5.1 Sound Card & 4.1 Speaker System Need Advice

[Route44]

I got a new system to build and my sound card is an M-Audio Revolution 5.1. Now I am very ignorant when it comes to speaker set-ups and sound cards. The last time I had to set up speakers was a very inexpensive set of Altec Lansing (which surprisingly still work great) and an old Pentium 3 motherboard.

I have the opportunity to get a very nice 4.1 speaker system (four satellites and 1 sub-woofer). How different will this be to set up using a 5.1 sound card as compared to a 5.1 speaker system with a 5.1 sound card? Would you go with a 4.1 set-up or am I asking for problems?

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

nice choice of sound card, 4.1 needs to be positioned very accurately to be good, dialogue in movies come from the center channel that the 4.1 is missing so the center speaker's job is split up primarily among the 2 front speakers, what is the 4.1 you're looking at and what is the price? it might be worth it, but generally you should go with 5.1

[Route44]

nice choice of sound card, 4.1 needs to be positioned very accurately to be good, dialogue in movies come from the center channel that the 4.1 is missing so the center speaker's job is split up primarily among the 2 front speakers, what is the 4.1 you're looking at and what is the price? it might be worth it, but generally you should go with 5.1

R4, thanks so much for the reply. And, finally, someone who knows about M-Audio! People are always looking for alternatives to Creative, who makes some terrific cards themselves, yet seem to blind to other options. ZipZoomFly has a great deal on this card right now.

Anyway, someone over at FiringSquad.com said several people have bought off of JustDeals.com. They are refurbished but the people I talked to are more than happy with what they received and they claim it is highly reputable company. Here is the link to the speakers I am looking at:

http://store.yahoo.com/justdeals/gs9700550403.html


I searched online and this set got exceptional reviews,comparing them to Klipsch quality. It seems Logitech isn't making them anymore. I looked at the Logitech Z-530 5.1 but the sound quality isn't as good. Tell me your honest opinion. if I'm asking for trouble tell me and why.

By the way, do you recommend any 2.1 systems that won't exceed a $100.00 budget? I've been re-thinking this whole thing and my space and it's configurations isn't really suited for a 5.1 unless I did some fancy shuffling. Again, your honest feedback, please. Thanks.

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

i generally don't like logitech because of it's bloated bass, the only decent logitechs i heard were the z-340s (2.1) which had great clear satellites, i doubt any logitech speakers are anywhere near klipsch quality, i've sampled the x-530's and z5300e's and i couldn't say one good thing about them, it's tough trying to find good speakers for under $100, for 2.1 try to find a deal on Klipsch Promedia 2.1, if you really want surround on a budget i'd get the Altec Lansing ADA995's on ebay for $150 shipped, the Klipsch Promedia 2.0 are under $100 and sounds great but there wouldn't any powerful bass response, another option is to find a pair of bookshelf speakers on sale (sometimes the Polk Audio R15 pair sell for as little as $40 before shipping on outpost.com, but try finding ones with better efficiency) and the sonic impact t-amp which costs about $30 - this combo will sound better than any computer speaker package

m-audio really makes some awesome stuff and that dedicated headphone out is great, i think creative only started making truly good sounding cards with the x-fi, but the emu line was always excellent of course

[Route44]

R4, Im not sure what I'm going to do. I looked up Klipsch Promedia 2.1 but it is still out of my price range. I've got to make a decision soon. Thanks for the advice and help. Much appreciated.