What is the is the best P.C. Speaker Set as of current?

[minun]

I have the ASUS Xonar Essence STX Sound Card and I want to make use of it. My main reason is for video gaming, I want the best sound for video gaming.

I am interested and WANT TO get a 7.1 P.C. Speaker Set, that is exactly why I want the Creative Gigaworks S750, but they seem to be discontinued everywhere and I can not find any other 7.1 P.C. Speakers as good as that.

Does anybody know any other good 7.1 P.C. Speaker Set or a really good 5.1 one?

 

[davcon]

These are good if you have the dough!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120
If not these are surprisingly good for the money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121006
Have listened to both sets for numerous hours.

 

[astrallite]

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5300-7-1-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B003BEDQRG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277966150&sr=8-5

Better than the Gigaworks S750.

 

[philologos]

Your sound card is really best suited for two channel audio. Using it for 7.1 requires using digital out, I believe, which means all that wonderful circuitry in the STX is bypassed.

I would be looking at studio monitors and/or quality headphones. Check out brands like Swan, M-Audio, KRK, Genelec, etc. if you're interested.

 

[devren]

I have the ASUS Xonar Essence STX Sound Card and I want to make use of it. My main reason is for video gaming, I want the best sound for video gaming.

I am interested and WANT TO get a 7.1 P.C. Speaker Set, that is exactly why I want the Creative Gigaworks S750, but they seem to be discontinued everywhere and I can not find any other 7.1 P.C. Speakers as good as that.

Does anybody know any other good 7.1 P.C. Speaker Set or a really good 5.1 one?

If you have the money I recommend
Onkyo 9100
I have these speakers and they sound amazing, I use them for my pc, tv, ps3, and a bunch of other things.

 

[saaiello]

I can attest to the quality of the Z-5500 from Logitech I have had them for a few months maybe longer and they sound incredible. For the cost of these speakers is really not that much considering what you get for the money. IMO to get anything to sound better you are gonna be looking at spending at least 750 to $1000 for a set that could even come close to the sound of this system.

If you have the money I recommend
Onkyo 9100
I have these speakers and they sound amazing, I use them for my pc, tv, ps3, and a bunch of other things.

This setup will really defeat the purpose of your highend audio card since the Onkyo's DAC will do all the processing which isnt a bad thing but hell you have a $200+ sound card might as well use it to its potential.

 

[minun]

@astrallite I am looking for a set that is more friendly towards a P.C. set-up rather than a home theater, that is too much/big to match my computer area.

@philologas I already have my monitor, I won't be buying another one just for sound, but I do have headphones for sound, but I also want P.C. speaker set just for general usages when I do not want to wear the headphones. Could you elaborate on your first sentence?

I agree with SAAIELLO on the last sentence

 

[astrallite]

There are plenty of sets of Klipsch 5.1 Promedias on ebay.

Those Onkyo speakers are not big at all...they are only 3lbs/each. Typical passive bookshelf/stand-mount monitors monitors are 10-40lbs/each. Of course if you have a tiny desk that can barely hold your monitor I could see that being an issue.

 

[minun]

I have went through multiple reviews and it seems that Logitech Z-5500 is the top choice for pc video gaming, most reviews even compared it to the Klipsch Pro Media 5.1.

I belive I can going to go with the Z-5500 unless anyone else can recommend something 'better'.

Now, since I have my speakers set, my only other question is what type of connection should I use to connect to my P.C.? The only audio connection that I know is the standard 3.5mm jack since my current Yamaha speaker set is from years ago.

 

[Emperus]

The logitech Z-5500 is an excellent choice for gaming.. Although pairing it up with the Essence is out of understanding.. You should've got a D2X instead.. Although the Essence can output multi channel audio via digital, its ideally not meant for that.. May be you could get some quality headphones along with your speakers to properly utilize the cards true worth..

 

[astrallite]

Might as well return your Essence if your plain is to run them with the Z-5500s, complete waste of money. There are cheaper solutions that do the exact same thing: optical + Dolby Digital Live.

 

[minun]

Yup, I have quality headphones to go with them, but like I said, I do not want to wear the headphone EVERYTIME I use the computer, so I just want speakers for when I don't want them on.

Could you guys elaborate on why the speakers won't take advantage of the Essence, I get it but I don't fully understand why.

 

[astrallite]

Because using the digital out bypasses the sound cards processing. The sound quality between onboard and the essence stx will be the same since all they are doing is streaming 1s and 0s from the CPU.

 

[minun]

Ah I see.

But for me to further understand, Could you tell me what connections are 'Digital Out' and what connections would take advantage of the Essence Stx's processing power?

 

[philologos]

First of all, I'm sorry to have confused you about "monitors." I was talking about monitor speakers; they are called "monitors" because they are designed to sound best when they are close to your position (such as on a desk), just like video monitors are intended to be seen up close. They are sometimes labeled "studio" because they are often used for mixing audio.

Your STX has five external connections. Front L and Front R are RCA analog connections; they are for hooking up a left and right speaker for 2.0 audio. They can also be passed through a subwoofer for a 2.1 system. There's a 1/4 headphone jack (analog), and a 1/4 input jack often used for a microphone. Finally, there's a S/PDIF out (Sony/Philips Digital Interface), which has an RCA type connection that uses coaxial cable.

Your analog outputs will use the very good components in the STX that convert digital music to analog (all music must become analog at some point - sound is analog). Your digital output will use similar components in a receiver, or sometimes the subwoofer of a system like the Logitech Z-5500. Unless you use a high end receiver, those components will be of much better quality in the STX.

The STX is a rather niche sound card for audiophiles using high end headphones or speaker pair. If you're really looking for a 7.1 gaming sound card, you really choose poorly, I'm afraid. You should return if at all possible.

I would recommend a Creative X-Fi or ASUS D Series card.

edit:

Both analog and digital outputs will use the cards processor and potentially take some load off your CPU. However, with today's CPU's the effect is supposedly small. Creative's cards and ones based off their audio processors like the Auzentech's are really much better at boosting performance than ASUS cards.

 

[anonymousdude]

Do you have a maximum you're willing to spend as you could get much better speakers than the logitech's
I recommend that you take a look at this site particularly the first two on their list.

http://www.hometheatermag.com/buyersguides/speakers/

 

[astrallite]

Ah I see.

But for me to further understand, Could you tell me what connections are 'Digital Out' and what connections would take advantage of the Essence Stx's processing power?

The STX only has 3 outputs: digital coaxial, 3.5mm ( 1/8" ) stereo minijack (for headphones), RCA (for 2 channel stereo).

There is nothing for surround sound using the STX's DAC or DSP.

 

[MEgamer]

for 2.1 the best PC speakers out there are razer mako

if u want 2,1 that is better then u will have to invest in an amp and some passives.

 

[MEgamer]

...or you could invest in some studio/reference monitors.

but you will need a mixer if you want to connect them with ease.

 

[MEgamer]

i found most computer speakers to be utter crap. the creative, logitech, cyber acoustic, etc., all sound like cheap tweeters in tin cans. the 5.1 sound worse then the 2.1 systems. I have the Klipsch THX 2.1 set. http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-2-1-overview/

they sound like actual speakers and are built off the quintet system
http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/quintet-iii-overview/

but if you want the best sounding PC speakers
http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=4503

i had a pair of B&W stereo speakers. they have an excellent clean and natural sound.

the B&W and the Razer MAKO, comes real close, for the actual performace regarding the price, B&W wins in terms of sound quality, not that much better, but still you hear a noticable improvement, however bass cant extend as low as th MAKO, if money aint the problem, then id either go for the B&W or some reference monitors, with a gd mixer.

 

[astrallite]

For $500 you can do so much better than those B&W MM-1s. It's "okay" if you have extreme space requirements but I can't see myself ever listening to tiny speakers again. They strain extremely hard to to produce full range extension. A 3" driver can only do so much, and B&Ws obsession with kevlar doesn't help.

Those specs are pretty generous...38 Hz to 22 KHz. I wonder if that's like +/- 10 dB? I've got a pair of monitors weighing 80lbs that can't extend that low.

 

[anonymousdude]

I recommend the audioengine 2's if price is concern. The sound impressed me for their size and especially their price. $199 a pair just can't be beat. Just pair it with a sub and it will be pretty good.

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-2#overview

I agree with astrallite that spending that much money on such small speakers is somewhat wasteful. If space is an issue might as well go with a pair of headphones.

Also astrallite just curious what kind of speakers do you have?

 

[MEgamer]

the MAKOs are 40hz-18Khz (-/+ 2.5db)

the b&W might be within 3db idk..

my logitech speaker z-4 back in 2005 could hit down to 40 while going 2 times quiet, im sure the mm-1's could do a little better.

 

[astrallite]

I recommend the audioengine 2's if price is concern. The sound impressed me for their size and especially their price. $199 a pair just can't be beat. Just pair it with a sub and it will be pretty good.

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-2#overview

I agree with astrallite that spending that much money on such small speakers is somewhat wasteful. If space is an issue might as well go with a pair of headphones.

Also astrallite just curious what kind of speakers do you have?

The speakers in question are Usher Be-718 bookshelves. They weigh 38lbs each due to thick cabinets to reduce resonance (1.5" MDF). They've got a 1.25" beryllium tweeter and a 7" long throw woofers that weigh in at 12.2lbs.

They measure 48 Hz - 45 KHz, +/-3 dB, which is deeper than many floorstanders.

I've got them paired with a pair of Infinity Cascade 15s. Each of the subwoofers weighs 100lbs, and go down +/-3db at 32 Hz.

There is no way in hell any of those tiny PC speakers go any deeper than 70 Hz -3 dB. Here's what Razor Mako claims on their website: 25 Hz - 20,000 Hz (+/-2.5dB 40 Hz - 18,000 Hz), shipping weight 23lbs.

-_-

 

[MEgamer]

ive got them at home... and ye it hits down to 40 without to much change in volume... im sure most 8inches can hit down to 40hz without much deviations.

logitech z-2300 back in 2007 could hit to 50 b4 fallbbing down quietly.