Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 Speakers

For £350, I think I could have got something pretty decent, although it would have been s/h.
If your PC has an SPDIF digital output on the motherboard, I could have gone for:
- Meridian 203 DAC. My last one cost £90
- Linn Majik. Available for around £200 if you look hard
- £50 for an acceptable pair of Kef or Mission speakers, depending upon your prefs.

That lot would annihilate any computer based system I know of.
 
It's a DAC funnily enough :) Digital-to-Analogue converter. Takes digital sound from your PC and turns it into analogue sound to be fed into an analogue amp. The other option is to use the analogue output on your soundcard but the quality won't be quite the same. Your soundcard has a DAC on it, but a very cheap one.

It's the way my PC sound system is setup though, analogue out form an Audigy 2 ZS, into a Sonic Impact t-amp, then to Eltax Monitor 3 bookshelf speakers. However it's just for games and the odd MP3, for serious music listenning I have a proper hi-fi. It's surprisingly enjoyable to listen to though, especially given that the speakers are on a PC desk, which doesn't get the best out of them, and they're pretty cheap speakers to start with.

When you say your sub is at the same level as your head, do you mean it's on your desk? :eek: If it is, it should be on the floor, and preferably in a corner. There must be some way of doing that, the wires can't be that short.
 
I think you need to read some guides, before you even start to buy stuff. Pickup a copy of What Hi-Fi and Home Cinema Choice. There's guides on the net also.

You wouldn't be able to get a 5.1 HT system for £200 better than yours, but a £200 Hi-Fi will be a lot better (amplifier and speakers) Granted it won't be 5.1, but at that budget cost involved with a 5.1 system will be more than £200 for a quality system (and worthwhile upgrade over yours)

Here's a suitable system.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kef-Q15-2-spe...yZ112516QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/B-W-601-Speak...ryZ14993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROTEL-RA-820B...40QQihZ006QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NAD-C300-Inte...73QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NAD-stereo-am...95QQihZ020QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
it can be on the floor, but not in a corner, the nearest free corner to me is too far for the sub as the cable to the control centre, then to the sound card is too short, if i have it in the cornet near me i would have it 1.5ft away from the pc/hard drivers which would cause hell right?
Also, i would prefer to only go with Buy Now bids. i got an old computer, Pentium 4 3ghz, DFI Infinity 865pe, Ati Radeon 9600, i wonder if i could sell that for a good enough price towards some speakers? but it keeps shutting off due to faulty mobo, maybe get £100 for 3 ghz prescott pentium 4 and Arctice Freezer 4 Cooler?
 
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The sub is supposed to be on the floor. If there's no corner available just put it against a wall (not touching). 1.5 ft from the PC shouldn't cause problems.
 
ah, its just when i opened the z5500 box up there was a piece of paper saying becouse of the strong magnetic field it should be place 2ft away from all electrical equipment. someone told me it will fry my hard drive, my desk is at side of wall, my comp is in the corner on the desk, i move the desk so there is enough space for the sub, and the sub is really directly below the pc.
 
Forget about the sub for the moment, it will just eat up your budget. Sell the Z5500's on ebay or similar and get some cash back from them. If I were you I'd get some simple bookshelf speakers and a stereo amp. You could easily get both for £200.

Try www.richersounds.co.uk for some cheaper options. If you're ok with it, also look at second hand stuff as it is by far and away the best way to get quality gear. I bought my amp and CD player (don't get one if you don't need one) second hand and I just couldn't afford anything nearly as good at new prices.
 
i will have a look, but even tho i am slowely getting more annoyed with the z5500's i will keep them for games and thigns like that, but the Hi-Fi would be for music and maybe movies. i have about 50quid free at moment, but i think i got an EMA Bonus of £100, but aint sure, if i have i am on my way as i can sell some stuff laying around.

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=ELTA-CONCEPT180-BLK < are these good quality, or just crap, there a preety good price, if i wanted i could get them now, but wouldent coz i need an amp.
 
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They probably arn't very good at all tbh. I have a set of cheap eltax standmounts and they actually have no bass and the tone is generally very poor. I'm sure not all eltax speakers are that way (I hear good things about those monitor 3's), but looking at the price for those floorstanders, they probably are. Try to spend around £100 on second hand speakers, floorstanding will give more bass and you won't need stands aswell.

I spent around £800 on new Hi-Fi equiptment, and as great as it sounds, I now feel I should have gone second hand. Someone on AV forum got a great setup with Tannoy floorstanders and a good amplifier for £150 second hand! There are bargains to be had, no real need to have the latest gear, it doesn't advance very quickly. You should find Rotel amps around quite cheap now SH as they have updated thier range.
 
Eltax are cheap junk, and at £50 for floorstanders :rolleyes: you can't even get a good pair of mini monitors for that.

Stop looking at floorstanders at these prices, you're going to buy tat. Good floorstanders start at £300. I would get something like this..

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CELE-F10DAPP

oh I've seen a Velodyne V-125 subwoofer going locally second hand, dunno about price but should be pretty cheap. Will find out soon.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/reviews/hccreviews/Subwoofers/Miller-Kreisel/Miller-KreiselV-125.php
 
You will need stands, you can't just plonk them on the floor. You can place them on your desk, use rubber feet though.

You don't need to spend £900+ on a subwoofer (you can of course) but there is a minimum you really need, otherwise just wasting your money. Good subs are £600+, and the best commercially made subs are £1500, and upto £4500! (Rel Studio, Contrabass, SVS B4+ Plus, PB2 Ultra etc)

I own this sub.
http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-cyl-plpow2.cfm
The SVS HT system also, haven't heard it going though.
http://www.svsound.com/products-spks-sbs01.cfm
 
Yup, £100-£200 for speakers, £100-£200 for amplifier...nice system. You'll need inteconnect and speaker cable so that'll cost about £20.
Then buy a good subwoofer later when you've saved up money. Need another cable as well.
 
Yea, well it will be a while untill i manage to buy it all, i dunno weather i should save for x1900xtx graphics first, or Hi-Fi, if i got the Hi-FI, i would then after that save up for one of those SVS subs with Dual 12" Subs and 1000watt rms, its a monster compared to anything i seen on the net and well ever seen :o.



Also, about this sony system downstairs, its 80W rms sub, and 5x 50W Rms for the sats, now from what i can tell its a 9" or 8" speaker in the sub, i pushed around the actual sub thing, but i feld like wird plastic, so its either 8" or 6", but the thing is, the Box is smaller than the Z5500 sub, Smaller port, Smaller speaker, and yet the bass is better and louder than my z5500 when my z5500 should be twice as powerfull.

http://www.sony-mea.com/product_details.asp?InpProdId=5797, thats what my parents have downstairs even thought the overall speaker quality aint as good as the z5500, it can go louder, and more bass, yet smaller speakers and smaller sub :s
 
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Probably because of design, ie if it's a sealed box it can be smaller. Ported requires more volume. Generally ported will gain a few dB, and are more efficient (with the same driver) Some people think ported subs are boomy and one noted, but if it's designed right it shouldn't be. Because your two sub drivers aren't the same you can't compare the two as in finished design (why is this louder..)

A good fix is to bung a sock into port hole, I've done that on my FPS 2000 speakers. The subwoofer is really boomy even when volume is right down, but at the "correct" level it's still generally loose, with the sock it tightens it up. Volume is pratically zero, but it's just enough to complement the speakers, and at least it's fixed the boom problem.
 
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