New speakers or new sound card?

SithSolo1 said:
....you'd be much better off getting something like this($329 shipped) if you are actually looking for a subwoofer. Its not much larger(ok, roughly 5" per side) but it goes a lot deeper without sacrificing sound quality or volume.
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I'll check this out asap :)


Do you already have a sub? If so, what is it? If not you would just do exactly what you said "Laptop (headphones out) -> AudioEngine A5 (sub out with a pair of RCA cables) -> Subwoofer. Most subwoofers have built in amps so your speakers are not powering them, they are just passing on the audio signal. Make sure when you do this that you set the cross-over on the back of the sub-amp to somewhere between 65-80Hz for use with the A5s
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Sub... :eek::eek::eek: :D
Well, I don't have much experience with PC sub (only tried Logitech 2:1 and Altech Lancing 2:1, forgot the models) but I do have sub on my car, Kicker L7 12" (750W RMS) driven by Rockford (1000W RMS) if that makes any sense :)


Aus10 & SithSolo1, thanks for the enlightenment.


EDIT:
Current options :)
BOSE companion 5
OR
AudioEngine A5 + (Energy ESW-M6/ULTRA SUB 10/ULTRA SUB 12)
 
Yeah i wonder if i got another subwoofer and used that energy as a mid woofer and got a better one for the lower end? Alsoo I only paid 229.99 for that sub too be shipped too my house :)

I thought it was a good deal :)
 
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LOUSYGREATWALLGM said:
EDIT:
Current options :)
BOSE companion 5
OR
AudioEngine A5 + (Energy ESW-M6/ULTRA SUB 10/ULTRA SUB 12)
Click to expand...

If it were me I'd go with the A5s and one of the subs. If you can afford the Ultra 12 there are some other options out there you can look at, not saying its bad though, just there are more options in the $400 range. For the money the Ultra 10 is hard to beat.

Aus10 said:
Yeah i wonder if i got another subwoofer and used that energy as a mid woofer and got a better one for the lower end? Alsoo I only paid 229.99 for that sub too be shipped too my house :)

I thought it was a good deal :)
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For that price it was a great deal, at closer to $300 other options start to open up. If you feel you need more umph down low you could get that Emotive Ultra 10 and add to or even replace that Energy sub. For the price you paid for the Energy you could probably get your money back if not a little more if you try to resell it. However if you are happy with how it sounds now I see no reason to replace it, like I said, its probably great with music. :)
 
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I dont really feel llike i need more umph honestly i find my self turning the sub down at first. I think i have it at a good volume now i think i might turn it up a little lol. It is great for music, and its all i could afford, I think the next sub i look at will either be a HSI or one of those Emotive subs but thats all i could afford. I thought i was lucky with the deal, it satisfies me fine and i love its size its not takin yup all the small under my desk like my old one did lol

:)
 
I don't know if you have felt umph i see alot of people with these sort of midwoofers say its power full enough but that is probably because it is blasting mid range at high levels but you are getting nothing in the really low frequency. You really got to feel 25 hz and once you do you cannot go back to living without it. The main point is you are just missing some of the sound. First I would get speakers once you see how much clearer they are over all the garbage you have been listening too then you will say I wonder what I was missing down low and buy a new sub woofer. The dark side is strong.

Lets put it this way the first time I got some nice floor standing speakers they alone produced more of what I thought was bass than I had every heard out of any of the so called subwoofers I had ever had before and I thought to myself I dont know if I even need a subwoofer. But I bought one anyway wondering what I was missing and man it was awesome I dont even have an amazing sub either. I have an elemental designs A2-250 ( this is nice because it is probably the most sound I can get in this price range and it just slides under a side table gotta keep the woman happy)
 
Ok, I dont have room for floorstanding speakers, I thought about getting a diffrent subwoofer and using it for a lower end sound and use the energy sub as a mid woofer ya know?

Would that work, kinda like a 4 diffrent speaker system? The klipsch or pioneer speakers too handle highs and higher mids the energy sub as a lower end mid and then a diffrent sub too handle the lowest sounds? I know thats expensive but it would prolly be great sounding?
 
Ya you dont need floor standing speakers not really what I meant to convey but you will need to step up your book shelf speakers. The only difference between floor standing and book shelf is really the size of the box although alot of floor standings speakers have extra woofers they do not have to have them to output the sound. It is more about getting the speakers up the right listening height than the need to have them that size.

For instance one way to do that might be to take the pioneer center speaker and buy 2 of them and turn them on their sides. Nothing wrong with this if it gives you the right sound for the right price in the right size. For polk definitely make sure you get the more powerful monitor 40s or again 2 centers might work.

You can do a special midwoofer but I dont know if you can set that up easily with your receiver you need to be able to set a new crossover point that is not common in most intro setups. In your case it would not be a bad idea since you already have 1 subwoofer. But then again I think most of the speakers you are looking at combined with any new subwoofer would cover the whole range of sound and be uneeded maybe even difficult to get it sounding right.

If you have a crossover setting on your current sub and on the new sub I suppose it would not be that bad just leave the crossover really high on the old sub and lower on the new sub then set it really high on the reciever. Hmm dont know though my reciever a denon i cant remember being able to set the crossover higher than 100 hz. maybe I am wrong though.

I think it would be just much easier for you to make sure your speakers that you buy claim to go down to at least 55hz if they do that then realistically it will be something higher but you can crossover at 80hz and and be fine with 1 new sub when you save up money for that.
 
Do you have exact size constraints? Limits to height and width?
 
OP sorry Im trying to catch up by reading through the post. Can you tell me what will be driving those speakers?
 
No not exact sizes, but that poklaudio was prolly the biggest,

Onkyo sr tx504.
 
I think i may have blew the center channel :( but i do have size constraints for the center channel they are at max

6"x20"x9"

So that polk is two big any suggestions? thanks
 
It is best to match the center channel at 6" you may be forced to drop down to a 4.5" driver. That may rule out pretty much everything we talked about. In that case you are probably going to first have to look for things that fit then list them for feedback. Alot of the 1 step down speakers are around 6.5" high for the center channel.
 
Yeah, i can prolly raise the hight a little cuz the shelf is adjustable possibly 2"
 
Well the polk CS1 center works as does the pioneer SP-C21 both of those are about the same price and have 5" drivers buy 3 of them and tip the centers on their sides if you want more output.
Otherwise buy the smaller bookshelfs to go with them. Those would be far under your listed budget. You could even step up to the higher end lines like the RTi line from polk if you wanted too.
 
Ok cool, I will look into them and post some of the speakers I find thank you, what did you think of those polk audio ones I posted?
 
The TSi line you found are the more expensive polks, not because they are better they are the same thing as the monitor line just because they are the new design with glossy caps. I do not think this is a good deal when you can buy the monitor series for close to half price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...210&cm_re=polk_monitor-_-82-290-210-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290094
I dont know why these are out of stock but you can get them from amazon too.
Also both these come in Cherry if you like that color.

Then there is the RTi line which can sometimes be found for decent deals. They are a step up and I would get them if I were you if you can for these prices. But usually I see them sitting at MSRP.
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Pe...EB/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1302643775&sr=8-14
I saw these which would be better and in your price range too. $150
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Ce...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1302643942&sr=1-1
and the center for $181
 
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Ok sweet ill look into those since i dont have much money :) I will look into those thank you
 
SithSolo1 said:
Thats because it really isn't a subwoofer, its more of a mid-woofer. ;) 42Hz-200Hz frequency response is definitely in the mid-woofer range which is fine for most music. However for the cost of that cube($292 shipped @ Amazon) you'd be much better off getting something like this($329 shipped) if you are actually looking for a subwoofer. Its not much larger(ok, roughly 5" per side) but it goes a lot deeper without sacrificing sound quality or volume.
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How would you compare this Klipsch Synergy SUB-10 Subwoofer Speaker and the Emotiva Ultra Sub 10 (both are price are equal +/-)
 
klipsch subs arnt all that amazing from what i have heard hsu is better i know that they make amazing speakers but are behind with there subs
 
awsome thanks for the help too :) i think i will try the polks audio
 
No to klipsch on subs to high of price not that good mostly just fancy extras like remote controls and stuff.

You probably need to make a decision about which is more important movies or music. For music you may want to go with a smaller sub or one that rates well for accurate tight bass. For movies you want more power.

If you want to get one that is good for both I think you need to bring your price point up about $100 then you get into a range where you can get the entry level models from alot of good internet direct brands. You should check on emotiva, elemental designs, hsu, lava. If you cant afford that look at BIC america alot of people like them as the most value for a sub.

I personally use an elemental designs A2-250 because it is an odd shaped sub it packs a good amount of power and fits under an end table in my case (barely).
 
@rudy

If you are to choose between these two, Emotiva Ultra Sub 10 & A2-250, which one will you pick?

PS: I would like to have for both music and movie.
 
I would take the A2-250 this sub can extend lower and has a pretty tight response. The major drawback the the a2-250 is that is it ugly it has an almost plastic truck bedliner look and it is much bigger about the same profile but very long. I think that extra low frequency extension would help more in movies. Also if your sound system cannot reliably go down to 80hz the a2 250 may not be a good choice since it is not speced to go higher than 100hz you should crossover at 80 max on this thing I think .
 
Aus10 said:
I have got my subwoofer it is a energy esw-m6 and i love it i think it does a fantastic job for me. Some people say it is terrible but its good for only my computer. I have a onkyo Sr-Tx504 reciver. (not sure if thats right the letters are prolly wrong im not home sorry). Right now i have some kenwood speakers in the front and Jvcs in the rear. I do a lot of gaming o my computer and watch blu-rays but i listen to music more then anything. Thats where my next problem comes about. I am trying to decide if i need a sound card next or just new speakers. I dont know anything about sound cards never used one in my life but i have read that this one is good... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102033 . The speakers i was looking at getting are these...

http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/klipsch-quintet-overview/

Are those any good? I also would need help choosing speakers..

Thank you all

What would you do in my shoes?
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to be honest screw a soundcard. You don't want to connect you receiver via analog to your receiver which causes a delay. But you want 5.1 sound in games. The only way to get that is thru the soundcards analog inputs.
Get this DTS-610. You can send 5.1 thu to your receiver via a digital connection with every game. Its external. Currently, there are no sound cards or motherboards with DTS Interactive technology
 
Spooony said:
to be honest screw a soundcard. You don't want to connect you receiver via analog to your receiver which causes a delay. But you want 5.1 sound in games. The only way to get that is thru the soundcards analog inputs.
Get this DTS-610. You can send 5.1 thu to your receiver via a digital connection with every game. Its external. Currently, there are no sound cards or motherboards with DTS Interactive technology
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What? You just contradicted yourself.

Analog output has no delay.

Digital output can be done by optical/coaxial or HDMI.
 
450 said:
What? You just contradicted yourself.

Analog output has no delay.

Digital output can be done by optical/coaxial or HDMI.
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no first of all

When you play a format that's encode in 5.1 then it will be passed thru uncompressed thru to your receiver if you have a Hdmi connection. If you want to argue please google pcm.
When your using a s/pdif connection it will only send thru 2 channel audio. S/pdif don't support 5.1. Now games are not movies they are not encoded in 5.1 that why real time encoding is there. To take the game sounds and to turn it into 5.1 audio. when your soundcard has finished doing it how are you going to get that 5.1 just encoded thru digital to your receiver please tell me?
Only way is analog and there is a delay. Google it if you disagree,
 
I am a little confused, I thought that optical was 5.1? I just use the encoders in the receiver to encode all that stuff I switch back and fourth from music/movies/game?

Is that wrong?
 
"Opitcal" (aka S/PDIF) is sometimes 5.1-channels.

The complication arises because S/PDIF only has the bandwidth for 2-channels of uncompressed PCM (literally the analog wave-form sampled digitally). However, compressed digital audio in the form of Dolby Digital AC-3 and DTS can fit 5.1-channels in the same bandwidth.

What this means to you is that when reading a purpose-designed 5.1 file (like the audio track on a DVD), the S/PDIF interface can transfer the data unchanged to the receiver for decoding.

In a game, however, there is not it a simple audio format like this. It is played dynamically based on what is going on and where it is going on using DirectSound or some other API. There is no compressed mix to pipe this (or any other mixed-in-PC audio) over S/PDIF.

This is where Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect come in. They mix this audio into a compressed 5.1 format (Dolby Digital AC-3 or DTS) in real-time, then dump it across the S/PDIF to be decoded again.

Music is two-channel stereo unless you're listening to DVD-audio or SACD. Dolby Pro Logic or DTS Neo:6 are matrix decoders that take a stereo signal and convert them to surround sound.
 
Oh I see thank you for explaining that for me :)

I use on my receiver the converts

PL(Roman numeral 2) either movie or game or music i switch depending on what i am doing?

Sould i look into something else?
 
Dolby Pro Logic (original, II, IIx, IIz) is fake surround sound to convert two-channel stereo into surround sound. You don't need it when you have discrete multichannel audio. If you like it with stereo sound, use it.

The "movie", "game", and "music" modes in Pro Logic IIx is their 'tailored soundfield' for those activities. Pick the one (or more than one) you like best for what you're doing. It doesn't do anything particularly special as far as I know.

edit: IIz does add some extra channels beyond what normal 7.1 gives you, thus there isn't a conventional way to get those channel discretely. And "fake" is not meant to disparage Pro Logic (I like Pro Logic), but to note that it is different than having a distinct channel come from that location; it uses math and signal processing to approximate what sound should come from which direction.
 
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Aus10 said:
So its not really real surround sound?'
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Let me put it to you this way. CD's and MP3s for the vast majority, are 2 channels - LEFT and RIGHT.

Dolby Pro-Logic (and its derivatives), let you take those 2 channels of sound (left and right) and expands it to left, right, rear, side, and LFE (subwoofer).

Whereas a Dolby Digital or DTS track has specific channels of sound for specific speakers for the most part.

Use Pro-Logic and similar technologies when you want to take that 2 channel sound and expand it to all of your speakers instead of just your front speakers.
 
I'm trying to decide this myself, Is getting a sound card that much of a difference in sound anyways?
 
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