So, I have a "spare" pair of Bowers & Wilkins M1 speakers from all my messing about with HiFi speakers. So I thought, rather than stick with my ancient Logitech 2.1 el-cheapo system (Was around £25 15 years ago), I could upgrade a little. I have just put in a Soundblaster Z soundcard into my Ryzen rig.
So I have a few options to upgrade what I am hearing. I don't do much gaming on the PC, I prefer my xbox that is rigged to my projector, with a proper 5.1 set-up. BUT, at night, when everyone else is asleep, my office is at the opposite end to the bedrooms, so I do watch movies and stuff in here. I'm not too fussed about 5.1 in the office, but could get close to it with just the speakers I already have kicking about, but most of all, I want to make use of my spare M1's.
So, first option.
It is the most expensive option. But does give me something else into the mix for another room. Is to upgrade one of my AV receivers elsewhere in my house. I haven't gone 4K yet, so my trusty Onkyo 609's (I have 2) have been fine for my 1080p / 3D viewing. However, I am considering a 4K TV possibly next year, so I could upgrade one of the 609's to a proper 4K receiver, and use the 609 in the office. Seems like overkill, but I could also feed my DJ decks through it, and get rid of the NAD 310 that I currently use in there too. I would have to hook them up as a zone 2 system though, as they use my B&W LM1's, and because of where they are located in the office, I couldn't get the sound "facing" me if they were set-up as just another regular source. There is no way to re-jig the room to get everything working in the correct direction really. I'd also most likely have to run it in pure audio or stereo direct mode, to reduce any lag when mixing on the decks. An issue I often have whenever I have tried to use my receivers for DJ-in. I'm not sure that this is best for my mixing, but probably a good solution for my PC.
The problem with this option, is that it'll cost somewhere at least £500 to properly upgrade that amp. So wouldn't be able to do this for a couple months. But then will likely give me proper 5.1 hifi sound in my office.
Option 2.
And I just thought of this option half-way through writing this post, as I forgot I had it. I actually have another "spare" Av amp, a Sony STR-DG910. I use it in my garage, exclusively, and only in stereo mode, hooked upto a chromecast audio. I could swap this and the NAD around, and use the AV receiver in the office, and the NAD in the garage.
Option 3.
I buy another stereo amp to replace the NAD 310. I like the NAD 310, but it doesn't have a switchable A/B speaker set-up. So I could get another amp in there, that will allow me to simply switch between 2 stereo speaker set-ups. One for the PC, and one for the decks. Run off the same amp. Ideally I'd want an optical connection for the PC, but could go fine with a regular RCA connection from my soundblaster.
So this, I feel, would be best for my decks. And probably the best option for a "clean" sound from the PC. But does mean buying kit exclusively for the office. So I would be budget limited to somewhere around £150-200.
Option 4.
I stick with the NAD for the decks, and ditch the idea of running these B&W M1's for the PC. I stick a budget of around £100 and just get new PC speakers. Having a look on OCUK I could go 5.1 with something like the Edifier M1550 MULTIMEDIA 5.1 SPEAKERS (the C6XD 5.1 SURROUND SPEAKER SYSTEM would be double that, unfortunately). This, I'm sure would be great for the movies I watch in there, but also for the occasional games I play I'd think.
Or I stick with a better 2.1 system and go for something like the C2V 2.1 SPEAKER SYSTEM WITH EXTERNAL AMPLIFIER.
Or go down to 2.0 with something like: R1800TIII 2.0 STUDIO SPEAKERS RMS 70 WATTS (R1800TIII).
So, a few options to consider. I'm more drawn to the 3rd option, as it gets me something right now. Although the first option is probably more sensible. But probably not as sensible as the second option, as that means spending nothing. I might try that out over the festive period anyway, and see how it works for me as it'll be a zero cost option just now.
Any other suggestions as to what I could get, or what of the 4 options would work best for me?
So I have a few options to upgrade what I am hearing. I don't do much gaming on the PC, I prefer my xbox that is rigged to my projector, with a proper 5.1 set-up. BUT, at night, when everyone else is asleep, my office is at the opposite end to the bedrooms, so I do watch movies and stuff in here. I'm not too fussed about 5.1 in the office, but could get close to it with just the speakers I already have kicking about, but most of all, I want to make use of my spare M1's.
So, first option.
It is the most expensive option. But does give me something else into the mix for another room. Is to upgrade one of my AV receivers elsewhere in my house. I haven't gone 4K yet, so my trusty Onkyo 609's (I have 2) have been fine for my 1080p / 3D viewing. However, I am considering a 4K TV possibly next year, so I could upgrade one of the 609's to a proper 4K receiver, and use the 609 in the office. Seems like overkill, but I could also feed my DJ decks through it, and get rid of the NAD 310 that I currently use in there too. I would have to hook them up as a zone 2 system though, as they use my B&W LM1's, and because of where they are located in the office, I couldn't get the sound "facing" me if they were set-up as just another regular source. There is no way to re-jig the room to get everything working in the correct direction really. I'd also most likely have to run it in pure audio or stereo direct mode, to reduce any lag when mixing on the decks. An issue I often have whenever I have tried to use my receivers for DJ-in. I'm not sure that this is best for my mixing, but probably a good solution for my PC.
The problem with this option, is that it'll cost somewhere at least £500 to properly upgrade that amp. So wouldn't be able to do this for a couple months. But then will likely give me proper 5.1 hifi sound in my office.
Option 2.
And I just thought of this option half-way through writing this post, as I forgot I had it. I actually have another "spare" Av amp, a Sony STR-DG910. I use it in my garage, exclusively, and only in stereo mode, hooked upto a chromecast audio. I could swap this and the NAD around, and use the AV receiver in the office, and the NAD in the garage.
Option 3.
I buy another stereo amp to replace the NAD 310. I like the NAD 310, but it doesn't have a switchable A/B speaker set-up. So I could get another amp in there, that will allow me to simply switch between 2 stereo speaker set-ups. One for the PC, and one for the decks. Run off the same amp. Ideally I'd want an optical connection for the PC, but could go fine with a regular RCA connection from my soundblaster.
So this, I feel, would be best for my decks. And probably the best option for a "clean" sound from the PC. But does mean buying kit exclusively for the office. So I would be budget limited to somewhere around £150-200.
Option 4.
I stick with the NAD for the decks, and ditch the idea of running these B&W M1's for the PC. I stick a budget of around £100 and just get new PC speakers. Having a look on OCUK I could go 5.1 with something like the Edifier M1550 MULTIMEDIA 5.1 SPEAKERS (the C6XD 5.1 SURROUND SPEAKER SYSTEM would be double that, unfortunately). This, I'm sure would be great for the movies I watch in there, but also for the occasional games I play I'd think.
Or I stick with a better 2.1 system and go for something like the C2V 2.1 SPEAKER SYSTEM WITH EXTERNAL AMPLIFIER.
Or go down to 2.0 with something like: R1800TIII 2.0 STUDIO SPEAKERS RMS 70 WATTS (R1800TIII).
So, a few options to consider. I'm more drawn to the 3rd option, as it gets me something right now. Although the first option is probably more sensible. But probably not as sensible as the second option, as that means spending nothing. I might try that out over the festive period anyway, and see how it works for me as it'll be a zero cost option just now.
Any other suggestions as to what I could get, or what of the 4 options would work best for me?