Request For Speaker Suggestion - Plz be kind enough to drop in ur opinion

[emmarbee]

Hi,
It would be nice if someone suggest me with a good 5.1 Speakers. Here's my hardware specs
Intel D930 & 945GNTL board (On Board High Definition Audio)
Dell SP2208WFP
Zotac 9600GT AMP!
Current Speakers - Creative Inspire 5200

My budget: 4,000 - 20,000.


Requirements: I will be using it for multi purpose. I've got around 30 GB of music files including many FLAC and 320 KBPS. Also have many audio cds currently using on my KEF+MARANTZ stereo system. So the audio quality in stereo mode should be atleast acceptable but need not be great.
But 5.1 sound and movie/games effects like gun fires/bullets should be top notch.



What I've chosen so far.

Altec Lansing VS3251 with wireless remote. Price: 3650 INR
Logitech X540 no wireless remotre. Price: 4900 INR
Logitech Z 5500 with DTS/DOLBY decoder. Price: 18250 INR

Is Logitech G51 better than Altec Lansing VS 3251? (It might sound surprising to compare both, but according to DIGIT Apr '08, both performed more or less in a same way.

If there are some better options please let me know.

P.S
A week ago, I was with my friends, who were about to purchase speakers. One of them bought Altec Lansing VS 3251 because of my suggestion and another bought Logitech Z 5500 due to everybody's(me and many online reviews) suggestion.

I heard Logitech Z 5500 by myself. The SUB was GR8. But since my friend had not set up the speakers in their exact positions(all speakers were more or less in the same place), I didn't get impressed by the performance of Logitech Z 5500.
I didn't get a chance to hear the Altec Lansing speakers by myself, but my friend told that it was not at all good. The sub woofer was very soft and light, and he said sometimes he forget the presence of the sub woofer. He also added that the sub woofer accompanied with my Creative inspire 5200 was far better than HIS. So now I'm left with Logitech Z 5500 and Logitech X540.


I'm also looking out for a sound card. Is it really necessary? Is the on-board audio of 945 GNTL better than creative sound cards?

 

[Nikhilcgnr]

buy z5500
i brought it last week, the sound quality was perfect, if u prefer to watch dvd movies in z5500 then buy any sound card with spdif out
at least creative soundblaster 7.1 live, when connecting with spdif it will give u best quality dts or dd sound from z5500

 

[mayanksharma]

to tell u truly, there is no absolutely no comparison between a X540 and Z5500!!
z5500 comes within a premium category and sounds simply gr8!
See, in the end its true that u are the best judge for ur sound setup.
Look, i would suggest to go for a Philips MMS460 5.1 along with a Logitech X540. And with the rest of the money go for a creative pci-e sound card. That would be a killer set up.

Anyways some suggestions:
1. Creative G500 THX
2. Sony DAV-DZ570
3. Harman Kardon HKTS-18 5.1

Last but not the least, there can be few options in which u can opt for a custom setup...which in my opinion is good.

 

[acewin]

emmar you know what you wanna do, its onto you if you are really ready to pay big bucks. Logitech X540 and Z550 are best the money can get you in there each prices.
Its more of money matter.
945 does not have such good onboard soundcards. You already know have been discussing your your monitor thread for so long.

Good Luck in your buyouts.

 

[emmarbee]

The first reply came 6 days after the thread was started. and I thought this thread is dead.

Anyways, I hope the thread continues atleast from now . . .

buy z5500
i brought it last week, the sound quality was perfect, if u prefer to watch dvd movies in z5500 then buy any sound card with spdif out
at least creative soundblaster 7.1 live, when connecting with spdif it will give u best quality dts or dd sound from z5500

Even I was very curious about this Hardware/Software decoding. Even Desibond told me in another thread that the hardware decoding is the best. Even you say this, but how? Can you feel and hear the difference clearly or is it just some theories saying that its better?

I'd would suggest Harman Kardon HKTS-18 5.1 anytime above all of the ones discuessed above, but I am not sure if that would fall under 20K.

Also check out Wharfedale Moviestar 50+,60+ (70+would definately go out of budget), should be around 15K but does not include an AMP, for AMP you can probably go for DENON AVR 1507 or yamaha but AMP is an expensive unit as well. A decent AMP would set you back anything between 12-15K. If you can spend 20K I truly suggest wait save and build up slowly. Better have a good one when u putting in so much......and take my word for it..its worth it.
Even though I have a kick ass DENON system it still was a package deal. Package deals are always bit inferior to building up with indepndent units (I am talking about true audiophile HIFI superior setups......not these sonys and Logis). Anyway I regrett a bit not waiting and saving for independent setup that would have been a REALLY KICK ASS product. Now it will take a long time for me to build up again........But I will....

Dude, these are just out of my range. No matter how they sound, I won't connect them with my PC and do unjustice for both My PC and these speakers at the same time. Of course, I do know a lot about these speakers (have gone for many demos) and as I've said before I personally own a Kef Quad iQ5 + Marantz Amp & Marantz CD Player. So I don't think my home (750 Sqft) could handle two Hi-End spks at a time.

emmar you know what you wanna do, its onto you if you are really ready to pay big bucks. Logitech X540 and Z550 are best the money can get you in there each prices.
Its more of money matter.
945 does not have such good onboard soundcards. You already know have been discussing your your monitor thread for so long.

Good Luck in your buyouts.

And i thought the discussion for LCD monitor got over soon and may be it's because I had no other (better) option other than Dell SP2208WFP I bought it. And also I definitely had to replace my monitor. And I can clearly see the difference between a 17" and 22" Widescreen.

But in this case, I already have inspire 5200 and I kinda like it (but i very well know that they souns awfully bad, its just the SUB that makes me feel contended).
Back to point, so the speakers which am gonna buy should atleast live even after my next two PC upgrades.

 

[Nikhilcgnr]

yes i can feel the difference in sound quality when connected in spdif and in normal 6 ch analog mode, when using software decoder the sound signal will be in analog form from sound card to ur z5500, the low quality cables will make a signal loss, when u are using hardware decoder in 5500 the signal from sound card to ur control pod will be in digital mode , so there will not be any loss

 

[m-jeri]

buy the z5500...u seems to be in love with it..

dont worry..u will not be wasting ur money....

 

[emmarbee]

yes i can feel the difference in sound quality when connected in spdif and in normal 6 ch analog mode, when using software decoder the sound signal will be in analog form from sound card to ur z5500, the low quality cables will make a signal loss, when u are using hardware decoder in 5500 the signal from sound card to ur control pod will be in digital mode , so there will not be any loss

True hardware decoding is always better than the s/w that too at the source level through an independent sound card. About the difference, mmmmm hard to tell, general scenario it would sound the same, unless you do an immidiate comparision side by side with different music/movie sources.

Yup, my friend who owns a z5500, has said the same thing. But what do I do for a SPDIF out? I haven't got that in my onboard. Shall I go for a new mobo or sound card?

buy the z5500...u seems to be in love with it..

dont worry..u will not be wasting ur money....

True. It seems that I don't have any other better choice than Z5500.
But many of them here have said that DIGITAL out is a must to utilize the power of z5500. But in my INTEL board there is no SPDIF out.
So What shall I do? - A new motherboard with SPDIF output on it (so that I could overclock my CPU) or a sound card with SPDIF output. As for as I am concerned, to buy a sound card and to use the SPDIF output of it is useless.

So if its gonna be a new motherboard, which motherboard shalll I choose?
It must be based on a intel chipset but not an Intel board. Something like Gigabyte / Asus / MSI would do.

Got any suggestions?

P.S: What's the difference between Z5500D & Z5500e ? Which is better?

 

[desiibond]

By any chance, did you eat a question bank in your childhood??

Already told you numeous times and by many digitians that best thing is to buy z5500 along with the best sound card that you can buy.

So, IMHO, enough explaination is given to you and still you come back to where it started.

1) Z5500 is thousand times better than your current speaker setup.
2) Z5500 is hundred times better when connected to dedicated soundcard that can decode dolbysignal than when connected to onboard audio
3) Afaik, all mid range and high end soundcards come with SPDIF port. You may not notice stellar difference here. Whatever the motherboard you buy, it can never match a dedicated soundcard. And am saying it by practical and theoritical experience.


PS: if you can't find difference between Z5500 and 5200, ask mods to close these threads and stick to 5200. Because audio quality is subjective and you if your ears feel that both are giving same quality sound, you will not find any difference whatever setup you buy. I do have found stellar difference between Philips MMS 460 and Z5500 and Philips MMS460 sound hell lot better than 5200.

coming to h/w and s/w decoding: emulators are only for namesake to showup that it's there. For real performance or quality, you do need hardware. It's based on theory+practicals.
Simple question, if there is no difference between s/w and h/w dolby/dts decoding/encoding, why the hell are audio enthusiasts go for soundcards??

A guitar played though the instrument in hand sounds lot lot better than a guitar sound generated through an emulator. It's as simple as that.

 

[shashank4u]

@emarbee

there is only one model Z5500D available and there's nothing like Z5500e now, previously there is one z5500e model having ports for stucking in wires.

I am also waiting for the stock of Z5500 to come at ezone. costing 17,900, don't know with the price of new stock and no need to change your mobo.
Like you i am also hooked and confused in the sound card segment.

@Desiibond and Madjeri

I am following this thread since the start you are of great help appreciated.

Emarbee only wants to know the appropriate sound card that he should buy even i have the same question( I ve intel 965 orig mobo with HD audio it uses *www.sigmatel.com/products/consumer/theater/stac9227.aspx this chip)

So now guys tell us :

which of the soundcard have SPDIF out plz tell us the names with model no., otherwise it will be same condition like before:
1) Cheapest soundcard
2) mid range sound card upto 7 k
3) High range sound card not required but it will help others in need

The confusing question is after connecting z5500 thru spdif decoding is done in z5500 decoder, but if decoding is done in z5500 decoder then what does the card do, so the point is we should buy cheapest sound card with spdif out or plz explain this is bugging me since the beginning.

 

[desiibond]

1) Doesn't make sense to buy a cheapest soundcard to power Z5500.
2) if you want cards with digital out, get atleast XtremeGamer Fatality series. This is different from XtremeGamer.

*in.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=15854

3) The use of a decent quality sound card is crystal clear audio output, be it digital or analouge signal.


For loads and loads of connectivity options: X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series

*in.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=16559&nav=0


But these will be underutilized and that is why the best way is to get XtremeGamer+Z5500. or just get X-540 and enjoy vanilla surround sound (non-DTS and non-Dolby).

 

[shashank4u]

Any idea about price of these cards? Also let me know which are the other options in middle segment upto 7K. Thanks for the reply

 

[emmarbee]

By any chance, did you eat a question bank in your childhood??

Already told you numeous times and by many digitians that best thing is to buy z5500 along with the best sound card that you can buy.

So, IMHO, enough explaination is given to you and still you come back to where it started.

1) Z5500 is thousand times better than your current speaker setup.
2) Z5500 is hundred times better when connected to dedicated soundcard that can decode dolbysignal than when connected to onboard audio
3) Afaik, all mid range and high end soundcards come with SPDIF port. You may not notice stellar difference here. Whatever the motherboard you buy, it can never match a dedicated soundcard. And am saying it by practical and theoritical experience.


PS: if you can't find difference between Z5500 and 5200, ask mods to close these threads and stick to 5200. Because audio quality is subjective and you if your ears feel that both are giving same quality sound, you will not find any difference whatever setup you buy. I do have found stellar difference between Philips MMS 460 and Z5500 and Philips MMS460 sound hell lot better than 5200.

coming to h/w and s/w decoding: emulators are only for namesake to showup that it's there. For real performance or quality, you do need hardware. It's based on theory+practicals.
Simple question, if there is no difference between s/w and h/w dolby/dts decoding/encoding, why the hell are audio enthusiasts go for soundcards??

A guitar played though the instrument in hand sounds lot lot better than a guitar sound generated through an emulator. It's as simple as that.

Sorry to trouble you desi, I'm not asking the same questions again 'n' again. Recently I had a chance to hear VS 3251 and I could clearly feel the difference b/w my 5200 and 3251. I'm NOT AT ALL SAYING that z5500 is anywhere nearer to my inspire 5200, what I'm saying is, for my room environment (15x12 feet), I thought I wouldn't find much difference. Ok, I'm sorry for saying that. Z5500 is the best and I'm gonna take it.

Desi, don't get angry/frustrated. I'm gonna ask the same question. But with some details on to it.
--> Hardware Decoding is the best. I agree. So I'm gonna use it.
--> For using it, I need a SPDIF output, which I don't have in my current motherboard.
Now I've got two choices to get a SPDIF output. a) MOBO with SPDIF output (or) Sound Card with SPDIF output.

Desi what you are saying is true 100%. The audio quality of sound card is definitely better than an onboard audio. But if are going to use the DIGITAL out alone and not the analog outs, then why should I buy a sound card? Are you saing that the output from the SPDIF of a sound card is better than the sound from the SPDIF of motherboard. If it is so, can you plz explain how, cause I'm totally unaware of that matter?

@emarbee

there is only one model Z5500D available and there's nothing like Z5500e now, previously there is one z5500e model having ports for stucking in wires.

I am also waiting for the stock of Z5500 to come at ezone. costing 17,900, don't know with the price of new stock and no need to change your mobo.
Like you i am also hooked and confused in the sound card segment.

@Desiibond and Madjeri

I am following this thread since the start you are of great help appreciated.

Emarbee only wants to know the appropriate sound card that he should buy even i have the same question( I ve intel 965 orig mobo with HD audio)

So now guys tell us :

which of the soundcard have SPDIF out plz tell us the names with model no., otherwise it will be same condition like before:
1) Cheapest soundcard
2) mid range sound card upto 7 k
3) High range sound card not required but it will help others in need

The confusing question is after connecting z5500 thru spdif decoding is done in z5500 decoder, but if decoding is done in z5500 decoder then what does the card do, so the point is we should buy cheapest sound card with spdif out or plz explain this is bugging me since the beginning.

As Shashank says, decoding is gonna done by z5500, the card just passes on the digital audio signal to z5500 as it is. So any mobo with SPDIF port is enough.
Shashank, does your mobo has a SPDIF output in it?

 

[desiibond]

^^ Not sure about the price of these cards. For 7k, I think you can get XtremeGamer card.


Check with Compuage Infocomm India for price and availability.

 

[acewin]

(interesting question, as I too thought sound card does decoding of audio supplying to the speakers. I will wait for what desi or anyone else says.

As for exactly why n how better sound cards are better if digital then bit streaming or data processed per second and no of data lines. Any improvement on this makes any hardware better. And as I had seen a little of desi's response in the monitor section for emmar, I found the recommended cards had 24-bit data.

This is same asto why 32 bit addressline is better than 16-bit addressline in proccy and mobo. and why 64 bit proccy is better than a 32-bit proccy and same for 64bit OS compared to 32 bit OS.


Emmar to truly realize what make audio or video processing better study little of engineering subject called Digital Signal Processing

I am not much of audiophile, will not realize diffeence between a normal 2.1 speaker and a Z5500 or Harmon Cardon, reason I am watching DVDrip movies and if I hear music that would be an mp3 file that too of 5 MB,
And can realize real difference when I start watching HD movies(that is why I am dying for all HD related products price to come down), or if I hear a 20 MB mp3 file for same song for which I got 5MB file.

Inshort there is 2 step decoding once at soundcard and then at speakers. But then there should be data input also accordingly to utilize them

 

[desiibond]

Onboard audio alwyas picks up noise from motherboard.

It's not just about sending signal, It's about sending the signal without loss in quality. Moreover,the features like EAX, onboard RAM, quality DAC converter in creative soundcards has a definite advantage.


1) Signal to noise ratio of onboard chip can never match that of a dedicated sound card practically
2) Loudness in sound is also another factor where dedicated sound card excels.
3) The real quality of soundcard kicks in only when you invest decent amount of money on the soundcard, like Audigy 4 and XtremeGamer.

But, if you really want to use SPDIF signal, a mobo having SPDIF port should be enough. In case of audio signal sent through SPDIF interface, all the audio processing will be done in the decoder of the speakers and hence there won't be issues like picking up mobo noise, lack of quality due to cheaper onboard components etc. So, for this you can stick to a mobo with SPDIF port or get a soundcard with SPDIF port.

Remember, some cheap soundcards try to convert sampling rate to 48KHz that is going through SPDIF, even though you select SPDIF passthrough. Be picky about that. SUch convertion ruins the audio quality. Go for card that by defaults does SPDIF passthrough as it is and only up the sampling rate to 48khz (from 44.1khz) when necessary like while playing dvd.

In short, though they say that the SPDIF passthrough is done, actually, the signal is processed on the soundcard and then passed to SPDIF. Some yamaha and cheapo onboard chips does this

Check this card:

*in.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=205&product=14189&nav=1

Should cost less than 5k and this one does SPDIF passthrough and you can select the sampling rate of audio at which passthrough should be done. (works only with xp and vista 32bit)

eg: If you want to passthorugh cd audio, you can select 44.1khz and for dvd 48/96khz.

 

[moshel]

i saw the Onkyo HTS3100 system for 20k last week. It is 5.1 channel and comes with an amplifier.

 

[shashank4u]

In short, though they say that the SPDIF passthrough is done, actually, the signal is processed on the soundcard and then passed to SPDIF. Some yamaha and cheapo onboard chips does this

this is what i wanted to hear. thanks

@Emarbee

Nope my mobo doesn't have spdif out.

 

[desiibond]

^^ Not all soundcards does that. A good soundcard will just passthrough the audio signal directly to SPDIF. Only few soundcards do unnecessary changes in sampling rate etc and ruin the audio quality.

 

[shashank4u]

^^
you are saying that the xtreme gamer sound card will passthru the signal to spdif without any change or processing?