Logitech X-620 and Philips MMS-460

[Cristatus]

I was thinking about buying an x.1 (2.1, 4.1, 5.1, etc...) speaker system, and came across the two aforementioned speakers, and was wondering which ones to go for. The Logitechs are about £10 cheaper than the Philips, but the Philips look much better. Obviously, the most important things to consider here is that I have a laptop, am on a budget of sub £100 (about $130) and I listen to trance music.

Anybody know any good suggestions, or know whether these speakers are worth it?

TIA

 

[Eureka]

Well, if you're on a laptop, are you a frequent traveler?

Having a 6.1 would be hellish to carry around... as for the Logitechs, they look like a 6.1 upgraded version of the z-640. They're okay, but it has poor bass quality.

Norm

 

[Cristatus]

No, I don't travel alot. The main reason I have a laptop is so that if I need to move it around I can, but I'm a university student, so the speakers will be staying in one place, even if the laptop does move. Size is not an issue.

 

[Eureka]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836116153

I'd say get something like that. Then again, we need Yoyoyo in here... he's the village audiophile.

Norm

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836116153

I'd say get something like that. Then again, we need Yoyoyo in here... he's the village audiophile.

Norm

I don't like the whole "audiophile" label actually (I just tend to post in a lot of audio threads )

In the $130 range, I would recommend Logitech z-5300s for a 5.1 solution.

If this is for music though, then 2.0 or 2.1 would probably be best. In fact if you don't have a nice set of headphones, you could get a very nice set in this range that would give you much better sound quality than any speaker set in this range.

If you need speaker though, if you could find a Klipsch 2.1 set that would be a good idea.
I think the promedias are better than the GMX set, but I've heard that it's hard to find anything other than the GMX set in Britain.

The x-640s look really overpriced for what you get. The more popular 5.1 x-530 set is like half that price over here ($40 vs $80).

The z-5300s are the next step up in the logitech line. They go for right around the $130 mark around here.

A Logitech alternative would be z-2200s or z-2300s. Do you have any of those in your area?

EDIT: oh, and as for philips.... kind of an unknown I guess. I haven't seen any reviews of those yet. I don't know when those came out, and I know nothing about them.

oooh, 12000 posts

 

[Excelsior]

What Jello said. If this is for music mainly, do yourself a favor and get a solid 2.0/2.1 system.

I have heard my roommates Z-2300s quite a bit, and they arent too bad..for a computer 2.1 system anyway.

 

[Cristatus]

Jello, I couldn't find the Klipsch's, but your ideas about purchasing Klipsch has really intrigued me. While looking around for prices, I saw a Bose 2.1 PC speaker system, and was wondering what you though about those (please don't give a biased view, because as I can tell from you sig, you obviously don't like bose, but I think they looked and sounded pretty nice for about £200) . Also, I have come across more money now, so my budget is going to double to 260 - 300 dollars (upto to 200 GBP). Is there anything you can recommend in that range?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: logic1485
Jello, I couldn't find the Klipsch's, but your ideas about purchasing Klipsch has really intrigued me. While looking around for prices, I saw a Bose 2.1 PC speaker system, and was wondering what you though about those (please don't give a biased view, because as I can tell from you sig, you obviously don't like bose, but I think they looked and sounded pretty nice for about £200) . Also, I have come across more money now, so my budget is going to double to 260 - 300 dollars (upto to 200 GBP). Is there anything you can recommend in that range?

Haven't heard a bose computer system, but I'd imagine it is overpriced like many of their products. If you heard them and like them for the price, I'm not going to tell you not to get them. Did you compare them against anything else with a similar cost?

Yikes... did I really make 665 posts in 8 days?

There aren't a whole lot of 2.0/2.1 sets above $150 that are for computers.

For $300 I would start looking at 2.0 or 2.1 stereo sets. Over here I might suggest getting a $100-ish recever or amp
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=185910

and then spending the rest on a pair of stereo speakers.

$200 could get you
a pair of Paradigm Atoms over here new or something similar from Infinity etc.
Some pretty nice JBL speakers (harmanaudio sells factory refub speakers with new warranties)

Anyways, I don't really know what the options are over where you are so I'm not sure if I could give you any specific products to look at.

 

[alcoholbob]

200 UK pounds is enough to get you a Klipsch 5.1 Ultra set -_-

As for Bose speakers...they are unimpressive on a pure logistics level--2" untreated paper woofers, no tweeters, and subwoofers that are in Altec Lansings PC speaker league, at about twice the price.

 

[Cristatus]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
200 UK pounds is enough to get you a Klipsch 5.1 Ultra set -_-

As for Bose speakers...they are unimpressive on a pure logistics level--2" untreated paper woofers, no tweeters, and subwoofers that are in Altec Lansings PC speaker league, at about twice the price.

I couldn't find any Klipsch, and I've looked through most of the shops on Tottenham Court Road. If you know any shops that carry them somewhere in London (or somewhere in/near Kingston Upon Thames) please point me to it, as I would really like a set of Klipsch's.

Also, I saw the Harman/Kardon Soundsticks II for a decent price, if those are worth getting.

If nothing, I might go for the Z-5500s which I have seen on a website for £178.99 (£279.99 on the Logitech website). But then I might have to get something like the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA version to get my sound to decode properly. What are those things called anyways? Audio decoders?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

An A2 zs soundcard would give you 5.1 output to your speakers.

If you gave it a soundtrack from a DVD for example it should be able to decode it to the different channels and convert it to analog for your speakers.

In games, it would be able to output to rear/center speakers when appropriate and use EAX for effects.

On your laptop you'd be limited to a 2.0/2.1 output.

 

[Cristatus]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
An A2 zs soundcard would give you 5.1 output to your speakers.

If you gave it a soundtrack from a DVD for example it should be able to decode it to the different channels and convert it to analog for your speakers.

In games, it would be able to output to rear/center speakers when appropriate and use EAX for effects.

On your laptop you'd be limited to a 2.0/2.1 output.

Even with a 5.1 card? How come?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: logic1485

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
An A2 zs soundcard would give you 5.1 output to your speakers.

If you gave it a soundtrack from a DVD for example it should be able to decode it to the different channels and convert it to analog for your speakers.

In games, it would be able to output to rear/center speakers when appropriate and use EAX for effects.

On your laptop you'd be limited to a 2.0/2.1 output.

Even with a 5.1 card? How come?

"Your" as in the one you have now unmodified.

If you get the A2 zs, that's what I explained above.

 

[Cristatus]

Oh, ok, I think I see what you mean. You mean that if I just stick the card in, then I would get 2.0 output? But if I had some Z-5500s (which btw are £210, because the aforementioned price was excluding VAT) and plugged them into the A2 zs, then I would get 5.0, right?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: logic1485
Oh, ok, I think I see what you mean. You mean that if I just stick the card in, then I would get 2.0 output? But if I had some Z-5500s (which btw are £210, because the aforementioned price was excluding VAT) and plugged them into the A2 zs, then I would get 5.0, right?

Sorry, I'm being confusing.

I meant that if you used the integrated headphone / line-out jack of your laptop that you have now, that would give you stereo output.

If you got a card and plugged in a multichannel speaker set you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Eureka]

The problem is that you have a laptop... they're not as easily customizable.

You could use an external sound card, though.

Norm

 

[Cristatus]

Ok, gotcha. Thanks.