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You are going to get a lot of those answers around here. I'm just curious regalztt have you actually heard any other speakers? Most people that say things like this have heard the ProMedias and some $10 "powered speakers"
The ProMedia's have very poor midrange, and guess what important part of DVDs live in midrnage. Yes that's right voices do. I really don't find the ProMedia's to be very good for DVDs....they are absolutely excellent gaming speakers...and can be very very good for MP3s depending on the type of music you listen to, but for DVDs their lacking midrange makes them less than the best choice.
If you want a 5.1 system with onboard dolby digital decoder the MidiLand S4-8200 is an excellent choice. They only have 2 analog inputs though, so you are sort of SOL for gaming...2 inputs is perfectly fine for MP3s though.
The video logic DigiTheatre DTS is unquestionably the best sounding 5.1 multimedia system out there...but it's also extremely expensive...but it also has the Dolby Digital (well DD or DTS) or nothing (2 channel) input scheme....
The Creative DTT3500 is good because it supports 4 or 5.1 input other than AC-3...unfortunatley most dolby digital decoding systems either accept the DD input or 2 channel...the DTT3500 support 2, 4, 5.1 or DD input. But the quality of the speakers themselves is below most other sets in it's price range. I would take these if you want DVDs and Games on the same computer....for DVDs you just can't beat true hardware Dolby decoding...software 5.1 output just isn't quite as good...close but not quite.
The BA4800 are an excellent set of speakers as well. Very good neutral sound reproduction, they don't really emphasize anything (my main complain with the ProMedias is that they exagerate bass too much...but then again maybe you like that?). They are also very affordable.
The Video Logic Sirocco Crossfires are also top notch. With separate tweaters their high range is excellent, and the sub is both more powerful and more accurate than the ProMedia's sub.
But both those last 2 I mentioned have no dobly digital decoding.....
Picking speakers for someone else is very hard...it's a very personal thing, alot of people like the ProMedias (though I think a good percentage just went off the hype and haven't heard anything else...), and that's fine, they have their strenghts...I personally don't like them, but you might....
If you just want DVDs and MP3s there are a few good sets becuase 2 channel input is fine for MP3s so find a set with a nice deocoder (I'd personally go Midiland S4-8200 but again...it's hard to pick for someone else). If you throw games in it's harder because most new games 2 channel input only is a bit of a drawback...
Since you're getting a 5.1 channel soundcard you might want to consider a 5.1 analog input set and use the soundcard's Dolby Decoding...it's not quite as good as a hardware DSP but it would certainly be better for gaming...and the DTT3500 really aren't the greatest speakers, though they do have the best input options.
Also, the SBLive! Platinum isn't necessarily the best soundcard out there...it's the most expensive but that doesn't make it the best. There have been many sound card debates lately, but you might want to check out the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz which is suppose to be a very good card (though I haven't personally experienced it) or the Philips Accoustic Edge...
The AE is an awesome card....as soon as I get some money I am replacing my SBLive! with it. It has Digital I/O, 5.1 channel analog output, excellent sound quality, and a wide range of features unsupported by the SBLive...included my favourite QMSS...which upmixed 2 channel streams to 4 or 5.1 and 4 channel stream to 5.1, QMSS works something like Dolby ProLogic, and it's not just mirroring the stereo channels to the rear...I personally like the QMSS effect better than Stereo mirroring...
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