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The room into which this is all going is 4.5m x 4.5m and the entrance in in the middle of the left wall.
I've read threads with people singing the praises of amps/receivers/speakers worth many thousands of dollars, but the budget won't extend that far. What options do I have?
Personally I have no idea about PC surround sound systems as my HTPC is connected to a Panasonic Receiver via spdif. I use DTX HI Fi speakers which ar not especially high end but which do the job reasonably well. If I were looking at PC speakers I'd love to have a good look at and listen to the Logitech Z-5450 which has wireless rear speakers and costs about USD $100 more. Unfortunately they're not listed on Logitech's Australian product list.
OK, so it seems that PC sound systems are the best option for relatively inexpensive but decent sound?
Anybody know anything good/bad about these?
Creative Gigaworks S750 Link
Creative Inspire T7900 Link
Also, does anybody know of a wireless 7.1 speaker system? My HTPC will actually sit at the back of the room, driving a projector, so having wireless rear speakers doesn't help me much. I really need wireless front, front surround and side surround speakers. Any ideas?
What would really help is to set a budget. Then let us know what you mostly listen to eg. is it only TV and movies and a little music ? or is music really important and if it is what type of music.
Once you have these I am sure there is a wealth of experience from the forum to help you get the most bang for your buck.
Personally I have spent $20,000 plus on the sound side in my setup, however some people cannot appreciate the difference between it and systems that cost a fraction of it. I have a second system that cost around $2,000 and it does a fine job for what I want.
It comes down to what do you want it to do and then find the best that fits your budget.
Bob
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Core2Duo E8200, Asus P5E-VM-HDMI, 4GB DDR2 800, 1 x 500GB WD, 1 x 1TB WD, DNTV Quattro s DVB-T, Pioneer Bluray burner, using onboard HDMI out (1920x1080) to LG 42 LCD, Vista Media Centre - Logitech Harmony One.
I'm no sound expert (as if that wasn't evident already!). I'm after a system that sounds decent even at reasonable volume. I don't think I could stand crackling or distortion. HTPC used mostly for DVD movies & digital TV, but a little CD music too.
As for a budget, if the PC sound systems are decent for their price tags under $1000 (the better ones seem to be around $700), then I'll go that way. I could extend up to $2000 but I'd have to be convinced that there was a large difference in sound quality. What do you think?
I'd steer clear of PC sound systems. Particularly anything that involves wireless. Wired (as with anything), networks, phones etc etc just works better and you will get better sound from a wired solution.
On top of that, if you do have $2000 in the budget, you would be better off looking at some low end receiver/speaker setups. Even if you have to just buy the center and front speakers now (use a couple of old speakers for rears), and buy the matching rears later on.
Even an "all in one" system from sony or one of the big manufacturers is going to do a better job (in my opinion), than a PC manufacturer solution.
Go down to your local hifi store (JB or somewhere), and ask them to demo some sub $2k mini systems that have AC3 and DTS capability.
Then go look at the PC solutions and make up your mind on what you perceive is the best. After all, you'll be the one listening
Cheers,
Arkay.
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The box said 'Requires Windows XP or better' - so I installed Linux . . .
I have to agree totally with Arkay. IMHO even a low end receiver (and mine cost less than $1000 as a superseded model) will do a better job than a PC based system and you can pick up some low end speakers for a few hundred bucks which could be replaced over time. It's all relative though and not all of us want to spend mega bucks but my feeling is you'll get more flexibility and performance as well as bang for bucks with a non-PC based solution. As far as wired/non-wired speakers go I can't really comment with any authority but I would have to agree with the premise generally that wired solutions by definition lend themselves less to issues of interference etc.
I'm after a system that sounds decent even at reasonable volume. I don't think I could stand crackling or distortion. HTPC used mostly for DVD movies & digital TV, but a little CD music too.
