What speakers should I buy?

tophee · 20 Dec 2006 at 21:34

A vague, open ended question I know... but bear with me.

Right, old speakers died. The buzzed and annoyed the crap out of me. So, need a new set. I don't have masses of desk space... though have been considering a 7.1 set, something like Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers. Price is ok. But having had my Logitech z-5500's plugged in for a week (usually attached to the media centre) I thought... is there really any point getting 7.1? In the space I have 5.1 would be more than enough I should think. And they did sound fantastic.

Would I miss surround if I only got a 2.1 setup?

Unfortunately I can't afford a second set of z-5500's.

I've a Creative Audigy 2 zx-platinum sound card.

Suggestions please.

Thanks

geeza · 21 Dec 2006 at 01:04

I went from megaworks 5.1 to 2 stereo speakers and amp. Didnt miss the 5.1 at all because now I have much better overall sound quality.

As many will suggest its a better idea getting seperates and they can be had for not too much either (depends how much you want to spend)

How much space do you have?

my setup (quite cheap but sounds good)

you dont need stands if you dont have the room

tophee · 21 Dec 2006 at 01:28

It's possible that I go for separates, I could always steal my floor standers from the other room

... but no, I think I need to keep the missus reasonably happy so they need to be discrete. Perhaps 5.1 headphones are the way forward...

geeza · 21 Dec 2006 at 10:20

tophee said:
Perhaps 5.1 headphones are the way forward...

I had some medusa 5.1 headphones, they were rubbish. Just get some good quality normal ones

PureAppleJuice · 21 Dec 2006 at 10:45

geeza said:
I went from megaworks 5.1 to 2 stereo speakers and amp. Didnt miss the 5.1 at all because now I have much better overall sound quality.

As many will suggest its a better idea getting seperates and they can be had for not too much either (depends how much you want to spend)

How much space do you have?

my setup (quite cheap but sounds good)

you dont need stands if you dont have the room

How much did your setup cost?

geeza · 21 Dec 2006 at 10:54

jidh007 said:
How much did your setup cost?

amp -Cambridge A1 £80

speakers -Mission M71 £40 (ebay 2nd hand but boxed in excellent
condition)

speaker cable £2 a metre (so £6 i think)

phono to 3.5mm cable -about £2

stands -my mate left them so i nicked em

PureAppleJuice · 21 Dec 2006 at 11:11

Ah nice, cheers

Did you buy the amp and stuff second hand? Just out of interest.

geeza · 21 Dec 2006 at 11:37

jidh007 said:
Ah nice, cheers Did you buy the amp and stuff second hand? Just out of interest.

amp was brand new, cable was brand new, speakers second hand, stands were free

tophee · 22 Dec 2006 at 08:18

Have you bi-wired your speakers btw? My home hifi is, (and while you get used to these things very quickly) when I fist did it... I was impressed.

My Hi-fi setup is mostly technics. I've a pair of floor standing Mission M702e's that I bought a few years ago. (Actually about 6 years ago.) And now they need some tlc. Unfortunately the panel the drivers sit in has come loose

otherwise they sound sweet.

Perhaps I'll buy some Kef Q5's. Ahh, decisions...

Anyhow back on topic. Thinking about it, I've realised I don't really like headphones for long periods. So 2.1 or surround? I'm thinking for games like oblivion...

Would I be better getting say the Logitech Z-2300 THX® Certified 2.1 200 Watts Speakers or Creative GigaWorks 5.1 G500 THX® Pro Gamer Speakers.