker combo. Of course you can go crazy and spend more money like 1000+ or even much higher on mid/high end receiver/speaker that kicks the crap out of computer speakers, but unless you go all the way and get good dvd players, dedicated CD players and the whole nine yard, your computer sound source is gonna be the bottle neck, especially if you listen to mp3 that is not that well processed.

I have a m-audio/klipsch combo for my computer, and is looking for another mid range speaker/receiver set for my HT that will hook up to my TV/cd player for music and movie. I have listened to bunch of speaker systems from 500+ all the way to ~2000, and my feeling is klipsch sounds as good as any entry level crap receiver/speaker system. Once you go above 600+ (speaker+receiver), you start to see a difference. But still I wouldn't waste a perfectly good HT setup on a computer, even with my 21 inch monitor the video is just not there, and the low quality sound from mp3 is gonna be even more obvious with a good set of system.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yeah, good home theater speakers will blow away even the best computer speakers. I have a pair of Klipsch RF-3s in my living room with matching center, rear surrounds and a 10" sub hooked into a Harmon Kardon AVR500 receiver with Sony DVD Player and a 50" Mitubishi RPTV. All I can say is wow. I can put the volume up to full and you can't hear a bit of distortion. It's just really really really loud. Very nice for movies. I would not recommend a computer as part of your HT setup though. HT equipment is just so much better for that purpose IMO.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Klipsch RF-35

This is very similar to the speakers I have. I wish I had that monitor though. Drool drool drool...