I really dont understand the point of high end computer speakers

[nealric]

Why do they make computer speakers in the $300-600 range? The ones ive seen sound awful compared to real ht speakers which just as easily hook up to a computer.

 

[HotKoala]

Possibly because a decent speaker alone costs $1200. Much less a whole set.

Just trying to feed the market that wants better than a $200 creative 5.1 set but don't have the money for a hifi setup. I personally haven't seen too many of these. None in consumer stores(CC, BB, CompUSA) anyways.

Reminds me of 4200 4400 and 4600 of the GF4 series. Either go low or high. Hardly anyone bought the one in the middle.

 

[nealric]

Possibly because a decent speaker alone costs $1200. Much less a whole set.

Not really-
My klh 12s + audio source sub cost 225 COMBINED the reciever was $100. Rear speakers $40 Front $20. Total= less than 400. Even that set up makes computer spakers look like toys.

 

[Mr. Chambers]

for people who want a set, instead of going out and buying separate reciever/speakers/sub. also they're great bang for the buck, at least the z-560's are... 160shipped.. you cant really beat that with anything that you just put together yourself...

 

[mook]

In regards to HotKoala...he's right. A good speaker system runs 1200+ a speaker.

I've got mine wired up to a 20k home theater. Guess how badass it sounds running UT2k3?

Little FYI....everyones ears are different in that regards. Some people live with cheap speakers. Some people invest a few hundred dollars in good computer speakers. Some wire it up to a basic stereo. Then there's us audiophiles who could care less

To each their own

 

[HotKoala]

Little FYI....everyones ears are different in that regards. Some people live with cheap speakers. Some people invest a few hundred dollars in good computer speakers. Some wire it up to a basic stereo. Then there's us audiophiles who could care less

To each their own

No kid--

My ex said her compaq unpowered speakers sounded the exact same as my set of B&W 604's. I nearly died. Mebbe some ppl listen to musique way too loud and kill their ears.

NOBODY touches the bass settings in my car. I swear kids nowadays care more for that "thudthudthud" than the actual melody..

 

[mook]

Pretty much...I used to work retail a while back, and did the car audio thing.

I was more into SQ (Sound quality) setups than DB (blow out windshield and eardrums) systems.

Anyone can get subwoofers together and blow out windows. Try designing a system that you could turn up full blast and have it sound crystal clear

As for your ex....not to be prejudicial....but you find very few women that appreciate a good sound when it comes to music. As long as there's no static and they can hear it, they're happy.

B&W.....some very nice stuff.....I got spoiled working at my last job...here's my setup:

B&K Reference 30 Preamp
B&K Reference 7270 7-channel amp
(5) M&K S-150THX Surround speakers (Typical 5.1)
Martin Logan Aerius's
M&K MX5000MKII subwoofer

All attached to a cd player, a dvd player, and my computer

It's an addicting hobby, isn't it?

 

[Wicked Klown]

Well to tell you the truth. You can get a good set-up for less then 1200 a speaker. All you do is get car audio speaker and amps. Run the amps of the sound card and such. I remember when I hooked my Phoenix Gold up to my sound sound for my TV. Man I could here every little thing.

 

[Hookem]

I have my computer in office. So to me the logical thing to do was buy the Klipsch Pro-Media 5.1's. They sound great, do not take up a bunch of room or desktop. They dont sound like the Polk Audio speakers and Denon reciever in the living room, but for gaming and listening to music while on the computer they work for me. I just cannot bring myself to move my computer into the living room. And believe me for the 350 bones I paid for the Klipsch's, I find it hard to believe that for that little ole change I could have purchased a reciever and five speakers and a sub that could even begin to sound like the Klipsch's. And besides even with the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum soundcard hooked up to the stuff in the living room, it aint even close to sounding like the audio or surround stuff running on it's own.

 

[Pinky]

I push Sony home audio products, best bang for buck (I did my homework here, have a little faith, k? ). For under $600 a year ago I got a sweet 5.1/DTS surround system which is now attached to my PC and kicks some serious booty.

This whole business with home stereo's costing too much or taking up too much space is hogwash, you can't get a big stereo sound from 4-5 satellites and a subwoofer. You need mids and woofers in the front speakers, it doesn;t sound right without them.

 

[tseongsun]

I am not an audiophile like hotkoala or mook so forgive my ignorance. Today in Fry's they have Sony 450 Watt Dolby Digital theater system for $299 (I have seen it as low as 250).

What would be the advantages of say a Klipsch 5.1 setup ($499) or the Logitech Z680 ($399) setup over the Sony setup?

 

[Benolan]

I've got mine wired up to a 20k home theater. Guess how badass it sounds running UT2k3?

Wow.. the next time my wife mentions how much my $1700 Bose speakers and Sony receiver home theater cost I'm showing her that..

 

[asw7576]

Trust me..... it really sound good!!!
Spend around $200 to $300 max. And enjoy the quality of good speakers for casual music and games.

 

[EclipseJP]

Im real happy with my Klipsh 5.1's. They sound great and have lots of bass. I think it was worth the 400 dollars.

 

[HotKoala]

Anyone can get subwoofers together and blow out windows. Try designing a system that you could turn up full blast and have it sound crystal clear

As for your ex....not to be prejudicial....but you find very few women that appreciate a good sound when it comes to music. As long as there's no static and they can hear it, they're happy.

I'm the other way around. Have it quiet and still be able to hear everything without the "noise." Windows volume output at 50% and reciever output at -58dB. It's like continuous background musique coming from somewhere.

Habit from this other girl I used to date. She put the radio on really low, while talking in the car. It was low enough so that you kinda heard it unconsiously. But you could talk to eachother without having noise in the background and yet still enjoy the songs.

Yeah, it's addicting. And EXPENSIVE. I went from early PC unpowered, to $200-500 PC speaker sets -- all the way to real speakers.

 

[mook]

This whole business with home stereo's costing too much or taking up too much space is hogwash, you can't get a big stereo sound from 4-5 satellites and a subwoofer. You need mids and woofers in the front speakers, it doesn;t sound right without them.

True definition of perfect surround sound is to have a full-range speaker at every point, including a subwoofer.

Of course, when you have a subwoofer that diffuses bass so well that you can't tell where it's placed, it has somewhat of the same effect.

I couldn't justify taking up much of my space with 7 towers. I have 5 wall-mounted speakers and my Martin Logans for stereo listening. Wouldn't have it any other way

P.S. One benefit of having worked retail....I sure didn't SPEND 20k for this system *cough employee accomodations*

 

[HotKoala]

What would be the advantages of say a Klipsch 5.1 setup ($499) or the Logitech Z680 ($399) setup over the Sony setup?

Well, besides the fact that it's all bundled there for you?

With a seperate setup -- receiver, amp, fronts, rears, centres, et-c -- you can pick your own. Usually of the same brand so that they have the same "sound" or response.

Reciever isn't half as important as the speakers. The speaker is where you hear the sound. Any half decent receiver can go with good speakers and still have it sound nice. High end receiver and "bleh" speakers won't get you anywhere.

 

[mook]

Ok, that I will argue.

Receivers are just as/if not more important than the speakers you buy. Any speaker can sound good with good wire + a decent source driving it. To make a good speaker sound like it should through a *cough* Sony receiver is a different ball game.

If you ever get bored enough to look, take a peek at how Sony rates their cheap receivers, and then go look at a Denon, or Yamaha, or whatnot. You'll see this:

Sony....100w per channel, 1khz, 0.8% THD
Denon.....70w per channel, 20-20k, 0.3% THD

And so forth....

Sony gets away with murder, and people still love em. Ever wonder why Sony rates their entry-level receivers at just one frequency? Take a guess at the power dropoff when it tries to reproduce a 30hz bass note or a 18k high.

Can you tell I'm not a big fan of Sony?

 

[HotKoala]

Dunno, for the budget?

Even my polk audio *something* speakers(highly overrated brand...like bose, early days of getting into audio were fun=P) sound ok when connected to one of those cambridge 5.1 receivers whereas cambridge's own cardboard satelites are pretty much worthless.

Sony and Quality don't belong in the same sentence. Occasionally they do rebadge decent hardware, but hardly.

 

[mook]

For the budget, I'd do something like a Denon AVR-1403 or 1603 (huge Denon fan, great bang for the buck) for under 300 bucks, and build speakers around that.

Given, it will be more expensive than say, the Z-680's or the Klipsch Promedia's, but you gain versatility as a trade-off.

There's a balance in there somewhere, ya just gotta find it, budget permitting.

As for Sony, the only piece of hardware I own from them is their multi-channel SACD player. I haven't found anything better....yet

P.S. Polk Audio isn't bad by any means....as for Bose...well...hehe...you know the saying. "All highs, no lows, must be Bose."