Help With Computer Audio

[john6305]

Hi, hoping someone can help me make a decision

About 5 years ago I purchased a set of 4.1 Klipsch Promedias - and I consider it to be the best investment I have ever made for my computer. They have been great. Good bass, good audio, etc. except it has a hiss whenever I turn the volume knob, etc.

Ok, well my question is:

Is it worth it to upgrade to the Klipsch Promedia 5.1 ultras? I can get them for about $250. Really, how big is the difference between the ancient 4.1s and the new 5.1 Ultras? I don't want to get them and hook them up only to go, "Sounds about the same...but a little better."

I'm not expecting a HUGE difference, but I want to know there is a difference worthy of making the upgrade.

And before this turns into a flame war, I have read about the 5500s and I like them. They have a remote, etc. and digital - plus, IMHO, they look sharper than the Klipschs which in my opinion have not changed much aesthetics-wise. But if it works, it works, right?

However, my first high end speakers were the Klipsch 4.1 and at 300+$ it was a risky investment...and they have never let me down. So I am sticking with the brand, mainly. Though I do have some hesitation for the 5500s due to the remote. =P I can be a lazy bum sometimes :>

Anyways, plz let me know if it would be worth investing the $$$ for the Ultras - or should I stick with my 4.1s and wait for a real upgrade to come along???

Sorry for the length, but thanks for the responses!
John

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you can get them for $250, you could get them and try them out. If you don't think they're worth it, I don't think it would be too hard to find another buyer for them for $250 if you don't like them.

I'm sure you could also find a buyer for your current speakers that would reduce the cost of the upgrade quite a bit.

 

[CreativeTom]

Go buy some Logitech Z-5500's and call it a day.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: CreativeTom
Go buy some Logitech Z-5500's and call it a day.

I think if he can get the Promedia Ultras at the same price, they would be the better choice.

 

[john6305]

Well, a friend of mine offered to buy the Klipschs for 100 which is a good deal I think. They still work like new and aren't that badly damaged. A piece of the subwoofer has parted to separate due to humidity, etc. bad sealings but its too late to send in for a replacement.

I wouldn't mind hearing from someone who has upgraded from the ProMedia 4.1s to the 5.1 Ultras to see if they found it to be worthwhile? I like the remote that the Logi 5500s come with. I think Klipsch will probably add one in the next generation of its ProMedia speakers. Any word on when they plan on releasing this or whats the pattern for Klipsch releases?

Also, I will and can have a budget of around 300$ in the near future for this if I so choose. I was wondering whats the best route? New Ultras/5500s or get me a receiver and start building a real system? If so, for $300, can you recommend some good beginning equipment that will compare to the Ultras or at least with a few good additions compare to the Ultras? I have nothing in terms of home audio. I have a HTIB but its in storage. So I would be starting from scratch. I like the idea of being able to add on as I can afford it.

Thanks guys, you are great

John

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you're into the starting a HT a piece at a time, that's a great way to end up with a killer system but not break the bank right away.

Before you start on this path that could very well cost you thousands of dollars, you should know that computer speakers are hard to beat for the money. You can certainly get something far superior if you spend enough, but in terms of getting something that sounds good, computer speakers are a very good value.

I started off my journey about 14 months ago and spent about $300 on speakers, $350 on a receiver, and $125 on a sub. With the cost of cabling and everything, I put together a pretty nice entry level system for $850.

So, fast forward to today and I've spent about $2900 on audio and $1100 on video equipment. The sky is the limit in the audio area for what you want to spend. I could also easily find a single ten foot speaker wire that would set me back more than my entire system. (Some people are nuts).

Alright.... where was I going with that... ok, so if you wanted to have a complete system that competed with ultras, you'd be looking at spending about $400 to $500. Something like an Onkyo HTIB or Rocket Tykes would get you a complete system that would do a nice job vs the Ultras and offer you a lot more input and output options.

Before I forget, I want to mention that it's harder to get surround sound from games with a receiver setup. If that's a big issue for you, the solutions are: 1. get a digital soundcard that can encode DD in real time, or 2. get a receiver with 6 or 8 channel direct input and hook up each channel from the soundcard to the receiver with a separate analog signal.
Both will solve that problem, but otherwise you're going to be playing games in 5 channel stereo or some variation of Pro Logic.

So, what kind of HTIB do you have in storage? It's going to be very tough finding a decent speaker/receiver/sub set for $300. If you can salvage any of the HTIB set, it would be a good way to get started.

If you can't, get something going from your old set, your options are pretty limited.

Some things that come to mind are:

1. Get a $300 receiver and use your promedia satellites on it (not sure on their impedence though, so you'd want to check that out before hand) and ghetto rig something up to get the promedia sub connected

2. Get a $150 receiver and a $150 sub and use the promedia satellites

3. Spend $300 on speakers and hook them up to the Promedia amp/sub.

4. Spend $150 on a receiver and $150 on speakers and ghetto mod something to get the Promedia sub attached.

With #1 and #2, it would be a very good idea to check out the impedence of the Promedia satellites before proceeding. If they are regular 8-ohm speakers, all these options should work. If they are not 8-ohm, it might pose some problems.
Also, #3 is could be a bad idea if the Promedia satellites are higher than 8-ohms and driving standard 8-ohm speakers would be taxing the amp.

None of these setups would be ideal, but they would get you on your way to a real system.

For the $300 receiver option, you can get a very nice one for that price, especially if you're willing to go refurbished. I actually just went to Best Buy a few days ago and picked up a floor model Pioneer 1014 for $287.

For a $150 receiver option, your best bet is probably a refurb onkyo. I think you can get a 502 for around that much.
For a $150 sub, the answer is clear (in my mind anyway)... Dayton 10" sub from Partsexpress.

For the different speaker options, you have a lot of choices here.
Getting 4 speakers for $150 probably isn't something you want to do. 4 speakers for $300 is doable though. My Fluance 5.0 set ran me about that much shipped. Another option would be Polk R50s from outpost. R15s, R30s, and R50s go on sale at outpost fairly often.
If you want to have a really nice HT down the road, you might want to think about just getting two speakers for a $300 budget. You could get a very nice set of bookshelf speakers on a budget like that... Ascend Acoustics 170s are in that range. Onix rocket RS150s are also on quite a bit of a discount and for $400 you could get a couple 150s and a RSC100 center channel. (Although that might not be the brightest idea because you don't have any way to get a center channel going at the moment... plus it's a 4ohm speaker so it will be more taxing on most receivers).
If this is mainly for music, I think getting a nice pair of speakers rather than a surround set would be a good idea. If it's mainly for HT, you'll want a center channel as soon as possible. Maybe getting a $150 receiver and a $150 center channel would be a good bet in that situation.

Well, I hope I gave you some starting points.
I've really been into this stuff but only for a little over a year, so I'm not an expert, but I have read a lot of stuff and have a pretty good idea of what's out there.

Some great resources are AVSforum and hometheaterforum. I've learned a lot of what I know from over there. Be careful though, because budgets have a tendancy to get larger while you're reading over there .

If you can't tell, I like talking about this sort of stuff. Spending someone else's money is almost as much fun as spending my own, and it's a lot easier on my wallet :evil:. Let me know if there's anything else you want to know about or if you want me to clarify anything I wrote. If I don't know something, I'll point you in the right direction at least .

Good luck whatever you decide to do, and have fun! I just got my own new speakers set up and they look and sound pretty nifty.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Boy am I glad I typed that all out