do people seriously buy those logitech/creative mini satalite things?

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Things like the inspire, z-xxxx, gigaworks etc, looking at the specs of the speakers they surely sound tinny and naff?
 
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iBot said:
Things like the inspire, z-xxxx, gigaworks etc, looking at the specs of the speakers they surely sound tinny and naff?

Yes and yes. Intend to junk these FPS 2000's once I get a NAD integrated amp.

Proper Hi-Fi speakers for the win. :)
 
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No, they really aren't that bad.

Sure, Hi-Fi is always going to be better, but they're by no means rubbish.

Of course if you're an audiophile you're going to hate them, but then again if you are an audiophile you're not going to be spending £50-£150 on 5 speakers and a sub are you :)
 
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Phil99 said:
Of course if you're an audiophile you're going to hate them, but then again if you are an audiophile you're not going to be spending £50-£150 on 5 speakers and a sub are you :)

That money will get you a decent stereo hi-fi setup though, and you don't need to be an audiophile to apprecaite the quality of even basic hi-fi equipment.
 
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For £65 i've got 2x Creative 5500 digital systems wired together. Fair enough its not HiFi quality, I cant expect that for the price.
But 2 subs and 9 satellites (twinned except centre) makes a better experience for games and music than I would be able to afford with audio equipment.
 
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fish99 said:
That money will get you a decent stereo hi-fi setup though, and you don't need to be an audiophile to apprecaite the quality of even basic hi-fi equipment.

Yeah, but Hi-Fi stereo takes up a lot more space and doesn't tell me who's trying to shoot me from behind in FPS ;)

For high volume/larger rooms then Hi-Fi is clearly the way to go, for example I had my Creative 5.1 set in the Living Room once and it was pretty crappy compared to my Dad's fairly basic Hi-Fi setup (Cambridge Audio Amp + 2x 100W KEF speakers), but in my bedroom they're ideal for gaming and a bit of music.

Obviously once you start spending reasonable amounts of money on speakers it's probably best to look in to Hi-Fi seperates for various reasons, but a lot of PC speakers aren't as bad as they're sometimes made out to be.
 
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Fair enough if you need 5.1 but the OP didn't specificy only 5.1. Hi-fi doesn't need to take up any more space than PC speakers either. The Sonic Impact t-amp is 6*4 inches (see picture), weighs next to nothing and offers superb sound quality. You can get those for about £25 inc postage new.

I've got mine connected to some Eltax Monitor 3's, which are a nice size for a PC desk and cost about £60 new. They sound very nice too, clean and neutral.

Excuse the awful picture-

sound.jpg
 
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I have a z-5300 5.1 setup and for me i would not trade it for the world. It makes games sound brilliant coupled with my Xfi. Moives are great due to the surround sound and Sub and music sounds better than on my dads High end HiFi. So as far as i can see why get a Hifi if these do the job and save you £'s...
 

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mdixson said:
I have a z-5300 5.1 setup and for me i would not trade it for the world. It makes games sound brilliant coupled with my Xfi. Moives are great due to the surround sound and Sub and music sounds better than on my dads High end HiFi. So as far as i can see why get a Hifi if these do the job and save you £'s...

If your music sounds the same on your PC speakers as it does on your Dad's "high end" hifi either your dad doesnt have as high end a hifi as you thought, it isnt set up anywhere near correctly or you are deaf. Take your pick.

For reference, I find my hifi fits into my room fine although right now it isnt exactly as I would like it. As fish99 has posted a pic, I will follow suit:

CRW_7541.jpg


Sounds better in "2.0" than any 5.1 set would ever give me for games - a proper stereo image is VERY hard to beat.
 
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fish99 said:
Fair enough if you need 5.1 but the OP didn't specificy only 5.1. Hi-fi doesn't need to take up any more space than PC speakers either. The Sonic Impact t-amp is 6*4 inches (see picture), weighs next to nothing and offers superb sound quality. You can get those for about £25 inc postage new.

I've got mine connected to some Eltax Monitor 3's, which are a nice size for a PC desk and cost about £60 new. They sound very nice too, clean and neutral.

Excuse the awful picture-

sound.jpg


Hmmm ...

...what are the speakers sitting on?

My Videologic Scirocco Storms are sitting on up-ended compaq fixing screws on my desk..
 
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I can tell where enemies are much better with my stereo setup now than a turd PC setup. This is due to a higher quality sound all round. Fair enough, I've spent more than the average punter, but hi-fi is the way forward.

mdixson: I'm sorry, but if your PC speakers are better than your dad's "high end" hi-fi setup, either you haven't listened to it, or it's not a high end setup at all. The difference really is night and day.

Surround is good, but over rated. For most bedroom/PC applications good quality stereo sound is much better than rubbish 5.1. I've tried a lot of setups, and I've ended up with a stereo only setup with a view to buy a good DAC.
 
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polomint said:
Hmmm ...

...what are the speakers sitting on?

My Videologic Scirocco Storms are sitting on up-ended compaq fixing screws on my desk..

Eltax Monitor 3's are funny speakers, with built in 2 part spikes on the underneath and downfiring bass port. I've took the bottom half off the spikes and then stuck cork pads on the underneath of the feet. It isolates them from the desk pretty well.
 
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I would agree for music is is better, but i cant see how a movie for instance can sound better in stereo than 5.1? Because let face it if the cinemas could save money on something like that they would. I'm no expert but i just feel i dont get the same level of immersion from stereo as i do from 5.1
Also i came from a fairly good Denon stereo system, Pioneer Amp and i really prefere 5.1 over it.
Also the best sound i've ever heard at any expo is from a Bose 5.1 home theater setup it was amazing...

Edit: Not sure on my dads setup but i know my uncle who is a music lecturer and has is a Doctor of music got it for him, its really nice but i dont like it as much, never heard it in terms of gaming though...
 
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mdixson said:
I would agree for music is is better, but i cant see how a movie for instance can sound better in stereo than 5.1? Because let face it if the cinemas could save money on something like that they would. I'm no expert but i just feel i dont get the same level of immersion from stereo as i do from 5.1
Also i came from a fairly good Denon stereo system Amp and i really prefere 5.1 over it.
Also the best sound i've ever heard at any expo is from a Bose 5.1 home theater setup it was amazing...

Bose *throws up*. You've not heard a good surround sound setup evidently. This isn't a dig at you personally, but damn there are some great sounding setups about which kick the crap out of Bose.

The argument here is that a good stereo setup will sound better than a turd PC satellite setup. Which I can guarantee it does. Even with all the surround sound gimmicks it will be better.
 

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mdixson said:
I would agree for music is is better, but i cant see how a movie for instance can sound better in stereo than 5.1? Because let face it if the cinemas could save money on something like that they would. I'm no expert but i just feel i dont get the same level of immersion from stereo as i do from 5.1
Also i came from a fairly good Denon stereo system, Pioneer Amp and i really prefere 5.1 over it.
Also the best sound i've ever heard at any expo is from a Bose 5.1 home theater setup it was amazing...

Edit: Not sure on my dads setup but i know my uncle who is a music lecturer and has is a Doctor of music got it for him, its really nice but i dont like it as much, never heard it in terms of gaming though...

Bose have never made anything that sounds good. Ever.

As for which you go for, well, thats all down to personal preference. I listen to music almost constantly. 5.1 is a compromise - the amps (generally) arent as good pound for pound as a stereo amp - how could they be? Why would I compromise my stereo enjoyment for the odd film/game?

Every pound I could put into a 5.1 system would go 3 times further in a stereo system. I find my stereo system's stereo imaging to be enough for me to seperate instruments in an orchestra. I have *never* experienced a 5.1 system that was good enough to match an equally priced stereo system for that.

Vague banging/crashing might wash for a low-end PC 5.1 system but you cant confuse that with real fidelity.
 
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Yeah i know but it just seems that the original poster missed the idea of these setups; their fairly cheap (Brilliant sound for the price?) The base is all handled by the Subwoofer so the speakers them selves are only dealing with the mid and high which they deal with fine. Mabye not as well as a single speaker that costs more than the whole setup, but well.
Just seems like the original poster is missing the point?

Edit: also most of us are listening to mp3 quality recording so surely they will sound worse the better the setup?
 
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