Speakers Choice

[Tahir2]

What speakers setup should I get. The budget is about £75 ($100) max and the speakers need not be digital but must be 5.1 at least. I am looking for quality in the mid-range as well as some bass but loudness/volume is not much of a concern to me.

My current choices are:

Creative Labs Inspire 5.1 5300
Philips Acoustic A3.600
Videologic ZXR-500
Logitech Z640

 

[Tahir2]

Well I had to vote so I could see the results.. d'oh!

Currently I am inclined to get the Creative Inspire 5.1 5300 speaker system. Somebody talk me out of it before I hand over my cash

Philips Flat Panel..hmm maybe not.

 

[davefb]

i've got some videologic zr-500's. cost me £50 from scan. they're not exactly hi=fi but the sub is somewhat of a revelation . IE it's rather noisy for the neighbours..All in all i'd recommend em...

-dave-

got a sonic-fury card as well,, anything so creative-labs dont get any more of my money !!

 

[Ty]

No such thing as 'digital' speakers afaik. Just a marketing gimmick as all speakers output analog signals. It appeared on headphones shortly after CD players were making the rounds.

 

[Crusher]

Digital in terms of speakers usually means an optical connector instead of a phono jack, so the information is passed digitally to the speakers, not from the speakers, which saves some signal quality. It doesn't make a big difference, though, since you usually don't get much interference over the length of the speaker cable. It is more useful for connecting to a receiver where you eliminate a set of digital-analog-digital conversions.

 

[mat]

i have a Creative 5300 with a SB Life Player 5.1 and it sounds good enough for me.

 

[Tahir2]

Hmm seems like more people prefer the Videologic ZXR-500.. or it could be Kristof and his buddies rigging the vote.. just kidding keep ya beard on

 

[Ty]

Digital in terms of speakers usually means an optical connector instead of a phono jack, so the information is passed digitally to the speakers, not from the speakers, which saves some signal quality. It doesn't make a big difference, though, since you usually don't get much interference over the length of the speaker cable. It is more useful for connecting to a receiver where you eliminate a set of digital-analog-digital conversions.

I've never heard of digital connections to speakers. Doesn't that require some sort of DAC within the speaker then?

This via Toslink, Coax, what?

 

[Simon F]

Hmm seems like more people prefer the Videologic ZXR-500.. or it could be Kristof and his buddies rigging the vote.. just kidding keep ya beard on

I must admit I voted for the VL option, but I do have a VL Digitheatre DTS which I'm quite pleased with.

 

[Crusher]

I've never heard of digital connections to speakers. Doesn't that require some sort of DAC within the speaker then?

This via Toslink, Coax, what?

I didn't mean a digital connection to the speaker itself, but rather the "speaker system". I.e. that the stuff you take out of the box would connect to the digital port on your soundcard instead of the analog phono jack. For instance, the Klipsch 5.1 Digital Dream Multimedia System comes with a standalone digital decoder (DD-5.1 http://store.klipsch.com/details.asp?ProdID=8).

Oh, and I do recall seeing "digital" headphones now that I think about it, and yes, those are just marketing gimmicks.

 

[sir doris]

Yeah Digital speakers include a DTS or Dolby Digital Decoder and accept digital coax or digital optical output from the soundcard. This is then decoded to analogue and amplified in the box (usually the same box as the subwoofer) before being sent down the speaker cable to the speakers themselves. Only thing is i couldn't find anyone to tell me which sound cards output digital signals for anything but DVD's or Digital Audio I.E. games. Can u play games in Dolby Digital/ DTS or only in Pro Logic 5.1? from what i could gather only nForce audio can output game sounds digitally, so for all other soundcards if ur into playing games there is no advantage for a digital setup :?

NEWay I have VideoLogic ZXR-500 with Acoustic Edge and am very happy with them, Q sound is very good.

 

[Tahir2]

I bought an Acoustic Edge Retail and got some games with it too.

Initial impressions, driver CD sucks.. Power DVD 3.0 is so out of date it isnt even funny... cables supplied are neato. Drivers CD would not let me install drivers for XP so downloaded. Q Sound is great.. hardware acceleration costs a little bit of CPU power (a little bit translated means a lot). Best sound I ever heard from my PC (not saying much).

Speakers me is getting... = Inspire 5.1 5300. Can get them like 30% less than the VLogic ZXR-500 and heard them at a mates house - they sound infinitely better than my current setup (quad surround FPS1600).