Got £200 to spend on speakers

Richer Sounds actually sell a nice range of speaker cable going from 60p a metre to about £10 a metre. Im using 6m of £2 wire, which is more than enough to bi-wire, my speakers arent more than 1.5m from the amp.
PC card to amp, all you need is a headphone jack to phono 'y' adapter lead.

I bought the £20 cambridge audio one, but Im sure theres some other decent makes. I dont think its worth spending stupid money on cables, but I also dont think its worth buying cheap cheap bellwire style ones.
 
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Thanks mate, im going to Cambridge today, so ill have a look in richer sounds!

* Headphone jack to phono 'y' adapter lead

* Speaker cable

Sorted. :)
 
Woops, I posted a picture with the wrong ends. It should be one with plugs, not sockets, but you got the idea.

This is the type you want:
hama_white_3.5mm_2_phono.jpg
 
Alexrose1uk said:
Woops, I posted a picture with the wrong ends. It should be one with plugs, not sockets, but you got the idea.

This is the type you want:
hama_white_3.5mm_2_phono.jpg
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I noticed :p

I have plenty of them lying around. Thanks mate, ill let you know what i've bought when i get back.
 
Your system is really low end, you should upgrade. heh heh

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Also go and listen to nicer systems, that way you won't be able to go back to yours, you'll sell them and upgade :D
 
squiffy said:
Your system is really low end, you should upgrade. heh heh

012.jpg


Also go and listen to nicer systems, that way you won't be able to go back to yours, you'll sell them and upgade :D
Click to expand...

Now now, thats mean :D Its still a good stepping stone in the long walk away from PC sound systems, like pringles, once you pop, you just wont stop :D
 
The z5500s aint that low end, sure they are compared to £500 stuff. but for 200 quid, there damnd nice, the sub aint overpowering, its not prone to rf interfierence, doesent pop like they used to, quality sound for what they are, there a greate buy, anyone who buys them should be happy with them. there not just pc speakers, there better than most all in one home cinema systems, obviously hi-fi gear is going to be better though.
 
willhub said:
The z5500s aint that low end, sure they are compared to £500 stuff. but for 200 quid, there damnd nice, the sub aint overpowering, its not prone to rf interfierence, doesent pop like they used to, quality sound for what they are, there a greate buy, anyone who buys them should be happy with them. there not just pc speakers, there better than most all in one home cinema systems, obviously hi-fi gear is going to be better though.
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Sorry to break it to you - but even for £200 they are still pretty dodgy.

They suffer from virtually no shielding whatsoever and the sub alone handles frequencies over 110Hz - which makes them next to useless for listening to music. Or anything at all if you're used to a decent set-up.

The only good thing about them is the quantity of speakers you get.
Unfortunately, the quality of sound produced by each of those speakers is so appalling that they aren't worth having at all in my book.

If you want decent 5.1 surround sound it is a reasonably expensive business.
That's a fact of life.
It makes sense. You're buying 6 speakers and an amplifier. To bring this in at a reasonable level of quality you have to charge a reasonable amount of money.

If you want a toy 5.1 surround system for a child or teenager they are OK I guess. I wouldn't even waste my money in that scenario though. I'd get the M-Audio LX4 2.1 system and then expand it later to 5.1.

Patience is a virtue :p

The LX4 is so much better than something like the Logi or Creative sets it's unreal. Look everybody - drivers bigger than a 5p coin and cabinets that won't move across the desk if you blow on them!
The 2.1 system is £159.00 and the expansion to 5.1 is £135.00. You can get the 5.1 for £294.99.
 
110hz, i have never heard the sub go over 110hz.

It aint dodgy at all, the speakers dont get interfierence anymore, i got the new replacements, and the sub seems different, they go loud, have plenty of bass, i am someone who likes boomy bass, and there good for that, i play jazz music with them, and it sounds brilliant.
 
willhub said:
110hz, i have never heard the sub go over 110hz.

It aint dodgy at all, the speakers dont get interfierence anymore, i got the new replacements, and the sub seems different, they go loud, have plenty of bass, i am someone who likes boomy bass, and there good for that, i play jazz music with them, and it sounds brilliant.
Click to expand...
Weird - because when I was playing with a set and did a sweep with the just sub from 20 - 500Hz, it was clearly designed to cover the low-mids (because tiny 3" drivers simply can't do low mids effectively), going right up to 220 (a low 'A' on the guitar). There was a nice resonance of the supertonic too, as the plastic casing of one of the closer satellites rattled too. Lovely tuned cabinets - haha.

Doing the same with the satellites reveal led that they don't really do much below 250hz. This means that there's a nice gap between 220 (where the sub begins to tail off) and 250 where the satellites' low end tail off. The crossover is just not happening, and crucially for a 5.1 system, much of the low-mid semi-directional information is lost. The sound of a car in a movie moving in on one side of the sound field will sound OK, but as the Doppler lowers it's frequency when it moves away, it will get lost. Try it.

Basically - if you don't mind everything sounding overly bassy, boomy and muddy - yeah, they're great! I guess this is why they're popular with the "I think it's cool to irritate my neighbours" crowd :rolleyes:

Also - if you're moving from £20 stereo PC speakers - yes, of course you will be impressed. It's like moving from the audio equivalent of the black hole of Calcutta to a modern British prison.

You're still a long way from a holiday in Barbados though ;)

Seriously - for a small extra outlay, the LX4s are a no-brainer IMO.
The difference in quality is vast.

I'm not trying to enrage all the Z5500 owners here. I'm just pointing out that there are better options out there if you just have a little patience IMO.
If you're happy with your system - good for you! I just hope you don't go around bragging about it in earshot of anybody who knows what they're talking about, or expect it to last more than five years.
 
I am saving up for better hi fi gear, such as BK Monolith sub, 2 bookshelf speakers and an amp...
But the sattelite speakers on the z5500 seem to have lots of bass in them for little 3" drivers.

i watched war of the worlds with the z5500 deciding dts, and it sounded brilliant, did not see anything wrong with it.
 
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Kool, makes me want to put the little 3" drivers in a bigger enclosure too, but would be tricky building one, i dont even know what horn loaded enclosure means.

there is a song called pump up the jam by technotronics, and the bass is good with my z5500 sattelites, i actually turn the sub all the way down to 0.

but those speaker enclosure there i really do rattle at high volume, if opening them wont void the warranty as they can be put back together easilly, i might just think about making some bigger enclosures for them, or maybe buying bigger enclosures for them?

Yea the drivers in those are made by tangband, 871s or something the make is.
 
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Yes, thats the ones. Quite a few on there use those exact units, you could ask for thier designs if you wanted, but I wouldn't expect it to be easy to build a good case like that (very exact dimensions).
 
Poster above is correct, usually you do get missing frequency response with satellite speakers and the sub, speakers that are incapable of <80hz reproduction flat response aren't suitable for a music system.

You've said it yourself your Logitechs are boomy. That's not good. I've used speakers Kef Eggs and they're just about ok for a HT system, but even then I would still improve on it.

I wouldn't bother ripping out the drivers and fitting them into a cabinet, unless you have any idea of the Q parameters and experienced in DIY speakers and crossovers.

If you want sound quality, just change over to seperates sometime. A £400 Stereo system will be huge upgrade over the Logitechs, and I agree with other bloke regarding HT, you need to spend considerbly more. 5 - 7 channels of amplification, 5 or 7 speakers, plus a subwoofer. Looking at £1500 at the very least. Good subwoofers start at £500.
 
I seen a review of the sub, and it was said to beat a Velodyne DD-12 or come about on par with it, and that sub is like £1250 right?
 
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