Should I upgrade or not?

[nanllyn]

I bought the Audigy 2 zs platinum. I mainly use them for listening to music with. I don't really play games. I currently have a set of Creative P580 which are 70watts 5.1 speakers. They do sound good but I can't turn them up enough to hear while I'm in other parts of the house. They aren't that loud and once you get them as loud as they can go they distort pretty badly.
So my question is, I'm looking at the Creative P7800 because they are $86 from Newegg, which are 7.1 and 90watts. I'm just wondering if that will be enough to make a difference. I just don't have the money for the Logitech Z-5300 or Z-5500, right now and it could be awhile for I do. Also I can't find the P7800's in my area to listen to, to see for myself. The room is 12 X 12 and on the end of the house.
It is a very large house about 80 feet long by 42 feet wide.The problem is it is a solid concrete home including a lot of the interior walls so it is hard to hear my music from my kitchen when I'm working. My kitchen sits in the middle of the home and is approx. 40 feet from the office(where my computer is). That is the problem. And if I turn the speakers up to hear it while I'm in the kitchen then it is to the max volume and is distorted severly and to be quite frank still is not real loud. Running water to do dishes totally drowns out the music.
Another thought is to hook my computer up to my stereo that sits in the middle of my house. But it is 2 walls and 30-35 feet away. So not sure how to do that or with what kind of product. Wireless is almost impossible in my house because of the concrete walls but I just got a repeater and put it in the middle of my house and that seems to do the trick for getting wireless in my downstair family room. So that might be a possibility. I just want to say I connected my mp3 player up to my stereo via the Belkin FM transmitter and the music was muffled and you had to really turn it up loud to hear it. I didn't know if something like the Logitech Wireless Music System might sound muffled as well or would be a better product. This might be a better option than getting better speakers. I know I went way off track here but I didn't think about this option until I mentioned wireless.
Thanks for your help and time.
Nancy

 

[xiii]

IMHO the 20 watts probably won't make difference, and it's not worth your money just for that. I would hold it until I could get a better system. If all you do is listen to music then you might look for a 2.1 system that will have more power on the subwoofer, like the ProMedia 2.1's. You'll have to save up, but I would be pretty sure that you'll hear them anywhere in the house!

 

[Spiv]

If you just listen to music and don't care about any surround sound, then look at 2.1 sets. As far as wattage goes, in amplifiers (such as the ones normally built in to subwoofers) it is a measure of how much headroom exists in the signal path. General more wattage results in a tighter response, which results in a tighter/clearer sound overall. Wattage in speakers is generally how much power they can receive without blowing up. Higher wattage here generally means more volume before distortion kicks in.

If I were you I would get the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 set. From all accounts they get plenty loud and sound good at the same time.

 

[DaveUK]

If you mainly listen to music, then neither of the suggestions above I wouldn't do.

The best, most cost effective PC music solution I've ever created was (when money was real tight as a student)

PC -> line out (stereo minijack to 2x phono aux)
--> Sony 140w (2x70w) stereo amplifier
--> Acoustic Solutions 120w floorstanding speakers (48hz-20khz) response

So, get yourself some reasonable floorstanding speakers and a decent amplifier to power them (just get whatever suits your budget) and you will be rocking.

If its listening to music then this setup will beat a £250 5.1 or 2.1 PC speaker setup with EASE - trust - and can be a whole lot cheaper if you get a bargain. Make sure that you get speakers that go down to 40-50hz so that you still get some good bass grunt.

PS. Just keep them away from the rest of your PC gear especially a CRT monitor. Big speakers have beeeeg magnets and aren't magnetically shielded like PC speakers are. Amplifiers also generate a magnetic field - I managed to reset my PC by switching on the amp once lol.

 

[halcyon]

If you mainly listen to music, then neither of the suggestions above I wouldn't do.

The best, most cost effective PC music solution I've ever created was (when money was real tight as a student)

PC -> line out (stereo minijack to 2x phono aux)
--> Sony 140w (2x70w) stereo amplifier
--> Acoustic Solutions 120w floorstanding speakers (48hz-20khz) response

So, get yourself some reasonable floorstanding speakers and a decent amplifier to power them (just get whatever suits your budget) and you will be rocking.

If its listening to music then this setup will beat a £250 5.1 or 2.1 PC speaker setup with EASE - trust - and can be a whole lot cheaper if you get a bargain. Make sure that you get speakers that go down to 40-50hz so that you still get some good bass grunt.

PS. Just keep them away from the rest of your PC gear especially a CRT monitor. Big speakers have beeeeg magnets and aren't magnetically shielded like PC speakers are. Amplifiers also generate a magnetic field - I managed to reset my PC by switching on the amp once lol.

I definitely 2nd that, I think you can kind of rule out PC speakers for the kind of listening levels you want. You'd do better with an inexpensive stereo receiver (even 80 watts) and some descent bookshelves or floorstanders fed by your PC (if you like). This may cost more than the $150 Klispsch Pro Media option but you'll likely get the kind of sound you desire with an upgradable system to boot. I think you can probably do this for $350 - $400 easy and be VERY satisfied.

A simple example:

http://bestbuys.shopping.com/xPO-Denon_DRA_395 : $150

http://bestbuys.shopping.com/xPO-Monitor_60#: $250

 

[nanllyn]

Thanks for the suggestions. I decided to go with the stereo option. I have a Technics receiver and a set of Bose and Cerwin-Vegas, which sound awesome! AFter all this last two weeks of online searching and asking the forum, My son just went overseas so he sent me his computer. So since I now have an extra computer. I am going to use it as a music system and hook it to my tv and stereo. I just need to buy a tv tuner card. I already have the Audigy2 zs soundcard so that will be fine. I need to buy a copy of Windows so I'm going with the Media Center version and that should do the trick.
Thanks again for all your help. I really appreciate everyone's time.
Take care,
Nancy

 

[racerboywonder]

Man...I wish my mother was a tech savvy as you are. I'm still trying to get her to understand the finer points of copying and pasting!!

 

[g-paw]

If you get any static or hum when you hook it up, get a Ground Loop Isolator. It's just a filter that goes between the computer and receiver. Not very expensive at Radio Shack. Works real well for me.