Author Topic: Best Speakers  (Read 1922 times)

Offline Oprime

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Best Speakers
« on: August 18, 2005, 02:03:55 PM »
I'm looking on replacing the base speaker on my computers 5.1 speaker system. What would be the best 5in speaker I can buy? BTW the price is not a problem  :whistle: . My bro is a DJ and has 15kw of experience lol if you know what I mean (1 of his speakers is bigger then my head and is in a 3x3 box o.o;;). But, before asking him I would like to hear your guy’s experiences with speakers.  
CPU: AMD Phenom II 940BE
RAM: Patriot Viper 4GB (2GB x2) DDR2 1066Mhz
Motherboard: MSI K9A2 Platinum
Case: Thermaltake Armor Plus+
Power Supply: Themermatake ToughPower 1200Watt PSU
Hard Drive: Fujitsu 15k SAS SCSI 74GB/148GB Raid 0 @ 189MBps
Moniter: LG Flatron 20.1in Widescreen LCD 8ms 1400:1 Contrast ratio w/ F engine
GFX Card: 4 ATI Radeon 4870 1GB GDDR5 CrossFireX
DVD Burners: 2x SONY DVD-RW
Speakers[/b] Logitech Z-5500 505Watt 5.1 Surround
CPU Heatsink[/b]ZeroTerm NV120
OS[/b]Windows Vista Home Premium x64
:P I'm a Hardware freak ><

Offline BlackBox

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Best Speakers
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2005, 06:52:57 PM »
Well, a company I would definitely go with if you want to spend money is Bose. They make some of the best speakers in the industry. (www.bose.com)

Go with one of their systems. I have a Bose Companion system connected to my computer, and its great. (costs about 250 bucks for 2 satellites and a woofer, not bad considering I got it for free)

We used to have Bose 901's in our old house and those were awesome speakers (2 channel only but it sounds like surround). (Those are expensive buggers though, its at least $900 for 2 speakers, and each of the speakers must weigh 30+ lbs)

They arent exactly 'blow your next door neighbors out' speakers from Bose but they have some of the most life like reproduction I've ever seen.

You might be able to buy just the woofer but you might need their special EQ to connect it to your system.
Also, they use old tech connections (only analog), which is fine for me (my soundcard has no digital out) but if that's something you want, then forget about Bose. (Well maybe a few of their systems might have digital in, but mine sure doesnt)

That's my speaker experiences. I'm sure there's other speakers out there that are great too.

Offline Mez

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« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2005, 06:05:49 PM »
Are you nuts hacker? Bose?

oprime i assume that you mean bass speaker  (the woofer)
and i dont have experience with them.

if you are looking for main speakers
then spend as much as you can on B & W's or Mission's or Royds or KEF's or JM lab  etc the list goes on.  basically for good speakers you need to sound test them your self.  if you are looking for something directly powered from your pc then you choice is limited.

however if you get an amp and use the line outs from you pc then you have endless choices.

my family use ebay for speakers (not s*** ones) really good ones for 2/3rds of the price.
or if ur prepared go to a hi-fi shop, book a listening test for speakers, give them a budgetetc and they will try to match what you are looking for with a few options etc and they will let you test them.

the best test is your own ears, not a review.

As your brother is a DJ im sure he can direct you to good speakers and even test them for/with you.

but the big options is to get an amp (5.1. amp or a normal stereo one) and some decnet speakers or to go with the all in one type stuff (not always the best)

thats my opinion but bose? god what were u thinking hacker, they are digital s***, you want decent analogue ones

Offline Freeza-CII

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« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2005, 08:03:06 PM »
Bose really isnt a good speaker its the Boxes there in that enhance the speakers.  personlly i would go with the biggest damn sub woofer you can find.

Offline leeor_net

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« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2005, 12:10:39 AM »
I've had a lot of experience with all sorts of brands, makes and models of speakers through my 16+ years of computer work... and thus far, Altec Lansing is one of the highest quality speakers you can get at a reasonable price. I highly recommed an Altech Lansing system.

Of course, if you're looking for just the woofer, you're better off running into a Radio Shack and building your own woofer. Just get the woofer parts, a Speaker housing and some sort of insulating material (actually, fiberglass ceiling insulation works well), slap it all together and you've got yourself a system.

Offline selfdestruct

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« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2005, 10:14:08 PM »
no no two words audigy 2 and altec lancing speakers that is my setup and i love it for games, music, video its perfect
OUTPOST OBSESSION IS CONTAGIOUS

Offline BlackBox

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« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2005, 09:25:41 AM »
mm, I don't know about altec lansing...

My experience with them has been mediocre... Let's see, the on/off toggle broke on them, so I had to rip the speakers apart, and I soldered in a sliding toggle instead of the pushbutton it had....Just a pain to work with.

And they sound like tin cans. (However, I am the type of person who can tell the difference between a 128kbps and 192kbps mp3 file though, and tell you that the 128 sounds like crap, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me. :heh: )

Quote
thats my opinion but bose? god what were u thinking hacker, they are digital s***, you want decent analogue ones

Reread my post. They use analog connections.. And just so you know, digital connections are a lot better than analog connections... (Take a hint: a dialup modem is analog. You lose sound quality with analog connections, and it's possible to introduce 'hum' into the line quite easily.) There's really no such thing as "digital speakers" since the speaker driver and cone of course need a digital signal (this is after the amplifier stage though).

You want the highest quality connection to go from the PC to the amp / woofer module, so you'd use digital.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2005, 09:31:56 AM by op2hacker »

Offline Leviathan

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« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2005, 10:55:12 AM »
I also need some help with speakers as i plan on buying a good set for my computer, my new mobo has on board sound and a special sound port. I dont have to use a sound card. i think the port is a SPIF or somthin, ill have to find out.

Offline Mez

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« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2005, 11:04:57 AM »
if u use spif then u can get a completly external amplifier + speakers

this is then highly upgradable. however it will use up some cpu time if it is onboard.

or u can use the sound card to do the pre-amp inside the pc its self and get sum decent pc speakers.

or if u already got an amp use the line out and connect up 2 ur hi-fi
« Last Edit: September 02, 2005, 11:06:21 AM by mezza »