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Great PC Surround Sound? Last Logitech 5.1 Sucked.

C

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
My last speakers (Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1) hardly had a sence of surround sound, plus the subwoofer could not be turned down (No dials on the subwoofer, and all the options in the software would not turn it down). The surround sound was horrible and even at the slightest volume it shook the flooring.

So I junked that surround and am looking for a new alternative. Anyone have any recommendations? Is there any nice 5.1+ surround sounds out there under 200$ that are great for gaming, etc?
 
I found the Logitech sets way too boomy too. I have a set of the Klipsch GMX 5.1 speakers hooked up to a Yamaha receiver and couldn't be happier with the sound.

Not sure what kind of sound card you have now, but to utilize the GMX speakers with their native receiver you'd need a card with Dolby Digital Live (as it has no analog surround sound inputs).
 
My Soundcard: Sound Blaster Audigy (Was 20 dollars 3 months ago at best buy, it supports up to 7.1), I bought it simply because it was "supposed to be better than on-board".

The 5300s never came with the remote... the 'controller' had a bass function but even though the bass was turned OFF the bass was extremely high still.... I no longer am troubleshooting the issue. I'm currently selling them on eBay for 100 bucks pickup.

Now I am looking for a complete surround system set. I don't need to be able to crank the volume to 10000db. Although that 300 dollar Klipsch surround is tempting. Perhaps someone could pair up a good subwoofer + some speakers for the best quality sound for the price.

Any ideas? I'd like to have some good sound. If you have a soundcard in mind as well as to what I should buy for the surround, please lemme know that too.

If I bought these:
http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Synergy-Q...F8&s=electronics&qid=1174422565&sr=1-2

I would purchase these, but then I could commit myself to somehow mounting these to the wall... but the areas where I would put the speakers would probably be too far for the cord to reach... How would I go about making sure any wall mounts I buy would be compatible and how can I extend the cords of these speakers?
 
Originally posted by: Coldkilla
My Soundcard: Sound Blaster Audigy (Was 20 dollars 3 months ago at best buy, it supports up to 7.1), I bought it simply because it was "supposed to be better than on-board".

The 5300s never came with the remote... the 'controller' had a bass function but even though the bass was turned OFF the bass was extremely high still.... I no longer am troubleshooting the issue. I'm currently selling them on eBay for 100 bucks pickup.



Now I am looking for a complete surround system set.

How about these?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836113009

I don't need to be able to crank the volume to 10000db. Although that 300 dollar Klipsch surround is tempting. Perhaps someone could pair up a good subwoofer + some speakers for the best quality sound for the price.

Any ideas? I'd like to have some good sound. If you have a soundcard in mind as well as to what I should buy for the surround, please lemme know that too.
Click to expand...

The audigy card does produce better sound than current onboard solutions and it doesn't suck up cpu resources. So your computer will should respond slightly faster in some situations.

Sorry about those speakers, but they should be ebayable if you can't return them. I'm surprised those logitechs don't have a controller for the sub. I have their older/cheaper 540's and it has one. I've never heard of those particular Altech Lansing speakers, but you should search for some reviews and go to a store and listen to them before buying. Altec Lansing has some decent speakers and Klipse are very popular.
 
Originally posted by: Coldkilla
My Soundcard: Sound Blaster Audigy (Was 20 dollars 3 months ago at best buy, it supports up to 7.1), I bought it simply because it was "supposed to be better than on-board".

The 5300s never came with the remote... the 'controller' had a bass function but even though the bass was turned OFF the bass was extremely high still.... I no longer am troubleshooting the issue. I'm currently selling them on eBay for 100 bucks pickup.

Now I am looking for a complete surround system set. I don't need to be able to crank the volume to 10000db. Although that 300 dollar Klipsch surround is tempting. Perhaps someone could pair up a good subwoofer + some speakers for the best quality sound for the price.

Any ideas? I'd like to have some good sound. If you have a soundcard in mind as well as to what I should buy for the surround, please lemme know that too.

If I bought these:
http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Synergy-Q...F8&s=electronics&qid=1174422565&sr=1-2

I would purchase these, but then I could commit myself to somehow mounting these to the wall... but the areas where I would put the speakers would probably be too far for the cord to reach... How would I go about making sure any wall mounts I buy would be compatible and how can I extend the cords of these speakers?
Click to expand...


Those Altec Lansing 5.1 set have USB only input for 5.1...as i've heard, better check for it, if its true, you should avoid it, as it may cause problems later on..
 
If I bought these:
http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Synergy-Q...F8&s=electronics&qid=1174422565&sr=1-2

I would purchase these, but then I could commit myself to somehow mounting these to the wall... but the areas where I would put the speakers would probably be too far for the cord to reach... How would I go about making sure any wall mounts I buy would be compatible and how can I extend the cords of these speakers? Also, if they are further away, how can I know that the volume can be adjusted for each individual speaker?
 
The wired remote I mentioned was the controller you talked about.

I'm wondering if the fade control would have helped you out with your surround problems. Also of course stereo sources would not have any information for the back speakers unless you turned on some sort of fake surround processing (CMSS on the audigy or Matrix on the logitechs)

Well anyway, your last amazon link is broken, but it looks like it's the same Klipsch speakers as before?

You should be able to listen to those before you buy them since Klipsch is often carried in retail stores.

The "cord" on these is going to be speaker wire. Since you're building a system yourself, you'll need to buy wire anyway.
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

As for wall mounting, the bases on those speakers can be swiveled around to turn into wall mounts.

The receiver you purchase will have channel level adjustments to get the levels calibrated as well as distance control to compensate for delay effects from distance.

How much are you thinking of spending on the system as a whole?
 
I want a great sounding system. I want quality of the sound, not nessesarily "the higher I can turn it without static the better". I play my games at a normal hearing level + slightly more.

I guess my soundcard wouldn't be sufficient for a 300 dollar surround sound Klipsch, so I would need to buy an additional sound card. I set out only to spend 200 dollars as a while.. but its looking like I want quality... So (including soundcard IF I MUST) $400 dollars.
Around $300 preferred.
 
Originally posted by: Coldkilla
I want a great sounding system. I want quality of the sound, not nessesarily "the higher I can turn it without static the better". I play my games at a normal hearing level + slightly more.

I guess my soundcard wouldn't be sufficient for a 300 dollar surround sound Klipsch, so I would need to buy an additional sound card. I set out only to spend 200 dollars as a while.. but its looking like I want quality... So (including soundcard IF I MUST) $400 dollars.
Around $300 preferred.
Click to expand...

An A2 would be fine for your card. I have a $100 card running to my ~$5500 system.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that despite the picture amazon is using, that Quintet set does not include the sub.

You'll also need to buy a receiver to power these.

 
Alright, so I guess I'll ask it. Can someone link me up with $300-400 of the best sounding audio equipment out there. Including the necessary extension wire & abilty to calibrate each speaker for volume (since they are further back).
 
This is a pretty decent set for around $400
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo-Ho...atOid/-12954/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Hooking up to a receiver can be a bit more difficult than a standard computer speaker system. The issue is that with a card like yours, you'll have to use a multichannel analog connection in order to get surround sound with games. Creative has a bass redirect option which should in theory allow you to send the lower frequencies to the subwoofer, but there have been some issues with it. In the past, I thought those issues had been sorted out, but I think the current drivers may have it messed up again.

A card that can encode DD/DTS is another route to go that would make setup much easier, but that's an added expense to the system.
 
Headphones with a large soundstage combined with the X-Fi's CMSS3D or Dolby Headphone would give you better positioning than even a 7.1 speaker setup could (Generally). If you want open headphones (ie let outside noise in like you are not wearing them) I recommend the Sennheiser HD595s. If cost is an issue, the 555s would be sufficient, but the 595s have more punch and quantity in the bass department which would be desirable for games. If you want closed (Blocks outside noise, while usually sacrifices some soundstage and SQ) consider the Audo Technica A900 or the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (Regarded as THE best soundstage in closed cans, along with being the bass king of the headphone world).


But sometimes, it just has to be speakers. 😛
 
The speaker set you reccommended was over 500 dollars.

I don't want to spend weeks trying to learn how to morph a home theatre setup to a pc setup or base anything from "theory"..
 
Originally posted by: Coldkilla
The speaker set you reccommended was over 500 dollars.

I don't want to spend weeks trying to learn how to morph a home theatre setup to a pc setup or base anything from "theory"..
Click to expand...

"You pay: $429.99"

It goes on sale for less than that too.

If you want an easy setup to a hometheater set, then a card that encodes DD or DTS is the way to go.

EDIT:
http://www.6ave.com/product.jsp?zipz=11001&x=HTS790B&w=1
 
How will I know if the sound card decodes that? How will I know the ports in the back of the sound card will support this "Home Theater System"...This is becoming past my knowledge on the subject... I knew it would...

So buying that surround sound and some other kind of sound card will work with my pc?
 
Alright. I came asking for simple suggestions on some speakers. I don't want to dive in the the world of digital audio science.. as much as you would love me to.

My speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121121

I don't know anything about them and do not intend on reading and learning up on all the information out there on all of these systems. I guess it was wrong to come to AT on this. Its like asking an egotistical scientist "Why is the sky blue" and asking a parent "Why is the sky blue"...

 
Originally posted by: Coldkilla
Alright. I came asking for simple suggestions on some speakers. I don't want to dive in the the world of digital audio science.. as much as you would love me to.

My speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121121

I don't know anything about them and do not intend on reading and learning up on all the information out there on all of these systems. I guess it was wrong to come to AT on this. Its like asking an egotistical scientist "Why is the sky blue" and asking a parent "Why is the sky blue"...
Click to expand...

:disgust:

You want something that sounds good but are unwilling to do a bit of research to learn how to properly use the technology...

You're right, you shouldn't have bothered asking
 
Originally posted by: Coldkilla
Alright. I came asking for simple suggestions on some speakers. I don't want to dive in the the world of digital audio science.. as much as you would love me to.

My speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121121

I don't know anything about them and do not intend on reading and learning up on all the information out there on all of these systems. I guess it was wrong to come to AT on this. Its like asking an egotistical scientist "Why is the sky blue" and asking a parent "Why is the sky blue"...
Click to expand...

I already told you what you need to do to connect it easily, you need to get a card that encodes DD or DTS.

I mentioned some examples of cards in that thread, I didn't feel like writing it all out again for the 100th time so I made a thread a while ago and put a bunch of different topics in it.

If going to #4 on my list of topics is too much work, then fine.

You came here asking for some suggestions and I first tried to help you get your current speakers working correctly, but that doesn't seem like you're interested.

I explained the flaws in your plan to get that Klipsch set going for your budget.

I gave you a helpful link to not getting ripped off on speaker wire.

I told you how your receiver will be able to adjust for all the questions you had about distance and levels.

I told you about difficulties you may have using your current soundcard and what to look for in a new one for easier setup.

I suggested a $429 7.1 system that includes a decent receiver and will allow you to have an upgrade path down the road while remaining close to your budget for now.

What do you want us to do?

I thought I answered all the questions you were asking and was helping you from making some mistakes along with way.
 
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