Looking for decent sound system set-up

sk82jack

sk82jack

sk82jack

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Basically I'm gonna be building a new system within the next couple of months and was wondering what sort of sound system to include. The motherboard I'm probably gonna get is the MSI P67A-GD65 B3 which, in the specs list, says it comes with '8 Channel HD Audio with THX TruStudio Pro'

I don't really know how good this is so I was hoping you could give me some ideas of whether to keep this and just get a speaker system, or to invest in a sound card as well as a speaker set?

Not really sure how much money I should be looking to spend either so I was hoping you could give me some different price alternatives?

Sorry, just getting into the whole DIY set-up so trying to get as much background info as possible. Thanks for the help :)
 
Depends what speakers you are looking at really. If you are looking at spending £50 say, on some 2.1 speakers, then I'd try the on-board audio first. See what you think.
 
Well I'm thinking 5.1 as I'll mostly be using them for gaming and watching films. I'm just confused on what sort of money I should be spending to get the best bang for bucks. Looking on the OC website, their 5.1s range from £35.99 to £329.00 which is a huge difference lol I'm basically trying to keep the cost down to a minimum whilst getting a fairly decent sound.
 
Just thought I'd add, I don't need them to be ridiculously loud. Some of the more expensive sets are like 500w!! I don't need anywhere near that, I'm only in a small room lol Quality is preference for me.
 
It depends on how much money you're willing to spend, how much effort you're going to put into getting the right setup, and how much space you're willing to sacrifice. To get the best bang for buck you really need to go for retro separates and an AVR which is what I've done here. If you want something that you don't have to source out parts for, or don't want to be waiting for a good deal to come through, then a complete system will be the best option for you.

As I said, we need a budget first and foremost ;)
 
I don't really have a budget yet though lol I mean I haven't built the pc yet so it depends what I'm gonna be spending on that but I was looking at the Logitech Z506 mainly because it was quite cheap and there is multiple inputs. It would be quite handy to get speakers that I could plug my xbox into as well with swapping them every time and stuff, so a 5.1 input and a optical input would be ideal. I know the Logitech Z-5500 has multiple inputs as well but I think that's a little out of my price range
 
I was looking at AV receivers and they're so expensive! :eek: I don't think I can afford to buy an AV receiver and then a set of half-decent speakers on top as I'll be going into the £200+ zone won't I?
 
As I say, depends on how much effort you're willing to put in. 4 of those giant speakers plus that AVR has cost me just over £100, all I need now is a centre channel and I'm done.
 
Your set up sounds pretty good! What AVR have you got? I can't seem to find any under £100 but I'll keep looking.
 
Harman/Kardon AVR2550. Thing is it's rare an AVR goes for less than around £150, like my speakers I waited VERY patiently until a real bargain along. Once the other speakers arrive and I find a centre I'll be able to say how much the set cost me in total, but I don't imagine it'll cost me much over £150 and the sound trumps anything under the £500-£700 mark for surround sound.
 
I'll have to keep my eye out for any AVR deals then because that definitely sounds like a better set up! I'll probably end up buying the rest of the PC in June and I'll come into some more money towards the start of July so I've got a bit of time to have a look around.
 
You'll need it! Been around 8 months since I started this quest and I've still not finished yet, I did say you'd need patients ;)
 
8 months? You, sir, have the patience of a monk! lol

So from your experience did you find the better deals were online or in shops? I'm guessing it would be better to go to small name shops rather than the large chains and stuff, but what about online? I'm sure I could find some deals online but probably from some dodgy website or something that I don't know if I can trust.
 
Cheers for the help man. What would you say regarding sound cards? Should I keep the on-board sound or invest in a sound card?
 
No need for a sound card if you get an AV receiver. Just get a GFX card that will allow you to pass sound via HDMI. An AV receiver will handle the digital data to analogue audio conversion.
 
If you want cheap then you'll want to look for one without HDMI (but using digital optical) and maybe invest in a Xonar DS to get 5.1 sound in game. It works out cheaper. I've been thinking lately about selling my AVR and buying a better one and anything with HDMI costs a lot more.
 
That's so depressing because I'm gonna be using my 360 with it too, which does have an optical out, but it comes out the composite cable, but the way microsoft have designed it is in such a way that you cant use the composite cable and HDMI outputs at the same time, and so you have to pull apart the composite connector (xbox side) and rip the back off so there is room to use the HDMI at the same time. It would just be sooooooooooooo much simpler to use a straight HDMI AV receiver but I suppose its worth the hassle if I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum.
 
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