5.1 speakers systems

[GFDuke]

I am looking for opinions based on experience. Since i am re-doing my Office/Gaming/Benching room everything else is getting upgraded. All my wires are in the walls. HDMI, Network, VGA, USB connects etc. So now i'll be putting my speaker connections and wires in the walls too. I am looking for a solid speaker set-up thats gonna shake the freakin house when i game. I've had Sound Blaster, Altec, Logitech, Premier Acoustics and Klipsch. The best of those were the Premier Acoustics. But those are mounted in my walls for the HT setup. I'm looking for something better and wall mountable.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[Witchdoctor]

True PC speakers or will you be pushing it with an amp ? ....

Have not heard these but my 5.1 Logitech system kicks ....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6671748&SRCCODE=WEBGOOPA&cm_mmc_o=mH4CjC7BBTkwCjCV1-CjCE

[ReverendMaynard]

If you want poundage with precision....I can't rave enough about Bowers & Wilkins.

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speakers/Theatre_Solutions/Mini_Theatre/MT-30.html

The sub is powered 500w if that says anything lol. You would need a decent amp as well, I'm a huge fan of Yamaha.

Best amp under 5 bills, 6 HDMI 1.4a, 1080p upscaling. I have one hooked to my KEF reference speakers.

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V667-7-2-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/tech-data/B003P2V52M/ref=de_a_smtd

Not cheap, but insanely accurate and they'll last outlast the owner.

That would be your best bet, just because of the connectivity.

[MaadDaawg]

Bose

[thebanik]

Bose

Please No, they make the crappiest sound for the price.........

[MaadDaawg]

Banik, you obviously never owned the system with the little satellite surround and the huge thumping base. I have a Bose 7.1 system and it's crystal clear all the way up to shaking the walls volume :laughing: Effing Subwoofer module is 3 feet long.

Only way to go Bro ;)

Only thing that might be better would be Bang & Olafson if money isn't an issue :rofl:

[ReverendMaynard]

man you're the only dude I've heard rep Bose for being worth the money lol. They're good...they're not in the same league as B&W.

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/home_theater/home_theater_speakers/acoustimass_10/index.jsp

That's the best Bose sells these days Maad, they ain't like they used to be. They might shake the walls, those B&W's will set of the car alarm....3 doors down :) Paired with an SVS 12" sub and you have a serious mid-enthusiast level setup.

[Neuromancer]

Nice. Little overboard for PC... a decent powered sub will be enough that you can go with smaller speakers for the satelliettes and center channel

I am an audio fan from the 80s and prefer 4 channel surround to 4.1/5.1. A half decent set of floor standers will give you good low end, and a solid set of bookshelf speakers for the surround effects.

Center channel bugs me for HTPC setups..

[GFDuke]

I actually have some Bose surround in my bedroom. They're good but still not what i'm looking for. They seem to have the high end and the low end but lack midrange.
I will be purchasing an amp and it will most likely be a Yamaha amp. So i might take the drive to Conneticut (closest dealer to me ) to hear the B&W's. Thanks for the suggestions.

IDK Neuro...the center channel for surround really is the most important next to the sub imo. That truley is where the separation starts. Floor stander will take up to much room. I need wall mounts to keep the floor space clear.

[Witchdoctor]

Hard to go wrong with the B&W's .... and the Yamaha

[GFDuke]

Well i did a little price research on the B&W's and they are out of my range atm. They must be mind blowing is all i can say. Talk about sticker shock..lol. With all the money i'm spending on the room i can't justify spending that much. Unless i want a divorce. lol

Searching other options in the 4-500 dollar range.

[BenchZowner]

Define budget.

I'd say Magnepan MG20.1's powered by Mark Levinson mono-block final amps and a Theta Digital Casablanca III pre-amp, accompanied by a Velodyne DD1812 SE subwoofer, but that would make your wallets scream :p

Edit: Nice timing LOL

[GFDuke]

Well its a small room....12x14 so i really don't need to go overboard on it. I guees I just want something thats solid, dependable and won't drain my bank account. I was so pissed when my Klipsch sub-woofer amp blew on me and basically rendered the rest of the setup useless that i swore to get something else. I'm looking at the Energy Take speakers. Any experience with them?

[ReverendMaynard]

Sorry for goin high end on ya Dukester lol. A good friend of mine has the setup I posted and he's a bit...heavy on the volume control and they are still as precise and the day they were unpacked. Full range, and paired with the SVS 12" (weighs 80 lbs lol), it can skip your heart beat.

In your price range, you're looking entry level. On newegg, I found a nice setup and did some research and they are great speakers for the price so check em out. You'll love the Yamaha, especially the auto-setup with the mic...it's bang on.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882981012

Or go on the bay and find a deal like this...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/KEF-KHT-1005-2-Home-Theater-System-New-SEALED-BOX-/230652676166?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item35b3f88846#ht_4387wt_905

and here
http://cgi.ebay.com/B-W-DM-602-SPEAKERS-STANDS-/320732107180?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item4aad1f91ac#ht_500wt_969

and
http://cgi.ebay.com/B-W-DM602-SPEAKERS-BLACK-FINISH-VERY-NICE-/220818514750?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3369cf233e#ht_7669wt_1026

and
http://cgi.ebay.com/B-W-Bowers-Wilkins-DM602-Black-Speakers-Mint-pair-/260825051523?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3cba627183#ht_611wt_1185


lol...you get the point. Don't be afraid to buy used B&W's, it would take some serious mis-use as they are truly tank built.

[Witchdoctor]

Mine did the same thing,

sent then the unit and for 50 bucks they repaired it .... worth a call

this was a few years ago

If you are going for PC speakers the new logitects are worth a look IMO if looking for bang for the buck

If you are going with an amp the Polks at new egg are rediculously cheap and do a nice job mind you not in the B & W league

Take a look at this set up

2 pairs for fronts and rears

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290201

Center

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290211

Sub

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290130


The nice thing is you can give these a listen at Best Buy last time I checked

the front and rear come wall mountable out of the box but are deep.

I think this would be a way cool/Kick ass system for the PC pushed by a Yamaha head unit .... thinking epic even .... the polks bar none have the best tonal balance in the industry by a long shot at their price point IMO ..... and the 30's rock highs and mids soundly but have to lean on the sub below 140HZ/120HZ range

If you have the room the 40s up front would be cool but not wall mountable

[MaadDaawg]

Next time any of you are in Chicago, we'll go upstairs to the media room and crank up "310 to Yuma" near the end when the train starts movin... you'll think it's inside your skeleton :laughing:

Weird though, they do seem to have downgraded the number of systems they offer. We have a middle range 2.1 computer speaker system (they make 2 2.1 systems and 2 2.0 systems) in the kitchen for playing Pandora - sound is breath taking

[MaadDaawg]

IIIRC , the Polk satellites suck, while the floor towers are outstanding :clapping:

[Witchdoctor]

the 30's ???

I have a set and would have to disagree Daawg

but it's Kool ..... the nice thing is you can listen to them first FTW ....... :thumbsup:

The revs link is interesting, never heard them before though ?

[ReverendMaynard]

They're rebranded Paradigm 5.1's Witchy, Paradigm (originally Canadian, exclusive speakers), used to be reference only at one time and if you had a pair it meant a) you had killer taste in sound and b) a huge mother effin bank account lol.

[Witchdoctor]

I own some Paradigm's ........... :laughing:

Way high end back when I bought mine, real warm sounding speakers. Love them ....

They do look like the Atoms................ :thumbsup: If I remeber right they are wall mountable out of the box as well

Awsome sauce at a great price, wonder how much punch the bundled sub has ?

[ReverendMaynard]

Depends on what you define as 'punch' my friend. From a $500 set of 5.1's, I'd keep my expectations in check. If you want a proper sub you have to pay the $$$ for it.

[Patch]

Holy crap.

This thread proves I am most definitely NOT an audophile.

Sure frees up resources for other endeavors. :)

[Witchdoctor]

I hear ya, It always comes down to the money ........... :ohcrap:


Yea I went with the Polks last year when I replaced my receiver, and have been very happy with them. The price point on them is crazy low for what you get. sloid boxes and a very rich sound, not to bright like a lot of smaller boxes.

[kikicoco1334]

Banik, you obviously never owned the system with the little satellite surround and the huge thumping base. I have a Bose 7.1 system and it's crystal clear all the way up to shaking the walls volume :laughing: Effing Subwoofer module is 3 feet long.

Only way to go Bro ;)

Only thing that might be better would be Bang & Olafson if money isn't an issue :rofl:

+1
i have always been a bose child, when we ware in china all our sound systems are bose and pioneer elites
there home stuff is great, head set is awesome but car stuff is just shit (some of them)

i really like bang 'n' olufsen thats one of my faves for cars and house
they look super in style and they song just like when you jizz in your pants nice
(google there car stuff i insure you if you got those in like a Audi A8 W12 it'll get you laid 24/7)


OR! another option
idk how good there new stuff are but if you can find some nice Klipsch early 80s and late 70s those are amazing! not gonna be look as nice and sexy but dude those are SUPER NICE!

and lastly Polk Audio they aren't bad at all, there car stuff are really nice too but they don't look near as sexy as the bang & olufsen
they have some home stuff too not bad little systems

me and the madmang got some similar taste

[Witchdoctor]

From my experience the bose have decent high and close to acceptable low range , but suffer emensly in the middle ranges giving them a very bright sound that lacks warmth and obionce under certain condition, really stands out if you listen to jazz .... and they are expencive

Everybody is looking for a certain sound that means quallity to them .... many love the sound the Bose reproduce and you have to hand it to the Bose marketing machine, they are good at what they do.

[GFDuke]

So those Martin Logan's are Paradigm's rebranded? Hell of a discount from New Egg there. $499 for a pair of $799.00 speakers I think i might give them a try. I'd go E-bay for the B&W's but i really want surround and in the end it would still be alot of money. I'm not prepared for that right now. Maybe some more searching on my part at E-Bay will prove worthy. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Witchdoctor]

What head unit are you going with ?

[Neuromancer]

I hear ya, It always comes down to the money ........... :ohcrap:


Yea I went with the Polks last year when I replaced my receiver, and have been very happy with them. The price point on them is crazy low for what you get. sloid boxes and a very rich sound, not to bright like a lot of smaller boxes.

I picked up a pair of polk 30s and use them for L/R channel on my receiver, eventually when it gets setup in hte living room, I want to use them as rears, and get some decent towers up front :)

(Infinity kappa 7s? lol)

I am against center channel as I have not heard any thing decent, (with the exception of my old job that had theater level audio), I am sure designed properly it would be decent but that drives up the price too



Also remember, you do not have to go 5.1 to start. Get 4 bookshelves for now, add a decent center later, and the ground pounder last :)

[GFDuke]

I've got this reciever. Not top of the line for sure. But for gaming and a decent pair of speakers i think it will be fine. I'm kind of on a budget. I can always upgrade later and put this on the porch to power my outside speakers. I'm trying to save some money so i can get back into benching and do up some 2600k's. Soooo i'lll need a mother board a good 2600k and some ram real soon as this is going to come together real quick now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882115313

[Witchdoctor]

That is plent for gaming I have the LT5500 and am happy with that, but TBH I typically game on a headphones.

I beleive just about any speakers mentioned here you will be pleased with

Sounds great you are heading back into benching, I have been down a while as well and can't wait to get this move done ....

Still looking for the house that says buy me when I walk through the door

your going to love Sandy .... I would have to say buy used and proven as new is a crapshoot unless you are planning on binning them yourself

Pics FTW .......... :thumbsup:

[Neuromancer]

I am happy with just my polks and a cheap onkyo receiver (HT-R340) Hooking up the polks I found myself hearing new things in old songs :)

Oh mine are monitor 40 not the 30s...

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Monitor-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B0009YWCT4

going to make completely overboard rears someday.. (or maybe I will wire them both up for a center channel hmmm)

[GFDuke]

I'm not going to use the HDMI for my sound though. I'm going to use the Optical output on my R3E into the Yamaha. I've got in-wall optical jacks just for it. Thats what i use in my HTPC in the living room and it (7.1) sounds sweet...

Pics soon. Right now i looks the same as last pics just with all the wiring and boxes. Insulation, subflooring and sheerock this weekend. Then i start building the desks/countertops.

Got this to hang my gaming monitor from the ceiling. Benching monitor is a scissor wall mount.
http://www.atdec.com/mounts/ceiling-mounts/telehook-th-1040-ctl

[Neuromancer]

Yeah, I do not use HDMI for audio either, I also am running TOSLINK :)

That was part of the "high end" features I was referring to when looking at receivers. Need to have the right combination of hardware to support bitstream passthrough.

The R3E is one of those boards that has a decent enough audio chip to cover any needs you have I think.

Looking forward to the pics of your setup...

Curious.. I tried having a 24/7 system, but just flip Hardware way to much to really build a system to just sit (okay not quite true.. my HTPC goes 3 months at a shot without me opening it up :) ) How are you intending to set yours up?

You doing a custom desk too or putting hw on a shelf? (used to like integrating PCs, now I like shelf builds :) )

[GFDuke]

I'm not going to integrate. Things change so a permanent integration isn't feasable imo.

Any idea on how these are? I don.t mind having the rears in the ceiling thats actually a good thing in my situation.

http://cgi.ebay.com/B-W-VM1-AS1-Surround-AV-Cinema-HI-FI-Speakers-VGC-/260825677488?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3cba6bfeb0

[Witchdoctor]

Sounds like it will be epic Duke ....... :thumbsup:

Going x58 for the gamer .... Not fimiliar with the chip, but the Xonar is a nice cheap card

[GFDuke]

Grabbed this for the bencher. Swapping monitors for benching was getting to be a pain. My Samsung can't do the higher resolutions so this will be better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236123

[Witchdoctor]

Nice find, I have an asus 24" in my office .... flawless ............ :thumbsup:

[ReverendMaynard]

They'd be all kinds of kick ass if they're B&W's, but I'm a bit concerned regarding the picture of the car sub up in the top left hand corner lol.

Little research shows they were around $3000 new.



I'm not going to integrate. Things change so a permanent integration isn't feasable imo.

Any idea on how these are? I don.t mind having the rears in the ceiling thats actually a good thing in my situation.

http://cgi.ebay.com/B-W-VM1-AS1-Surround-AV-Cinema-HI-FI-Speakers-VGC-/260825677488?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3cba6bfeb0

[GFDuke]

He says that those (what you call car subs) are B&W ccm 65 in-ceiling speakers. http://www.productwiki.com/b-w-ccm-65/ IDK whether or not to believe him. What do you think?

[ReverendMaynard]

He says that those (what you call car subs) are B&W ccm 65 in-ceiling speakers. http://www.productwiki.com/b-w-ccm-65/ IDK whether or not to believe him. What do you think?


They look legit now that I know what they are lol, but he should have mentioned them and their stats in that add...those speakers are not originally part of the VM1 package.

Totally your call, I've never bought a thing off the bay in my life lol.

[GFDuke]

Well i decided not to go with that B&W setup. It felt uncomfortable and i trust my instincts. I scored these on flea bay. They're brand new, i got free shipping and a great price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270789865933&ssPageName=ADME:L:COSI:US:1123

[Witchdoctor]

nice ................ :thumbsup:

[Kal-EL]

BOOM! Base DROP! Those suckers are gonna blow your ears back. :happy1:

[DrNip]

It felt uncomfortable? The purchase?

[GFDuke]

It felt uncomfortable? The purchase?

Yea. Rev pointed out that the ceiling speakers wern't part of the original package for one. That made me worry about the overall sound. And i couldn't really find any good reviews on them. Besides the fact that they are a discontinued product.

[Neuromancer]

Cant fake big speakers... but they should be adequate for gaming :)

[GFDuke]

I'm sure they rock. Room size and use really dosn't require the use of big.

[Witchdoctor]

Sure it will rock da block...... and the Paradigm heratage I am sure won't disapoint ...

Mine are stellar, mid base may be the only weakness out of the box, but playing with the crossover frequency I am confident you will be able to dial it right in to your likeing ... :thumbsup:

[GFDuke]

For sure Witchy. Thats what Graphic Equalizers are for also. lol

[Neuromancer]

Great sound can be had out of tiny speakers. I was only disagree with the blow your ears back comment :) Need big speakers for that

However there are exceptions...

k7r-V6rDOpA

[GFDuke]

The LRAD. Pretty cool device. As long as the guys you're using it on arn't wearing hearing protection.

[Neuromancer]

The LRAD. Pretty cool device. As long as the guys you're using it on arn't wearing hearing protection.

Yeah lots of the non-lethal techniques developed over the years are easily over come. Thats why bullets are so popular. Cheaper to make, simple to use, and very very effective.