logitech z5500 vs creative gigaworks s750

sharp910sh

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ok i have a load of money and i need some serious speakers for my pc and tv.

My use for these speakers will be
60% films/video tv/ v shows
30%playing games FPS
20% music

i have onboard realtek sound from the asus p5k.

the z 5500 can decode dts and DD, but can the S750? or will i need a sound card? what are the benifti or DTS and DD?

further more the Z5500 are 190 and the S750 are 240 pounds sterlin

plus i have heard the s750 has blow after a couple months usage? any one heard of this?

will i have to get a graphics card. and is DIGital input better than analog?

Thank you

is there anything i should consider for the same price range?
 

Ycon

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The S750 is clearly better.
However, with onboard audio you shouldnt even try running a sound system, so yes, sound card is really needed.
 

sharp910sh

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ah thank you. i will prob get the CREATIVE X-FI EXTREME to go with it as it can decode dts and dd. the oem is selling for 30 pounds while the retail is selling for 50 pounds, any reason to get the retail?
 

Waresdom

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I have the z-5500's and they are awesome...I do not know anything about the S750's but from a user that has the 5500's...you can't go wrong. They rock. Definitely get the sound card.
 

Winly

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the Z-5500 are amazing, clear sound, powerful system. i cant have this spakers with too much volume cause my house start vibrating lol. i think the Z-5500 is the way to go
 

sharp910sh

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yer i think the same the z 5500 are very good but the s750 is just a bit better, plus they have high frequency tweeter so they can rich the higher picthes. also whats better digital input or analog?
 

manticore

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Firsty the most important thing you need is a new sound card the XFI Elite pro from creative is one of the best out there or any of the XFI family will suit you.

Next the speakers I,ve owned both the Z550 and the S750 both are exellent speakers but the sub on the Z550 is better than the S750 however the S750 have better surround speakers so I use the combination of both

Looking at what you use your computer for I would go for the Z550 if you were a music fan I would go for the S750.

You ask about the benifit's of DTS well Most DVD's give you a menu audio choice which include 5.1 DTS This format will give you the surround sound experence which will blow your socks off, the sound is loud and punchy watch Saving private Ryan the bullets sound as if their whistling past your ears.

All your decoding will be sorted by both sets of speakers along with a new sound card so do't worry about that.

If you really wanted to go to town then then go to a specialist HI FI shop buy a AMP and Surround speakers hook up to your sound card and away you go but unless your A serious audiophile then you would be wasting your money, I listen to music through the set up I,ve just mentioned and the sound is exellent, Its as good as my HIFI and my HIFI cost a damn site more that A sound card and a set of S750's.



 

chrizt4adam

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correct me if i am wrong, but the creative speakers don't have digital optical and digital coax. I Have z-5500's and they rock, i run them over digitial opt. I see your p5k has digital coax, i suggest you use that
 

sharp910sh

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wow the XFI Elite pro costs 200 pounds!iveread about 6 reviews each on both speakerfs and it says the s750 is better for films and the z5500 is better for music? is thing right. i have some cheap 50 pounds speakers.ive heard the z5500 and they are very good cant complain, i cant see what i will gain by spending £1k on speakers. im not an audiophile i just watch films thats it really.
 

sharp910sh

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ah right thank you. ive read like 6 reviews all which have said the s750 are the best out of the z5500, z680 and the s750. but people are always saying the z5500 are better i think its just a bias as they dont know better. the only thing the s750 lacks is the digital but then again music is anaolog sound is anaolog its a wave, so cobverting into digtal will mean a lost of sound right? but still the reviews ahev ssaid the s750 is better even though it doesnt have coaxial etc. hmmmi i wish i could hear the s750 then i could judge
 

hammersmith

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My recommendation to you is, go for neither of them. Why? Because they are crap and in no way a match for an audio system hooked to an amplifier system.

With more or less the same amount of budget, you can buy yourself a decent amplifier unit and depending on whether you want to annoy your neighbour, you can get 100W or 150W speakers, hook your amplifier to your coaxial out / optical out at the back of your inbuilt sound card (Preferably if you can buy a decent Creative soundcard).

Let your amplifier does the DTS, Dolby decoding, and hook another set of wires from your sound out to your amplifier's pre-amp in. Reason for this is, although most amplifier is able to decode DTS, Dolby, etc, I have yet seen one that can decode EAX. In this particular instance, EAX will be decoded by computer sound card, but the rest will be decoded by the amplifer.

This is a killer combo, probably work out to be over your budget, but hey, you can work slowly up, from a 2.1 -> 7.1 and get to choose all the best speaker as you go along. If you are on tight budget, you probably can get away with a standalone amp, a subwoofer and 7 small satelite speakers, all within your budget

I have the Gigaworks system, but soon realise that Gigaworks which is the most expensive computer speaker is only comparable to a lower to mid range speaker in the audio market. And Gigaworks is not cheap. The only thing that Gigaworks is comparable to the audio system is the subwoofer, the rest of the speakers is like comparing Kia to Mercedes. I have done some rewiring to fit my Gigaworks to my amplifier, at the moment, I am using all 7 speakers, but I think I will upgrade my way up and will probably only keep the subwoofer. Oh, did you know that Gigaworks speaker only go all the way up to 70W whereas 100W is consider the norm in a typical audio system?
 

hammersmith

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Rating for gigaworks amp? The subwoofer does 210W, while 70W for 7 of the speakers, making it a 700W speaker system.

It definitely definitely can't do 700W because apparently the Creative Engineer cannot do their maths, they equip the power cable with 3A fuse or whatever 5A fuse for US model. With that sort of fuse rating, before the speaker can output that sort of wattage, the fuse would have blown.

Maybe that explain why so many people complaint about blown fuse.
 

sharp910sh

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wow this is confusing! then again i have a 5.1 system with 6watts per a channell then like 35 watt sub. or something like that and its fine kinda lol. so 1000watts will be over kill unless i wana get thrown out the house.

so what amp do you recommend? and what speakers?
 

halcyon

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if you have a ton of money, why are you looking at pc speakers. yes i own the s750's and as pc speakers they are very good but completely and utterly unbalanced when it comes down to accurate sound reproduction.

the have a big sub which is useless for clarity, good for gaming where being boomy and making the floor vibrate but they also have small mid range speakers which are weak compared to the very good tweeters.

it is also not that solid at high volumes for my liking. true i use it at close range due to room size but if you have the cash, there are better. As reference i use some floor standers which put them to the creative to shame. This will be no different to the z5500's, perhaps even worse.

what sort of budget have you got?

Amen. I have the Z5500's (for a little of a year) they're okay for PC speakers but if you have a ton of money, consider at least a receiver and some truer speakers. Now, if $250 is your "ton of money" well, you may still be able to beat PC speakers.
 

halcyon

Splendid
Well, if you have the space you'd be better of with even one of those "cheaper" pre-packaged home-theatre kits, in my opinion. ...and you'd get more utility (if you can use the utility). Don't get me wrong, the Z5500 are certainly enjoyable for PERSONAL surround and if you want to annoy your neighbors. The sub it has...will kill bacteria on your walls. ...but the sats are pretty directional (poor dispersion).

So, if these are just for you and you're limited on space (don't have the space (or don't want to use the space) for a receiver than the z5500s may be justified on that ground. ...but looking back, I'd say go with a pre-packaged home theater kit (if you don't want to spend the time searching for seperates).

 

hammersmith

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Cambridge Audio Azur 640R has good ratings, but can cost quite a bit. If you are on budget, the Sony is a steal.

AV is the hub to the entire audio system, so, best not to try cut corner on the AV.
 

sharp910sh

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well i barely have any room lol, my room sixe is about 5 by 4 metres then my screen is about 3 metres away from the wall so i really only have 2 metres by 3.5 metres. so very tight on space!

im starting to think i may just get the s750 with a sound card, but i duno now really hmm.

are there any amps which are cheaper much cheaper! as i dont wana spend £2k on speakers
 

hammersmith

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I am a Gigaworks owner, I can assure you that the s750 is powerful enough to blow your wall apart. With such a small room, do you really need 700W speaker system? You may be able to grab a speaker system completed with the AV receiver for less if you visit Richersounds or visit their website (presume you are from UK as you quoted pound instead of any other currencies).

Before I forget, I need to remind you that Gigaworks is a PC speaker system, it cannot be wired to your home theatre system without buying a standalone Creative DDTS-100 decoder. Apparently, Creative has stopped producing DDTS-100. Your only choice if you want to hook up the Gigaworks to your shinny Plasma, Xbox, PS3, SkyHD, etc is either you buy a used DDTS-100 decoder from the ebay or get yourself an AV Receiver with a bit of manual rewiring work to the speaker system.

Creative DDTS-100 decoder is even more rare than pair of jeans crafted by Versace himself, so, be expected to pay a premium to buy one, even a used one from Ebay. If you are as frustrated as I do when trying to buy one from the internet, you may want to follow my footstep, that is to fork out an additional £50 - £80 on top of whatever the ebayer says the Creative DDTS-100 decoder is worth and get a complete audio/video connectivity all in one AV box. I am pleased I have gone for this route but regretted that I picked up an AV without all the bells and whistles, like HDMI upscaling functionality, etc. But that is another story to tell for tomorrow.

Conclusion is, if you only intend to hook your speaker to your PC, Gigaworks is almost too powerful. Games / Movies, Gigaworks really shine in these area, but is a bit weak for Music - too bassy, with all the higher frequencies sound almost entirely buried away by the powerful subwoofer. The choice is yours.
 

sharp910sh

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ok, i shall only be connecting just myt pc and my tv via white and red outputs. so if i want dts or dd couldnt i just get a sound card which decode it. hmmm as its going on ebay for like 150-200 pounds so i would end up spending a crazy amount of money on speakers.

yer my room is very small and i have/had some little 70 watt speakers and they were ok for films. so x10 that and getting 700 sounds crzy.

are the 2 extra speakers worth it the 7.1? does it ,make sound better. also does the speakers upmic 5.1 into 7.1? without the ddts box?
 

sharp910sh

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ah i see i really need the speakers now cant watch any films :(

you said its bloomy what about for films as really now i dont even listen to music in the house just on my archos player.

But could you helo me on this, i need a sound card which supports dts and dd decoding, what do you suggest the x-fi xtreme music looks good.

Also doe they upmix to 7.1? the speakers or the sound card