I really need help with desktop speakers

[lordsaytor]

I am a Klipsch fanatic. So I would recommend the Klipsch Promedia 2.1

 

[alcoholbob]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
You're not gonna hate yourself for getting 5.1s when you listen to music .

You do if you are on a budget. The price difference is probably the brand-name. I wouldn't trust any wattage ratings, the entire computer industry's "RMS" rating is realy shoddy. It calculates SPL levels and then infers what the input wattage must be using mathematical equations. You can see how shoddy this is when all your wattage ratings are "theoretical" numbers, because not only does the equation only look at one aspect of speaker efficiency, everyone measures the SPL (volume level) at a different distance from the speaker. A speaker measured at the cone is going to be multiple times louder than a speaker measured at 6 feet away.

And thank you Klipsch fanatic. But I'm not sure he can get the PM2.1s with his budget. But again--thanks for reading the post and contributing your flawless opinion. Good night.

 

[antsct]

Well, I have finally made up my mind and I'm going for the Logitech z-2300 speakers. 120 watts subwoofer, 40 watt satelites, THX certified, they seem like they are excellent speakers and the reviews say they are great. They are AU $185. I found 2 shops around the area of where I live that are selling the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 and they are AU $250. To me, they don't seem as good as the z-2300s.

Anyway, thankyou greatly for your help, these forums rock!, finally, I'd just like to get your last opinions regarding the Logitech z-2300s.

Thankyou

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Thanks again mate. I will more than likely be getting th z-2300s. Just one last question, 2.1 setups are usually beter for music than 5.1?

If you have some nice surround processing it might be worth it to check out 5.1, but you're not going to get anything really nice from soundcards. I've found Prologic II and the "Advanced Music" setting on my Pioneer 1014 are fun to play with. I just got some risers with my speakers that have changed the way they sound a little bit so I've been messing with them a little.

If you have a 5.1 computer speaker set, you can use it in 2.1 mode and just have the center/surrounds not do anything.

In a case like that, you're having three speakers not do anything so if you listen to music a lot, it would make sense to instead spend the whole budget on a 2.1 set.

So, a 5.1 set wouldn't be worse than a 2.1 version made from the same components, but if you're comparing a $100 2.1 set to a $100 5.1 set, the 2.1 will generally be of higher quality. (same goes for all budgets... I could have gotten a pair of RS850s for the same price I got my 5.0 speakers and I have no doubt it would be better for music)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Well, I have finally made up my mind and I'm going for the Logitech z-2300 speakers. 120 watts subwoofer, 40 watt satelites, THX certified, they seem like they are excellent speakers and the reviews say they are great. They are AU $185. I found 2 shops around the area of where I live that are selling the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 and they are AU $250. To me, they don't seem as good as the z-2300s.

Anyway, thankyou greatly for your help, these forums rock!, finally, I'd just like to get your last opinions regarding the Logitech z-2300s.

Thankyou

If you can go out and demo them first (preferably against a competator) that would be a good thing to do before you decide you want them for sure.

 

[antsct]

Have you ever personally listened to the z-2300s YOyoYOhowsDAjello? If so, did they sound good to you?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Have you ever personally listened to the z-2300s YOyoYOhowsDAjello? If so, did they sound good to you?

I haven't heard those actually. The older z-2200s looked to be very similar to the z-560s I had a while ago and those were very nice for the money. My gf has them as well as a few other people I built computers for a few years ago.

I've read the z-2300s are not quite as good as the old z-2200s, but still at a similar quality level.

 

[antsct]

Well reading a few user reviews they say that there isn't much of a difference between the 2200s and the 2300s. The z2300s seem to be a slight upgrade over the 2200s but use a 0.5 inch small driver. I don't know what that is.

But one thing I'm worried about is, I need the speakers for my laptop and my laptop uses onboard sound. The laptop has an Intel Centrino 915 Express chipset (one of Intel's newest chipsets) and has onboard sound. It is a Conexant AMC Audio. Is that good enough for these speakers? I'm no sound expert just to let you know

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Well reading a few user reviews they say that there isn't much of a difference between the 2200s and the 2300s. The z2300s seem to be a slight upgrade over the 2200s but use a 0.5 inch small driver. I don't know what that is.

But one thing I'm worried about is, I need the speakers for my laptop and my laptop uses onboard sound. The laptop has an Intel Centrino 915 Express chipset (one of Intel's newest chipsets) and has onboard sound. It is a Conexant AMC Audio. Is that good enough for these speakers? I'm no sound expert just to let you know

A 0.5 smaller driver would mean that the diameter of the driver in the satellite speakers is half an inch smaller than in the 2200s. (2.5" vs 3"?)

In general a smaller driver will produce higher frequency sounds better while a larger one will go lower... anyway it just has to get low enough that the sub can then take over at the crossover point.

I'm no expert on how specific integrated sound solutions compare to each other, so I don't know how that specific one is.

 

[antsct]

Well I just checked up on my onboard sound and by the looks of it, I have this:

Intel® High Definition Audio 24bit 192KHz, AC'97 2.3 Audio

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Well I just checked up on my onboard sound and by the looks of it, I have this:

Intel® High Definition Audio 24bit 192KHz, AC'97 2.3 Audio

If they did a clean job implementing that, that could be a good one.

 

[antsct]

Oh good, I'm glad to hear that.

My stystem information says this:
Intel 82801FB ICH6 - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-1]

...if that means anything but the Intel® High Definition Audio 24bit 192KHz, AC'97 2.3 Audio I found on Intel's website.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Oh good, I'm glad to hear that.

My stystem information says this:
Intel 82801FB ICH6 - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-1]

...if that means anything but the Intel® High Definition Audio 24bit 192KHz, AC'97 2.3 Audio I found on Intel's website.

AT has some figures on inted HD audio here http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx?i=2338

Not as impressive as the cards in teh test, but still pretty good.

 

[antsct]

Thanks for that mate. I'm 99% sure I'll be getting the z-2300s. They seem really good and are at a good price, unless someone says something otherwise.

 

[antsct]

Well tomorrow I should be ordering my z-2300s if I can find them in stock *hopes* but lastly, I'd just like to know, overall, with music, specifically with bass, would there be much of a difference between the 5300s and the 2300s? The 2300s seem to have better satelites and subwoofer but are 2.1 compared to 5.1

 

[Googer]

I would recomend creative gigaworks s750. The reviews on those speakers from numerous web sites has been great, they are very well recieved.

Here are a list of Austrailian Merchants selling Gigaworks Speakers
http://au.creative.com/retailers/welcome.asp

 

[antsct]

Originally posted by: Googer
I would recomend creative gigaworks s750. The reviews on those speakers from numerous web sites has been great, they are very well recieved.

Here are a list of Austrailian Merchants selling Gigaworks Speakers
http://au.creative.com/retailers/welcome.asp

Thanks but no thanks. I'm looking at spending about AU $200. They are $700.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct

Originally posted by: Googer
I would recomend creative gigaworks s750. The reviews on those speakers from numerous web sites has been great, they are very well recieved.

Here are a list of Austrailian Merchants selling Gigaworks Speakers
http://au.creative.com/retailers/welcome.asp

Thanks but no thanks. I'm looking at spending about AU $200. They are $700.

I laughed when I heard that recommendation. Yeah... instead of gigaworks, I recommend onix rockets. Does that help you?

I think the amount of bass in either set is going to be more than you'll need. If you want the versatility of a 5.1 set, then there's nothing wrong with the 5300s. A 2.1 will be more suited for music playback and I think the sub will at least get louder if it's not higher quality. If you're looking for something "tighter" than "boomy", then you might want to take a look at those Klipsch sets.

 

[alcoholbob]

Googer, I recommend the Wilson WATT Puppies 6.0. They are $20,000/pair and easily own your Gigaworks. Pfeh.

 

[antsct]

Well I'm still 90% sure I'll be ordering the z-2300s. However a friend reccomeneded these to me:
http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details.asp?pID=MX5021 - THX Certified
These are its specs:

Satellites:
1x 1" Loaded Horn Tweeter
2x 3" Full Midrange Drivers
20 Watts/ Channel @ 6 ohms
Frequency Response: 150 - 18000 Hz

Subwoofer:
1x 6.5" long throw woofer
50 Watts @ 4 Ohms
Frequency Response: 40 - 150 Hz

Are they better? There about $40 over my budget.

Also, I was told this on another forum:

Unless you have a way to correctly position the rear speakers in a small room do NOT buy anything bigger than a 2.1 system.

I see a bunch of people go out and buy 5.1 and above systems. They put the rear speakers under the desk, or next to the front speakers or other strange places because they do not have room for them behind. They say how great the sound is but in truth they did not get any of real beneift and just do not know it.

If the speakers cannot be CORRECTLY positioned a surround set is no better than a 2,1 set in real use.

...if I did get 5.1, the rear speakers would have to be in front of me.

So I have about 15mins before I order, a quick/last reply would be great.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

In general THX is pretty much just marketing.

Anyway, both sets have it, right?

Some people seem to really like the 5021 set, but I haven't really looked at any professional reviews of it or listened to it.

 

[antsct]

Yeah both sets have THX. I red a few reviews, and mostly say that the satelites are good but the sub needs to be better. Well, I realised now, I have to wait about 1/2 hour before I order...shops still need to open

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: antsct
Yeah both sets have THX. I red a few reviews, and mostly say that the satelites are good but the sub needs to be better. Well, I realised now, I have to wait about 1/2 hour before I order...shops still need to open

Are you going to listen to them before you buy them?

 

[antsct]

Yeah I should be mate. I rang up so many computer shops around here, and basically nearly all of them did not have any in stock and did not know when they'd receive them. I thankfully found one shop that had them in stock (2300s seem to be very limited here in Australia) so they have put one away for me and I'll go down and grab them later on today. When I get there I'll ask if I can hear them. Have you ever heard them YOyoYOhowsDAjello?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: antsct
Have you ever personally listened to the z-2300s YOyoYOhowsDAjello? If so, did they sound good to you?

I haven't heard those actually. The older z-2200s looked to be very similar to the z-560s I had a while ago and those were very nice for the money. My gf has them as well as a few other people I built computers for a few years ago.

I've read the z-2300s are not quite as good as the old z-2200s, but still at a similar quality level.

from before