Best 5.1 setup for ~£200?

Craig321 · 31 Aug 2007 at 18:45

Hi,

I'm just wondering what the best speaker setup would be for ~£200?

I really like the look of the Logitech Z-5500s and they seem to score really well in reviews, but some people have said they quite often have problems?

EDIT

Also, can someone recommend a sound card to go with it please?

Thanks,
Craig.

Craig321 · 2 Sep 2007 at 01:42

C64 · 2 Sep 2007 at 01:51

http://www.yamaha-uk.com/av_packages/?product_id=180
I would go for this if i had £190 spare

Craig321 · 2 Sep 2007 at 01:53

Not looking for something quite that cinemaish, thanks very much though

C64 · 2 Sep 2007 at 01:56

I would seriously read in to it if i were you as music through pc speakers just isn't anywhere near the quality of separates plugged in to a sound card especially the mid range.More or less the av receiver is around £150 the speakers package most places sell for around £75 maybe not the best speakers but still tremendous quality as is all of yamaha's stuff.i own logitech z4's but i use a separates sytem for my music as rock sounds dreadful with small speakers.It has great bass and treble but simply no decent mid range.

DuncyBoy · 2 Sep 2007 at 23:41

I got a set of Logitech Z-5500's yesterday morning for my HTPC and Wii and I'm VERY pleased with them.

The sub's a monster, the control centre to sub lead's not the longest and remote's a little cheap but otherwise they're top notch.

You can have them cracking the windows if you wish but you can also ramp the setting's down and have excellent clarity and quality.

I was considering a Yamaha 5.1 set-up for a long time but I don't need all the inputs and the Logitech's a little simpler for my tastes.

I have my HTPC connected via Optical and Wii via two Components to a mini-jack. Both sound corking.

For a purely PC set-up of games, DVD's and mp3's then the Z-5500 will take your face off, mate

If you want any more details, by all means give me a shout.

Craig321 · 3 Sep 2007 at 01:42

Thanks DuncyBoy.

What's the infrared remote like? What's the distance, responsiveness etc. like on it?

Also, the Z-5500s have 6 ouputs so I can connect multiple PCs etc., right? Do they provide cables for all of them?

C64 said:
I would seriously read in to it if i were you as music through pc speakers just isn't anywhere near the quality of separates plugged in to a sound card especially the mid range.More or less the av receiver is around £150 the speakers package most places sell for around £75 maybe not the best speakers but still tremendous quality as is all of yamaha's stuff.i own logitech z4's but i use a separates sytem for my music as rock sounds dreadful with small speakers.It has great bass and treble but simply no decent mid range.

I'll have a look, thanks. But I was rather looking for something nice and simple just for music, games etc.

Thanks very much,
Craig.

DuncyBoy · 3 Sep 2007 at 02:18

Craig321 said:
What's the infrared remote like?

Pretty cheap, but effective- if that makes sense? I just expected better from a company that make their own custom All-In-One remotes. Especially with a set of premium speakers!

Took that with my phone alongside a 5G iPod for scale, sorry for the poor pic quality

Craig321 said:
What's the distance, responsiveness etc. like on it?

Six meters is no problem. It's infra-red, so you can't exactly point it anywhere and you're grand like a Sky remote or Microsoft's MCE remote, but point it in the general direction and it's fine.

Craig321 said:
Also, the Z-5500s have 6 ouputs so I can connect multiple PCs etc., right? Do they provide cables for all of them?

Yes and no. You get a 3 to 3 minijack lead for connecting a standard sound card to the 3 inputs on the back of the Control Centre. However, there's a switch on the back of the unit that allows the 3 minijack inputs to be used individually for Dolby Pro-Logic etc. You get cables for that but you need to buy your own Coaxial or Optical leads, sorry

Craig321 · 3 Sep 2007 at 08:21

DuncyBoy said:
Pretty cheap, but effective- if that makes sense? I just expected better from a company that make their own custom All-In-One remotes. Especially with a set of premium speakers!

[IM]http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9034/remote1kf8.th.jpg[/IMG]

Took that with my phone alongside a 5G iPod for scale, sorry for the poor pic quality

[IM]http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4791/remote2qn6.th.jpg[/IMG]

Six meters is no problem. It's infra-red, so you can't exactly point it anywhere and you're grand like a Sky remote or Microsoft's MCE remote, but point it in the general direction and it's fine.

Yes and no. You get a 3 to 3 minijack lead for connecting a standard sound card to the 3 inputs on the back of the Control Centre. However, there's a switch on the back of the unit that allows the 3 minijack inputs to be used individually for Dolby Pro-Logic etc. You get cables for that but you need to buy your own Coaxial or Optical leads, sorry

Thanks very much for your answers and pictures