Newbie - 2.1 vs 5.1 ???

[JohnnyTheRed]

I'm looking to get a new sound card and speakers. But I'm on a budget, and I don't need these to be incredible. I took a look at sound cards and was going to get an Audigy2 from BestBuy. But now my question is, would I be better off getting higher priced 2.1 speakers? Or 5.1 speakers, for the same price? I mainly use them fro music, but I watch movies often enough.

It looks to me like the 2.1's have higher ratings, than their 5.1 counterparts (in the same price range). But the 5.1 setups have higher ratings as a whole unit. So I'm not sure which one is better. Or maybe it's just a judgement call. (Also, a 5.1 sound card is compatible with 4.1speakers, right?)

- Thanks a ton!

[stoopid]

Yes, the 4.1s are compatible with 5.1 sound cards (that's how I use my 4.1s).

Klipsch and Logitech make some of the better 2.1 and 4.1/5.1 speaker systems. I have the Logitech 4.1 z560s (I don't like the center channel technology). 400W RMS power. It thumps, and it's less than $200 nowadays. It becomes a matter of budget. I wanted surround but didn't want to drop $250+ on the Klipsch. If you're okay with no surround, I'd personally recommend (and have fully tested) the Klipsch promedia 2.1s and they are very nice for about $170. There are other makes/models now that are comparable in quality.

[BPM]

I love the sound of my Creative 4.1 system and I love it even more because it only cost $50. I'm very satisfied.

[JohnnyTheRed]

Having whittled down the list at Newegg to 5 sets of speakers, can I ask what people think of these:

Cyber Acoustics A3780 (2.1) - $85
Cyber Acoustics A3640 (2.1) - $65
Creative SBS450 (4.1) - $47
Logitech Z640 (5.1) - $65
Altec Lansing 251 (5.1) - $80

The A3780's have the highest rated satellites, sub, and total RMS. So if the 2.1 setup (with higher ratings) were recommended, I'd prolly throw in the extra $20 to get them over the A3640's.

But would a 4.1 or 5.1 setup sound/perform any better? I don't know how the difference would sound between 5.1/4.1 "surround" and 2.1. Do the effects of the "surround sound setup" make up for the lower ratings they have? Or is it better to get a higher rated 2.1 setup.

Again, it's mostly for music, and movies, but also some gaming.
(And these have been selected based on price, ratings, and performance - though maybe I ommited some which might be better, within the same price)

- Thanks again

[docwax]

i would go with the better rated 2.1 setup, especially if u wont use the surround sound feature much anyway.

[BPM]

As I stated before, I couldn't be happier w/my 4.1 Creative setup.

The surround works great when I'm playing BF 1942. I can actually hear stuff coming behind me and react accordingly. Its also great for music, etc. Plenty loud, and decent bass. I don't need anything too crazy though since I live in an apartment and if I just want to play loud music, I use my living room setup.

[stoopid]

In that lower price range you'll definitely get more for your money from a 2.1 setup than any gimmicky 9.1 10rms setups ;).

[emericanchaos]

ok time out. first of all there's quite a difference here. 5.1 means 5 full surround speakers plus subwoofer. you have to ask yourself if you have the room for that. that also means that 2.1 = two surrounds + 1 sub. so by simple logic you could deduce that a setup that gives you 6 speakers (5.1) costs the same as a setup that is 2.1 (3 speakers) it really makes you wonder about the quality of those 6 speaker kits. why would someone give you double the speakers for same the price? must be alot cheaper.

ok so that being said, think about how much space you have and if you have the room to place 5 speakers around a listening point plus a subwoofer. if you do i would look at a better 5.1 setup then something that's going to be under $100. there's some good stuff out there but you'd be wasting money on an audigy 2 if you got any of those lower end setups. it's like pavarotti capability but pouring through richard simmons' voice. no point in paying for audiophile quality on bargain speakers.

if you're looking for 2.1's the JBL creature speakers sound very nice. they look crazy which really kills them in my opinion but if you don't mind the looks they're prolly the best bang:buck 2.1's out there. if you want to go highend with 2.1's look at klipsch pro media's. i beleive they come in 2.1 they're not cheap but they are probably some of the best sounding PC speakers available. if you want a cheaper alternative i like the logitech Z 340's. i'm playin them right now. they don't have the best voice that's for sure. the speakers will crackle if i crank it to high and the subwoofer is to active for me at almost any volume. i put it under my bed firing at the side panel of my desk to drown it out.

if you want 5.1's or greater. again the klipsch promedia's are awesome and for a price. in this upper echelon there's also the logitech z 680's which sound good in my opinion but are sorta iffy because of build quality problems. alot of people have had bad speakers shipped to them even after RMA'd. don't know if that's been resolved. really any of the $180>= units are going to be great sounding even at high volume.

if you're serious about getting good sound from the computer throw all that away and work on a home theatre setup. it'll cost money but it's more of an investment then just some nice speakers. absolute best way to get good sound from an audigy2 or M-audio card.

i use a revolution. i demo my sound card alot, people actually ask me to "do that thing". "that thing" is turning all the volume settings up in windows then turning the amp all the way up and just leave it. the soundcard puts out such a clean signal that even at this volume there's absolutely NO static coming from the system. at first people are like "yeah big deal" so i play 3 seconds of any song at that volume then stop it. then they realize exactly what's going on.

what i'm demonstrating is the signal to noise ratio (SNR). basically noise = static. when DSP's have to convert signals between analog digital optical etc., they introdue static because the signal isn't reconstructed perfectly. basically my home theatre emits no static at any volume.

that's the kind of quality you're talking about with an audigy2. the SNR is only 1 Dba lower. meaningless considering that the audigy2's SNR is rated at 106Dba vs 107 from the revolution. you don't want to cop out on cheap speakers, you'd be shooting yourself in the foot.

[BPM]

Don't forget the new 5.1 headphones that just came out :eek: ;) :D :cool:

[emericanchaos]

Originally posted by BPM
Don't forget the new 5.1 headphones that just came out :eek: ;) :D :cool:

i wouldn't take that for face value. those cans have 2 drivers. 5.1 is impossible. they may have some sort of surround feature, upsampling of some sort but they're def not 5.1. you don't even need surround in head phones. the source is so close to your ears that two good drivers and a decent sound card would be able to recreate the surround feeling. that's most likeyl what is going on.

[MuEagle05]

I sold my speakers on e-bay and got a pair of Grado SR-80 's for $100. The SR-60's you can get for like $60. I have yet to hear any speakers less than $3000 a piece nearly sound as good. Then again, you have to like headphones.

http://www.gradolabs.com/frameset_main.htm

[BPM]

From http://www.tomshardware.com/video/20030926/index.html

"Zalman's first audio product is a 5.1 headphone that is sure to elicit a positive response from the gaming community. To win over home cinema enthusiasts, however, the company needs to further improve the product's sound quality. The quality of the rear effects channels and the center channel (which should be more dominant) is inferior to that of a normal multi-channel speaker system. "

Looks like the technology has room for improvement before it competes with a true speaker setup.

[nblankenburg]

The A3780's have the highest rated satellites, sub, and total RMS. So if the 2.1 setup (with higher ratings) were recommended, I'd prolly throw in the extra $20 to get them over the A3640's.

Let me start by saying that I am the definition of an audiophile. When it comes to sound and music, I am exacting. Check your dictionary, my photo is probably next to the the definition:)

Anyways, I would have to strongly agree with the above statement. I turned in my monsoon 2.1 system for the a3780's, and so far I have been very impressed. The bass response has been tight and accurate as far as I have pushed it, which is far enough to make the mirror in the bathroom rattle, without any distortion. And the satellites do a very good job of putting out the middle and high ranges. They chose to use a more traditional speaker design instead of the flat-panel design that is more and more popular recently. And by doing this, and using separate midrange and tweeters, as far as I can tell the sound reproduced is outstanding. And, although it's subwoofer is two inches smaller (8 inch) than the a3640 (10 inch), the extra quality of the driver as well as the added power makes a huge difference and in my opinion is well worth the extra $20.

So if you're looking for a system that plays mostly music, then I would highly recommend these speakers. I must point out though that I have not yet ever wanted surround sound for watching DVDs on my computer. So if you truly want the surround sound option, disregard my suggestion.

Good luck, and happy listening!