Surround Sound for PC

[Anchundan]

My 5.1 speakers are failing, the right front channel on the amp/sub is no longer working, so I thought I would replace it with something newer. The only thing is, I can't find anything newer.

My current Unit is an Edifier R251T 5.1 system which cost me about £35 back in 2007. 4x2W + 8W and a 12W sub. It's not available here any more.

Logitech's line up seems to be the Z506 which is 6 years old, and very hard to get here, and costs about £90.

Creative Inspire T6300, 3 years old is another option. 5x7W + 22W. About £70.

Or I could go with the next model up from mine, which is the Edifier R351T (4 years old), 4x6W satellites, 10W centre and 30W sub. It looks a lot nicer than the Creative, and has a remote control. Also about £70.

The final option is to try and get my amp/sub repaired locally, which would probably cost less than £10. What would you do?

 

[Marsman]

Well if you can get what you have repaired for much less than what it would cost to buy a new set, and you're happy with the sound, then I'd probably go with that. You may get an improvement with one of sets you've mentioned above, but they are all made to a cost with tight margins, so the difference might not be that significant. Of course you may just fancy a change because, you know.. nice new shiny.

You mention that you can't find anything newer. I assume you mean new releases; maybe with the thought that newer design will bring more improvements compared to a set that was released 4-6 years ago, maybe more.

If for example there was a brand new set of 5.1 speakers released this year, then they are not going to provide better sound quality over a similarly priced older set of maybe 7 years, just because the design is supposedly newer. Quality of sound products over time is dictated by price. Audio product technology doesn't really advance all that much over the years, it's more money spent on a better design and better quality components that result in a better sounding product.

There may be an improvement if you buy a £70 set, as the cost is greater than the £35 set you have. Tight margins though, so the difference may be small.

 

[Anchundan]

Marsman, Thanks for the advice! I did stick with the present unit as I can't justify the expense of a new system at the moment with the pound being so low!

All channels working now so very happy

 

[Phil87]

I've been thinking about upgrading my speakers too, which are an 11 year old set of Creative T7900 7.1. I'm actually still happy with these and they still work great especially for games, but the problem is there don't seem to be any other 7.1 speakers on the market these days. Maybe they just didn't sell well enough, but then why to most high end motherboards (and some sound cards?) have the connections required for 7.1 speakers?

Does anyone know of any 7.1 speakers which could be an upgrade for me? If not might have to "downgrade" to 5.1 at some point.

 

[Marsman]

I don't think there are any 7.1 PC speakers now. As you say, they probably didn't sell well enough.

Not really sure why sound cards and motherboards continued to have 7.1 outputs though, when 7.1 speakers were long gone; except for those people that already owned the speakers. I'm sure there are some people like yourself who would be annoyed if motherboards especially, dropped 7.1 completely in favour of 5.1.

Creative recently ditched 7.1 with their recent SB Z card range, so they felt there was no point supporting 7.1 any more.

Any 7.1 set ups now will likely be people using an AV receiver and an additional 2 speakers to a 5.1 package. A lot more costly than PC speakers though.

Hard to say what might be an upgrade, because there's a lack of choice really when it comes to 5.1 speakers; and Logitech's Z506 set is probably the best available when it comes to more affordable sets. They are still a sub £100 set though, just as the T7900 were. Although we are 11 years down the road, the Z506 are 5 years old now, so they are only 6 years newer. As I said to the other guy, audio tech doesn't advance all that much over the years, and all these PC speakers are made to a budget with tight margins. Z506 might be a bit better, but there's probably not a lot in it. Any differences, might be personal preference more than anything else.

For a clear improvement, you need to look at spending more money, and nothing exists until you come to the Z906 which are around £240.

 

[wakadoo]

i got the logitech z-5500 set from oc when they came out, i played around with
positioning and they really are fantastic for the price, the z906 are the newer model
so to speak but i have never heard them perform.

 

[Marsman]

I've seen quite a few comments from people who thought the Z906 were not as good as the Z5500.

Z5500 would be a good option if you can get a used set for a reasonable price.