Looking for a set of 5.1 speakers that can be used with a PC and a console system

[Arkitech]

I have a small home office that I would like to setup with an inexpensive set of 5.1 speakers. The actual room size is roughly about 10x12, so I don't really need anything with too much power. The key though is don't want to pay much more than a 100 bucks if possible and I would like to be able to use the speakers with my gaming consoles (ps2, xbox, gamecube, etc..) and my PC. I plan on doing a lot of gaming and the occasional movie. I'm thinking of maybe going with a discontinued system that I find on clearance for cheap.


Any suggestions on what I should look into?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

For computer speaker systems, you'd want to get one with multiple inputs with both a multichannel analog and a digital input.

The Logitech z-680s / z-5500s would fit this requirement, but I think you'd be very lucky to find them at the price you're shooting for. More like $200 on a good deal new.

Besides those or a similar set with digital inputs, a set of computer speakers isn't going to work very well for console gaming or hooking up a DVD player.



On the other end of things, you could get some kind of HTIB set, but $100 is not going to get you very far at all. From time to time, ShopOnkyo had good deals on refurb sets. I don't know if they'll still sell the 590 set in the future, but that would go for under $200 and would be pretty decent. I'm pretty sure it has a 5.1 analog input that should get you surround sound from your PC with the appropriate cables although you might run into some issues with that.

 

[Arkitech]

thanks for the advice Yoyo. After reading your post and a few other threads here I'm thinking maybe I should raise my budget to about 200. I'm going to see what I can find in terms of an inexpensive refurbed receiver and perhaps a few used/refurbed speakers. Perhaps a decent HTiB might be the way to go as well, although I'm a bit hesistant about that route. I bought a RCA HTiB from Walmart about 2 years ago and it's easily the worse sounding piece of crap I've ever owned.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

There are a ton of totally crappy HTIB sets so I'm not surprised at all that you've had a bad experience in the past.

If you're willing to go used, you can certainly get some better bang for your buck. A significant portion of what I'm using right now was used as well.

Buying used also gives you the opportunity to buy individual components at a time so it's not a big one time purchase like a decent HTIB set would be.

 

[Arkitech]

I'm kicking myself right now because I completely forgot that I have an old Technics receiver along with a set of KLH speakers. I know KLH is bottom of the bucket in sound quality, but I bought them from Best Buy one year when they were on clearance. My only problem here though is my sound card does optical out (Chaintech av-710) and receiver only has rca inputs. I'll have to figure out how to connect the pieces.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

The 7/8 (rear output) jack of the Chaintech AV-710 uses a high quality wolfson DAC and would be great for analog output to your receiver.

You just need to get an adapter to hook the two together and then depending on your via-arena driver version, it should be simple enough to configure the Chaintech to use the 7/8 rear output jack as the main stereo output.

Example adapter
http://www.monoprice.com/produ..._id=665&seq=1&format=2

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
The 7/8 (rear output) jack of the Chaintech AV-710 uses a high quality wolfson DAC and would be great for analog output to your receiver.

You just need to get an adapter to hook the two together and then depending on your via-arena driver version, it should be simple enough to configure the Chaintech to use the 7/8 rear output jack as the main stereo output.

Example adapter
http://www.monoprice.com/produ..._id=665&seq=1&format=2

Thanks for the advice Yoyo.

Have you ever considered working in the AV industry? You would be a great engineer.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
The 7/8 (rear output) jack of the Chaintech AV-710 uses a high quality wolfson DAC and would be great for analog output to your receiver.

You just need to get an adapter to hook the two together and then depending on your via-arena driver version, it should be simple enough to configure the Chaintech to use the 7/8 rear output jack as the main stereo output.

Example adapter
http://www.monoprice.com/produ..._id=665&seq=1&format=2

Thanks for the advice Yoyo.

Have you ever considered working in the AV industry? You would be a great engineer.

I was in electrical engineering a while ago but figured out that it wasn't really for me. I enjoy doing this stuff as a hobby, but I'd be worried about losing interest if I really got into highly technical aspects of this stuff. I don't think I have the motivation to get really good at the math that goes along with all this stuff

Despite having some background knowledge of some of these things from my computer engineering / electrical engineering background, I'm not really that knowledgeable about the technical stuff that's going on with all these components.

I do know how to hook them together and enjoy them though

 

[montypythizzle]

4.73b is latest version that supports it. If I have the time later I can link you to a large thread on Head-fi about it.
I use the kernel streaming plug-in with Foobar (can also use with Winamp) and it sounds great for my 2.0 system.

 

[SlickSnake]

<snip>

I haven't gone wrong yet by purchasing Harman Kardon products for the last 8 years. I have bought refurb products online, from Ebay at their store and from their online store that were either in perfect refurb condition, or new in the box and sold as refurbs, including Infinity Interlude and Beta speaker systems. All their products bought from them as refurbs have a full manufacturers warranty, too.

Harman Audio Ebay Store

Harman Audio Online Store

They also make JBL products and higher end products, too! If you can afford them.

They do not lie on the actual output of their audio products, too. If they state 100 watts per channel at 8 ohms, they mean it. Their equipment will power lower 4 ohm loads, which many HT receivers will simply burn out trying to power continuously. Something to keep in mind when purchasing speakers, too.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

So you ended up with this?

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2118819&enterthread=y

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
So you ended up with this?

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2118819&enterthread=y

yep, I went with an all in one package. Not the best choice in terms of audio quality but it should be sufficient for my needs. I just recieved the unit today, I'll probably wait to test it out after I get my hands on a 1080p 32".

What's your thoughts on Sennheiser products?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
So you ended up with this?

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2118819&enterthread=y

yep, I went with an all in one package. Not the best choice in terms of audio quality but it should be sufficient for my needs. I just recieved the unit today, I'll probably wait to test it out after I get my hands on a 1080p 32".

What's your thoughts on Sennheiser products?

I have a couple pairs, HD280pros for when I need a sealed set and the much better HD580s for other times. I like them both, but I honestly haven't tried many others besides very short encounters at retail stores.

HeadFi is a great headphone resource.