Soundcard for 2.1 Music only

If you have 2.1 speakers, just stick with the onboard sound, which supports up to 5.1. You won't notice any diffrence with a soundcard whatsoever.

Cheapest I could find was a 7.1 (a PCI card can run as little as $8)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102016
$46 PCI Express (7.1 Creative OEM)

There were NO 5.1, or lower sound cards with a PCI-X interface.

You lose some fidelity listening to mp3's, which is a highly compressed format. Look into the other formats available to you with the software and/or download services you are using.

Forgive me, I've not read all of the preceding posts.

While the Klipsch ProMedia are respectable PC speakers, they are indeed PC speakers. ...which means means as good as they might seem, they leave something to be desired, and I've auditioned them on multiple occasions. However, that doesn't mean that they can't audibly render sound from something better than that included with a motherboard.

I would not recommend sticking with onboard sound for the following reasons:

* Limited to no isolation from any noise caused by other onboard components
* Lower THD and S/N ratio than you typically will find with discrete audio cards

Those two factors can affect sound quality notably, even on sound rendered to PC speakers.

However, you're not going to find much, IMO, for $50 to write home about and its doubtful you'd find anything better than onboard audio. There are a few exceptions, including http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102016 .

If you were to get that Creative card and disable all audio DSP you'd likely still have better sound than the Klipsch ProMedia's could faithfully reproduce.

Even though you may have a card that is capable of 7.1 sound doesn't mean you only get your money's worth by using 7.1 channels.

Finally, unless your MP3s are encoded at 256bps or better there shouldn't be too much difference in how they're rendered by various sound cards, especially on PC speakers.

Around your price range I would say also consider this to feed your ProMedia's:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102009

It'd do the job cleanly and its external though just a bit above your stated budget, I think you can find them on sale at some places for less than $70.

Thanks halcyon for the thoughtful reply. I agree with everything you said about Klipsch. I know they have limitations. I might change those later. I am looking at buying Bose Companion (under $100) or M-Audio AV-40 ($200). I have auditioned both and I like the price on the former and the sound on the latter. But for M-Audio's $200, I can probably get a pair of bookshelf speakers AND a stereo receiver.

But I know these Klipsch are capable of reproducing more than what I am driving them with. Especially after hearing the difference between previous mobo audio and the current mobo audio.

At this point, your second option (USB Interface XMOD) seems the best bet for me. For one, being USB it will bypass the noise from inside the case and for another, my PCI slot problem will be solved. Hopefully a local store will have it so I can try it and keep it only if I like it.

I'd been using the Logitech Z-5500's driven by an X-Fi Elite Pro. Not bad sound and I used that for nearly 2 years. Folks on this forum kept recommending to get a pair of bookshelves and a receiver, but I would never invest the money, just figuring the Z-5500's were pretty decent.

I've recently switched to a pair of Definitive Technology ProMonitor 800 bookshelves ( http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] 0678281548 ) and a Polk PSW111 subwoofer ( http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] 7352528997 ) and a Yamaha V363 receiver ( http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] 1307759894 ), still fed by the X-Fi via a Monster iCable ( http://www.monstercable.com/produc [...] p?pin=4932 ).

Its quite a difference, and though it was more expensive then my Z-5500's I'm happy with the results. The stereo imaging, highs, mid-range, mid-bass and bass are in a completely different class...but obviously at a cost. The Z-5500's did offer more low sub-bass "radiation" (I like to call it that though I know better), the kind that surely would kill the bacteria on the walls..but it was much looser and less controlled. The bass now is much tighter...faster. I love the sound. This setup is still considered "low-end" but it sounds better than the Z-5500's to me. My Wife now has the Z-5500's in a 2.1 configuration, quite an upgrade for her.

Further, about a month ago I'd tried to improve upon my sound card. Again, I use an X-Fi Elite Pro. So I tried the Asus Xonar and Auzentech Prelude. While both sounded very nice I could hear nothing that was worth the cost to upgrade and I prefer the X-Fi's driver set in Vista 64.

If and when you can go with bookshelves, a sub, and a receiver...I'd highly recommend it.

I've seen that a lot lately, its newer than the X-mod and it costs less. I'd check these reviews in considering: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102020