Are Good Speaker Systems No Longer in Demand?

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Hello!

Years ago (i'm talking possibly 4 here) I bought a Creative iTrigue 5600, 5.1 surround sound set, around ?150 from amazon. Since then, I have realised how much I adore good sound. I use the system connected to my PC mostly which plays all myu music great but I was thinking about getting another set for my bedroom.

The Logitech Z550 system seems to be the only expensive one out there at the moment. I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me, it has given it a good balance, but seriously, are high performance systems not in demand anymore?

Thanks

[mokthraka]

Hello!

Years ago (i'm talking possibly 4 here) I bought a Creative iTrigue 5600, 5.1 surround sound set, around ?150 from amazon. Since then, I have realised how much I adore good sound. I use the system connected to my PC mostly which plays all myu music great but I was thinking about getting another set for my bedroom.

The Logitech Z550 system seems to be the only expensive one out there at the moment. I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me, it has given it a good balance, but seriously, are high performance systems not in demand anymore?

Thanks

or prices are going down? since when did expensive= good?

those logitech speakers are aesome I dont know why you wouldnt just get those

if you want really nice speakers your not going to find them online most likley you will find them in audio shops that specialize in that

[MochiFX]

there are more brands out there that you'll get the bang for your buck

ps. this is juse a matter of opinion, sometimes i see people just limiting themselves to either logitech/creative hardware :|

[shakey_snake]

Allow me to be a snob here: You call Creative speakers "high performance"? Ha. :)

I guess it all depends on what you are after but I think with the proliferation of cheap (and equally as low quality) HTiBs recently, the multi-satellite, cheap PC speaker market is drying up.

[SYBINX]

You cannot go wrong with Gigaworks or Creative Labs for speaker, although for a quick buck Logitech are pretty good although if you want clarity and perfect sound the Creative T40 Series II speaker are the best.

[mokthraka]

No offense but the Logitech Z550 are better then those creative

not to mention the fact 1 is 5.1 and the other is 2.0 and he clearly stated

I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me,

[stevember]

Hello!

Years ago (i'm talking possibly 4 here) I bought a Creative iTrigue 5600, 5.1 surround sound set, around ?150 from amazon. Since then, I have realised how much I adore good sound. I use the system connected to my PC mostly which plays all myu music great but I was thinking about getting another set for my bedroom.

The Logitech Z550 system seems to be the only expensive one out there at the moment. I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me, it has given it a good balance, but seriously, are high performance systems not in demand anymore?

Thanks

How can somebody say that they appreciate good sounding music and listen to it through a 5.1 system?

Music was never designed to be pumped out from all angles, have you ever been to a concert? Where does the music come from?

If you are serious about listening to music you should not be listening through 5.1 or 7.1. Have you not ever thought why when you spend thousands of pounds on a good stereo they will never come with 5.1.

I have a set of audio engine A5 I also have sub S8 if you are serious about listening to music I highly suggest you consider a good pair of 2.1. That are designed to do the job.

http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/Product_r...eries/index.asp

or

http://www.audioengineusa.com/a5_home.php

Spend five minutes reading some reviews on those two sets of speakers.

I ditched my Z550's I am so pleased that I did, also bear in mind there is such a thing as DTS, your movies and your games will still sound awesome.

Edited June 8, 2009 by stevember

[mokthraka]

How can somebody say that they appreciate good sounding music and listen to it through a 5.1 system?

Music was never designed to be pumped out from all angles, have you ever been to a concert? Where does the music come from?

If you are serious about listening to music you should not be listening through 5.1 or 7.1. Have you not ever thought why when you spend thousands of pounds on a good stereo they will never come with 5.1.

I have a set of audio engine A5 I also have sub S8 if you are serious about listening to music I highly suggest you consider a good pair of 2.1. That are designed to do the job.

I ditched my Z550's I am so pleased that I did, also bear in mind there is such a thing as DTS, your movies and your games will still sound awesome.

why are you pleased? I have listend to music on the Z550's and I like it

what exactly is DTS though?

[ahhell]

No offense but the Logitech Z550 are better then those creative

not to mention the fact 1 is 5.1 and the other is 2.0 and he clearly stated

I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me,

Uh...most music isn't recorded with surround in mind so piping it through a multispeaker system sounds like crap.

[mokthraka]

Uh...most music isn't recorded with surround in mind so piping it through a multispeaker system sounds like crap.

yes but that dosent matter does it I am talking about for the OP

he clearly stated

. I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me,

so regardless of the fact it isnt met to he still wants it to be

its his personal prefrence while I must agree it sounds better in 2.0 but I play games more so yeah :p

[stevember]

why are you pleased? I have listend to music on the Z550's and I like it

what exactly is DTS though?

DTS is a way you can watch 5.1 movies and games and listen to them through a 2.1 system.

http://www.dts.com/

I have edited my post above with some links, if you want seriously good music spend a little time reading the reviews.

You asked me why am I pleased I got rid of my 5.1, because I love music and there is no comparison.

You will never see a good stereo with 5.1 speakers for a reason think about it.

I am pointing this out although you said you only wanted 5.1, because I used to think the same. And it was pointed out to me in the same way I am just thankful that it was.

Edited June 8, 2009 by stevember

[mokthraka]

I might get those A5 speakers though from the sounds of they are REALLY good

and the company offers good CS it sounds lie

[ahhell]

You will never see a good stereo with 5.1 speakers for a reason think about it.

That's not true either. You can buy lots of higher end 5.1/7.1 speakers sets, it's the amp they are hooked to that matters. Most amps have a music setting that pipes out only 2.1 audio.

[mokthraka]

man that DTS thing is confusing

besides the A5 speakers would you recommend other speakers?

[Ambroos]

For music you should never use surround-ish things. Maybe 4 or 6 speakers but never 5 or 7. The center channel completely screws up the stereo effect.

[bdsams Veteran]

For music you should never use surround-ish things. Maybe 4 or 6 speakers but never 5 or 7. The center channel completely screws up the stereo effect.

agreed, i wish that more people knew this...5.1 great for video games, movies and tv, not so good for music

[stevember]

That's not true either. You can buy lots of higher end 5.1/7.1 speakers sets, it's the amp they are hooked to that matters. Most amps have a music setting that pipes out only 2.1 audio.

I am talking about hi-fi units that are designed for music, you will not spend ?5000 or $10,000 and get a unit that is designed to play music come with 5.1 speakers.

Granted most amps, and most areas will allow 5.1 connection or throughput, simply because people use them home entertainment systems as well.

man that DTS thing is confusing

besides the A5 speakers would you recommend other speakers?

You are very limited because it is the PC you need to have powered speakers.

The acoustic energy speakers http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/Product_r...eries/index.asp are substantially cheaper. They are still amazing quality. If someone took away my current A5's and I couldn't afford to replace them I would go with the link I just provided you. They retail around ?100/$150.

[goji]

Allow me to be a snob here: You call Creative speakers "high performance"? Ha. :)

I guess it all depends on what you are after but I think with the proliferation of cheap (and equally as low quality) HTiBs recently, the multi-satellite, cheap PC speaker market is drying up.

So true.

How dare I not comment on this :p

The pervasiveness of the "must have" mentality has helped further stratify the hi-fi and lo-fi audio communities/industry while blurring if not destroying the realization of what is truly hi-fi. (don't get me started on the misnomer that is "HD") When a person who purchases a huge Sony quad-sub jumbo XL Mega stereo set that has all copper cones and 5000k watts think that all of a sudden they are playing in the big league we have a problem. O btw, said unit would be about $300 at Best Buy; you know which one I'm talking about.

For music you should never use surround-ish things. Maybe 4 or 6 speakers but never 5 or 7. The center channel completely screws up the stereo effect.

Sure you can, if its a surround sound mixed signal, and a matter of personal preference. But even then, there is the argument between dipole and bipole speakers, one of which is better suited for HT setups and the other for a more musical environment. So its not just a matter of a numerical speaker configuration of which is better that the other. That's to simple.

[Laurë Veteran]

I agree with people suggesting you go for a 2 or 2.1 set up rather than 5.1 or 7.1 if music is your main use for them.

For that ?250 you could for example get a pair of Diamond 9.1 Wharfdales and a Cambridge Audio A1 (which is what we have in our living room).

We came from an excellent 2.1 Creative set up and I have some very good 2.1 JBL speakers; they are good for gaming and casual background music but the Wharfdales & Cambridge amp blow them out of the water for getting the fill-the-room spine-tingling can't-concentrate-on-anything-else sound. Such a system might be a bit much for your bedroom, but I really do think that it's worth considering if you are spending more than ?100.

[starburst1980]

How can somebody say that they appreciate good sounding music and listen to it through a 5.1 system?

Music was never designed to be pumped out from all angles, have you ever been to a concert? Where does the music come from?

It comes from all angles:

2 big high powered speakers where the artist is, the crowd in front of the artist and behind/sides of the crowd there are a few speakers as well.....

[Napalm Frog]

besides the A5 speakers would you recommend other speakers?

The Swan M200MkII or, if on a stricter budget, the M-Audio AV40 are awesome (that's what I sport). For simplicity's sake, active speakers are your best bet. Going passive with an amp/receiver can be a pain for a lot of non-audiophiles.

[Laurë Veteran]

You don't need your music to replicate a concert.. or dance hall .. or night club .. it's whatever sounds good to you.

I realised I didn't really answer the OP's question too well. The 2.1 set up I bought recently was only ?70, very very good for the price and usage. I think that 5.1 and 7.1 set ups are now family living room & DVD player fodder and not really focused on musical quality. I would guess prices have come down to the extent that they are now a cheap add-on that everyone has, instead of the extra special thing they seemed to be 4 years ago. If you want really really good ones, then you'd probably have to part with more ???.

[Comic Book Guy]

Hello!

Years ago (i'm talking possibly 4 here) I bought a Creative iTrigue 5600, 5.1 surround sound set, around ?150 from amazon. Since then, I have realised how much I adore good sound. I use the system connected to my PC mostly which plays all myu music great but I was thinking about getting another set for my bedroom.

The Logitech Z550 system seems to be the only expensive one out there at the moment. I will only be interested in 5.1 or 7.1 as I like music coming from all angles as to me, it has given it a good balance, but seriously, are high performance systems not in demand anymore?

Thanks

I would suggest checking out the Edifier S750, unfortunately their new site is bugged and is missing some of the products, so you may have to look for the information on the aforementioned speakers elsewhere.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

OoOo, sorry, I didn't expect such a stack of replies!

I went from some cheap pc speakers, two of them, to my iTrigue set, so the jump was amazing. I don't know too much about sound and how it works, but the one thing I have noticed is how 2 speaker sets always look a lot nicer. Those Audioengine 5 look great - the wood ones are awesome sleek looking!

I guess though this is my answer, 5.1 sets are fading out because dedicated home theatre systems are taking over or decent 2-speaker sets are providing quality musical experiences. This is the most important fact I want out of the new set, is quality of sound. That's why I don't mind spending around ?200 if I know the set will be worth it - even for my bedroom which would see little use compared with my PC.

I'll take a good read of the DTS stuff, but perhaps I was wrong in my conclusion that 5.1/7.1 sets were as good as 2-speaker sets.

I also guess this unit is what i can connect the speakers to and my musical device to make it all work together? Sorry if that seems a really medeocre way of putting it but I have never had seperate speakers and input devices before, I have always had a few jacks to plug in and I am away:))

But then perhaps I would buy some new ones for my PC and use the 5.1's for the TV for watching movies. But then I have a 5.1 motherboard so would want to take advantage of that too! lol

Thanks for the recommendations - the A5's still look sexy:pp

I still want to be surrounded by music though, like I am drowning in sound - I like that.

Edited June 8, 2009 by Mr Spoon

[mokthraka]

The Swan M200MkII or, if on a stricter budget, the M-Audio AV40 are awesome (that's what I sport). For simplicity's sake, active speakers are your best bet. Going passive with an amp/receiver can be a pain for a lot of non-audiophiles.

:p I think I will ask my friend before I buy any thing I confused as hell he is good all this stuff