Need speakers - not klipsch they arent available in my area

[voidb4me2]

I'm looking for a set of kick ass computer speakers, and had set my sights on the Klipsch 5.1's but they dont sell them anywhere where i am. So what other alternatives do i have.. boss? creative?

Any help would be much appreciated

(exasperated, store said they had them available and didnt back out until i was handing over my card... apparenly the suppliers stopped selling them anywhere in the country a couple of years back...)

thanks

 

[astrallite]

Try Creative Progamer or the Gigaworks. The sub isn't as punchy but the satellites are comparable to better (with the latter). I've never heard of Boss before.

 

[astrallite]

I don't think very many people have even heard of Boss speakers, and I know alot. As far as I can tell they primarily sell car audio stereos and subs, which have a completely different aim than home speakers because of the acoustical differences in cars--aka not optimal. Given the noise levels in cars, its no wonder car stereos are built with very forward sound, rather than accurate. In a completely quiet and serene environment, accuracy should come first.

 

[voidb4me2]

ok cool guys thanks for the recommendations, will likely get the gigaworks (had my eye on it second to the klipsch) but wasnt sure i needed a 7.1 setup. Still, could be fun

thanks a lot

 

[Cl_utcH]

logitech z-5500 ftw

 

[astrallite]

logitech z-5500 ftw

Pointless to suggest an *inferior* product after a superior one has been picked by the potential buyer-to-be IMO

 

[Cl_utcH]

i realize they might be inferior but it all comes down to how much he wants to spend. and the 5500's are a badass set of speakers.

 

[Clob]

There is nothing "badass" about PC or most cheap HTIAB setups...

 

[Panth3r]

logitech z-5500 ftw

i 2nd that!!! :twisted:

 

[astrallite]

logitech z-5500 ftw

i 2nd that!!! :twisted:

I have a better suggestion. Logitech X-530s. They are a *lot* cheaper than the Z-5500s, and probably measure within 90% of what the Z-5500s do, and I suspect with lower midrange distortion with a 1.5-way crossover. That's pretty good bang for the buck in the audio world, especially since $200 bookshelves would measure about 500% better than the Z-5500s.

 

[mesarectifier]

show me some audiophile quality speakers that for the same price beat mine in games.

Meh, depends what you want. B&W 602s = uber for music. Games? Well, I wouldn't want to subject them to some RPG'ing in Quake III. It's great that people are making speakers specifically for gaming, in the days of those tinny white-plastic stereo speakers I was always worried about the speakers when I hooked up my Hi-Fi. Now that I can get a Creative 2.1 system for the equiv. to about $10, I'm happy!

 

[astrallite]

snob IMO though mine rock. show me some audiophile quality speakers that for the same price beat mine in games.

S750? $420 retail?

At the very lowest, 7x Infinity Primus 140s ($280). Or, quite a step above, 7xInfinity Primus 150s ($350) or Athena AS-B1s ($320). Dayton Sub-100 ($100) or Dayton Sub-120 ($120). Both systems fall within +/- 2db 40-20KHz.

Between $400 and $470 you can get a system thats alot more linear than the S750s. Since the Dayton's only amplify two channels, you'll need a receiver. $90 for a Onkyo SRTX501. $490 to $560 for a set that's significantly more linear, greater SPLs, lowered distortion, much greater connectivity as it can actively switch between multiple sources, set your own crossover, adjust the levels to be linear for your sitting position, radio playback, all sorts of algoritmns like A weighted response curves for night listening. Oh yeah, better vertical and horizontal dispersion, linearity at volume, level-matching with the sub, less driver beaming and a slew of other things I'm forgetting.

PC audio is generally faces a lower returns as the price goes up. Here, with all the added perks, I would say the returns have increased rather than diminished per dollar spent.

The great part is you can go to your local Best Buy's Magnolia (as badly set up as they are; you could always find a local hifi dealer), pop in a CD and actually hear the difference, rather than just shout at each other over a forum.

PS: You aren't the type that needs convincing anyway, since you aren't the type who owns "cheese" PC speakers anyway.

 

[Clob]

What about the Athena 4000 compared to the Dayton sub-120?

Some people say that the Athena is better and the Dayton is a "1 note wonder"..

 

[DestroyerOfSenses]

logitech z-5500 ftw

i 2nd that!!! :twisted:

I have a better suggestion. Logitech X-530s. They are a *lot* cheaper than the Z-5500s, and probably measure within 90% of what the Z-5500s do, and I suspect with lower midrange distortion with a 1.5-way crossover. That's pretty good bang for the buck in the audio world.

You must've never heard the X-530's, even compared to the Z-5300's they are pathetic.You're comparing a 70 watts RMS system to a 505 watts RMS system, thats like Celeron vs P4EE or.. sempron vs fx-57. Not saying that the X-530's aren't a good setup however ( I know because my dad has them) I gotta love the fact that they have dual drivers for mid-high freq. I just hate the Sub, its low freq. output is pathetic my 1/2" supertweeter in my car has more bass. If only logitech could give the X-530 sattalites w/ the Z-5500 sub&amp, that would be <3. But hey if you aren't looking for bass then get the X-530's

 

[astrallite]

What about the Athena 4000 compared to the Dayton sub-120?

Some people say that the Athena is better and the Dayton is a "1 note wonder"..

As we all know good bass is incredibly expensive. You can buy a speaker that's incredibly accurate from 50hz up (aka Ascend Acoustics 170SEs) for $350 -- +/- 1db 55-27KHz...(yes, I did say ONE decible).

However for a system that's that linear for the last 45hz...say 15-50hz +/-2db, you'd be looking at, at *least* a $750-$1000 subwoofer. It takes so much physical excursion to belt out those lows, it's just hard to do it on the cheap.

The Dayton is a good subwoofer for a first time (non-multimedia) buyer. It has very little output below 40hz--by this, not in the multimedia subwoofer sense (you can't hear it), but a more stringent measurement--it dives beyond this point, it's -10db at 35hz. The older Athen ASP-400s, while lacking power and SPL, were more linear than the Dayton's--Tom Nuissance (sp?) who measures many commercial subs, found the Athenas to measure within the +/- 3db spec down to 31hz. Much more impressive "musically" I suppose.

I wouldn't say the Dayton's aren't musical or "one note wonders tho. Since they can't reproduce much below 40hz, there's not much room for THD peaks (like you would see in say a multimedia PC subwoofer, which are poorly EQed). More like it plays the notes it can, but since it doesn't *try* to reach deeper, the upper bass isn't exaggerated by THD peaks (as all overEQed drivers will have THD peaks when trying to extend beyond it's natural bandwidth--in the case of the old Z-680 Logitech subwoofer I had, I measured a +45!! db peak at 90hz when playing a 30hz test tone.), so it is free of being a "one-note wonder" like many PC subwoofers.

The Athena ASP-4000 on the other hand looks like a totally different (possibly inferior?) design, and looks like it was built more for mass market consumption in mind. I don't think it would be as linear as the older 400s, but it looks like it's been armed with a better amp for more SPL/output.

As for the X-530s vs the Z-5300s....when I demo them in stores, I can't even hear the differences between them anymore. They just all sound the same. It's hard to differentiate "ehh" and "a little less ehh" after you are in high-fi. This is not audiophile snobbery. This is turning on LOTR when the King of Rohan is knocking his sword against his cavalry's spears and hearing all these intricate rings...when your roommate who thinks spending any money on audio is foolish goes "holy sh1t dude..."

 

[Clob]

Harldly produce below 40hz? Then what is the point seriously?

The Ascend 170's

Typical In-Room Frequency Response 53Hz - 20kHz +/- 3dB
In-Room Sensitivity 91dB @ 1 watt / 1 meter
Frequency Response (Anechoic) 58Hz - 22kHz +/- 3dB
Sensitivity (Anechoic) 89dB @ 1 watt/ 1 meter

The only thing that the dayton would do is reinforce what is already there?
I honestly would think that if you drop $350 into the 170's, you would gladly drop $500 into somthing that will hit 16hz with some SPL behind it to get that "That dinosaur just broke my vase" sweetness!

Everytime I see a review on those 170's compared to anything else I just want to skip a car payment and scoop em up!

 

[astrallite]

Harldly produce below 40hz? Then what is the point seriously?

The Ascend 170's

Typical In-Room Frequency Response 53Hz - 20kHz +/- 3dB
In-Room Sensitivity 91dB @ 1 watt / 1 meter
Frequency Response (Anechoic) 58Hz - 22kHz +/- 3dB
Sensitivity (Anechoic) 89dB @ 1 watt/ 1 meter

The only thing that the dayton would do is reinforce what is already there?
I honestly would think that if you drop $350 into the 170's, you would gladly drop $500 into somthing that will hit 16hz with some SPL behind it to get that "That dinosaur just broke my vase" sweetness!

Everytime I see a review on those 170's compared to anything else I just want to skip a car payment and scoop em up!

Movies. Most commercial subs are tuned for 40hz for this reason. This is as far as it extends...and it costs $100. I mean, sure, you could get the Athenas ASP-4000s for about $100 now. If you have a larger living room and need 110+db SPLS (without multimedia subwoofer type "I am here" THD peaks), then this is a great bang for the buck, a hold over until you get better subs.

I personally think Ascend should've listed their speakers at +/-1db for the sake of e-peen, mainly because AV123 has their $200 X-LS flaunted at +/- 1.8db, rather than just use the regular convention (+/- 3db) because honestly, if you look at the graph, +/-3db (F3 point) falls closer to the mid 40hz...

 

[Flakes]

I don't think very many people have even heard of Boss speakers, and I know alot. As far as I can tell they primarily sell car audio stereos and subs, which have a completely different aim than home speakers because of the acoustical differences in cars--aka not optimal. Given the noise levels in cars, its no wonder car stereos are built with very forward sound, rather than accurate. In a completely quiet and serene environment, accuracy should come first.

ive never heard of Klipsch, its more a us make whereas boss is more UK and they make very good speakers, personally i would get a set of 7.1 Creative Gigaworks S750, there not great for music but will BLOW YOUR MIND IN GAMES. if you want music though go for the z5500's

 

[Flakes]

hey im being nuetral.

i love the gigaworks. but its down to taste some dont like as much bass and erm "smudge" in there music.

the z5500 are slightly clearer with music with a more realistic bass.

p.s

i love having the floor shake when i fire a rocket in ut, or when a tank blows up in COD2 but i dont want that with my music lol.

edit

ive lost the ability to spell (again)

 

[Flakes]

for clarity my speakers are great, how can you not like them in that respect, yes sound is subjective and yes the bass can be a bit much. i usually have it at its lowest or near lowest setting.

u using the gigaworks?

but u clarified what i said above here

the bass can be a bit much. i usually have it at its lowest or near lowest setting.

 

[Lord-Ilpolazzo]

nothing can beat a good set of hifi speakers and a nice amp. Dont use any of this computer speaker crap

 

[Flakes]

lol, ive been trying to find my hifi spec on the net no luck.

i run a sharp xl-hp737, 200 watt rms, keeps me happy, and my parents unhappy lol.

 

[baracuda73]

The Z-5500 logitech are loud. Best Speakers available for the price.

 

[Clob]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=647862&page=1

Review on Atoms vs Ascend vs SVS shelf speakers... Have you seen this yet Astrallite?

He seems to have similar views that I do as to taste....

 

[Flakes]

i would buy a nice 2.1 setup if all i needed it for was music, at least until dvd audio becomes the norm where as i would have to switch to 5.1 any way. the scary thing is i could easily spend the same if not twice as much on a 2.1 setup as i did on my speakers.

problem i have is most my time is spent playing games or playing music. i actually made my self a switch box, so i could switch from my gigaworks to the hifi and back.

p.s pic quickly took with mobile right now lol.