New Room sound system.

[Da_Duck]

Sorry, i just posted this in the "Home Theater" thread and am afraid it might not have been the correct forum, it so here it is again:

I'm pretty new to audio systems and am looking for a 5.1 speaker setup. I'd much rather research a bit and get my money's worth, rather than wasting it on some poorly built system. My plan is to hook it up to my computer. I'm outputting sound from a Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE. My budget is about $250. My questions are, is the sound card going to work for a 5.1 system and what kind of designs, brands should I be looking for? Thanks for all the help in advance!

[natronforever]

Hey. Welcome to the forum. There's lots of people here who know (or sometimes think they know) lots about home audio, so I imagine you'll get some good advice.

For $250, the general consensus around here will be to save your money, then buy your audio components piece by piece, as money allows. Personally, I agree with this approach. I spent well over 1 1/2 years putting together my system. Basically, you could start with a decent receiver ($250 will get you close to a good starting point for a basic model). Look to spend about $300 or above. Then, you could get a good pair of bookshelf speakers. $200 dollars can buy a lot of speaker today if you know where to look. You'd be surprised how good a two channel audio system will sound if you buy good stuff. Then, you could get a sub, center channel, and surrounds (in that order) as you keep saving money. What I'm suggesting here may take months, possibly even years, but it's worth it. Don't waste your money on "home theater in a box" systems you could buy for $250. You won't like them long - if ever. Take your time and do it right.

Now, you may not like what I've just written, and that's OK. Everybody has different wants/needs. It sounds like you're mostly into computer audio. How big is your room? Is this for a family room or a computer room? If you want multimedia speakers, I can recommend to you the Logitech Z-5500. They're great for multimedia speakers - plus they'll decode Dolby Digital, DTS, and even give you some extra inputs for other things like game consoles, DVD players, iPods, etc. Click on the link below for a CNET review of the system. It's not better than buying piece-by-piece over time, but if you must have something now, it'll give you a decent bang for your buck for your money. Anyway, here's the link: http://reviews.cnet.com/pc-speakers/logitech-z-5500-digital/4505-3179_7-31115626.html?tag=prod.txt.1

Think about it, read what others have to say, ask more questions, and I'm sure you'll find something you'll be happy with.

[Da_Duck]

Hey Natron, first off i want to thank you for your response, it was very helpful. After posting i was browsing the forum and quickly saw that what i was looking for was going to take much more then $300 if i wanted to do it right. Now being the kind of guy i am i do want to do this right and suppose have to start building this system sometime if it is going to take a while, so why not start now.

To answer your question the room is 25ft. by 27ft. then to give a little background on me i am still living at home while i am going to college; so this room i want to install the speakers is actually in my bedroom.

You said to first start off with a receiver, and if you do not mind my noobness what exactly is a receiver? is it what it seems like it would be, a central point of the whole system where the speakers would branch off from? This costs around $300 on its own correct? so what would be a good brand to go with for a receiver and what do i look for when purchasing one? To add on to that i found in our attic my dads old stereo system i beleive to be called "Luxman" it has an AM/FM tuner for one box and below it is another box that would (in my interpretations) appear to be a receiver. could this be of any help?

I am sorry this might be a mouthful and i may have to break it up some more tell me what you guys think.

[basite]

You said to first start off with a receiver, and if you do not mind my noobness what exactly is a receiver? is it what it seems like it would be, a central point of the whole system where the speakers would branch off from? This costs around $300 on its own correct? so what would be a good brand to go with for a receiver and what do i look for when purchasing one? To add on to that i found in our attic my dads old stereo system i beleive to be called "Luxman" it has an AM/FM tuner for one box and below it is another box that would (in my interpretations) appear to be a receiver. could this be of any help?


Hi.

a receiver is an amplifier, a preamplifier and a tuner in one case. What your dad has in the attic is most likely an integrated amp, and a tuner. Don't worry, you can definately start with that...

can you give the model numbers of the Luxman? it will be stereo, but given your budget, I'd say that stereo is the way to begin, and then advance to surround step by step.

so, you could use the luxman amp now, buy speakers (2, stereo), and use that to start with, then save on for a surround receiver (since you want surround...), and then save on again to get the rest of the speakers (rear & center.)

and does your dad's old stereo still have speakers with it? in that case you could use those too with the current setup, and just save your current budget, until you have enough to get a surround receiver, later on you could get the rest of the speakers, and if you want to, you could even use the old speakers then there too, which saves you even more money :)

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Da_Duck]

can you give the model numbers of the Luxman? it will be stereo, but given your budget, I'd say that stereo is the way to begin, and then advance to surround step by step.

and does your dad's old stereo still have speakers with it? in that case you could use those too with the current setup, and just save your current budget, until you have enough to get a surround receiver, later on you could get the rest of the speakers, and if you want to, you could even use the old speakers then there too, which saves you even more money


Thank you for the reply and the definition of a receiver. you ask for the model numbers of the Luxman and this is what i came up with, i hope it helps. The top box i saw is only a tuner so i assume it wont make a difference on what receiver i use now or i buy later but it is called a "Luxman T-2". The box below it that i think might be the receiver is called a "Luxman L-3".

I did find the speakers also. they are "Jamo" brand speakers that i suppose are apart of the "S3" series because it is written on the upper right of the speaker face. here were some of the wrighting i found on the back:

Rated power: 50W
Music power: 60W
IEC(268-5): 30W
Impedance: 8ohm

I dont know what this all means maybe you can help me understand it thanks guys.

[basite]

keep & use the Luxman, if you have problems how to hook them up, ask us, or your dad :)

(if it's any hint, if you want to connect you pc to the luxman, or the tuner, the connections are at the bottom of the amp.)

I don't know much about the jamo's, but I haven't been really impressed with their products lately...

I'd think i'd get new speakers though, but DEFINATELY use the luxman for now, you'll at least already have stereo.

so: this is what I'd do now:

use luxman and get a pair of decent speakers
get surround receiver & use the old Jamo speakers as rears
get center & subwoofer
enjoy :)

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Da_Duck]

keep & use the Luxman, if you have problems how to hook them up, ask us, or your dad :)

(if it's any hint, if you want to connect you pc to the luxman, or the tuner, the connections are at the bottom of the amp.)...

so: this is what I'd do now:

use luxman and get a pair of decent speakers
get surround receiver & use the old Jamo speakers as rears
get center & subwoofer
enjoy :)

Keep them spinning,
Bert.


Hey Bert. First off i want to apologize deeply for not getting back to you sooner. summer jobs got extremely busy very fast; but this may be a good thing because more work tends to equal more money.

Thank you so much for your knowledge and help on this topic. i do have a few more questions to ask you though: First of all now that i will be using the Luxman whats pair of speakers do you recommend? (Brands, Models, etc.) and if i were to go looking online also, what will i be looking for in a speaker? Secondly you mentioned that i could hook my computer to the Luxman, how do i go about doing that? it seems like i can already start using my current setup as speakers instead of the cruddy Dell speakers you get from purchasing one of their computers.

Many Thanks:
Dan.

[basite]

Hey Bert. First off i want to apologize deeply for not getting back to you sooner. summer jobs got extremely busy very fast; but this may be a good thing because more work tends to equal more money.

Thank you so much for your knowledge and help on this topic. i do have a few more questions to ask you though: First of all now that i will be using the Luxman whats pair of speakers do you recommend? (Brands, Models, etc.) and if i were to go looking online also, what will i be looking for in a speaker? Secondly you mentioned that i could hook my computer to the Luxman, how do i go about doing that? it seems like i can already start using my current setup as speakers instead of the cruddy Dell speakers you get from purchasing one of their computers.

Many Thanks:
Dan.


Hi, for the speakers...
are you looking for floorstanders or bookshelves? in your budget, I'd recommend looking for bookshelves, though.
how big is the room where you're going to use the speakers in? since you say you're going to use them as pc speakers, I assume you're going to place them next to your monitor...
so I'd be looking for something that's not TOO big, and still give decent, powerful sound...

you can look at Paradigm (their monitor line), the Atom monitor should fit your budget I think, or look here, for more options
http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=49&pagenumber=1&sort_on=title&sort_by=

the Energy C-100 (or C-200 if you want) are a good option, or the PSB Alpha LR1, or the NHT absolute zero's...
or you can even build your own speakers, there are alot of speaker building kits out there, on partsexpress, for example, there are some good kits:
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CAT_ID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=769

if you want a subwoofer too later on (I think you will like one in a 5.1 system :)), I'd actually suggest building one yourself from a kit, since they offer more quality & performance for the price...

and then yet another option is going used, there are tons of good used speakers out there, available for very reasonable prices...
check www.audiogon.com for that :)

later on you can expand, but it's best that you'll stay with the same brand (and series) for all the speakers, so voicing is right.

then, connecting the amp to the pc...

your soundcard has a 3.5 mm stereo minijack, and the amp has a left and right RCA jack, so you connect them with a minijack to stereo RCA jack cable, one like this:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=181-591
(it's just an example, there are tons of cables like that out there, most likely available everywhere :))

the luxman, and new speakers (like the Energy's, I'd actually take those I think, or the NHT's...) will be several lightyears ahead in sound quality than your dell pc speakers :)

Good luck, and have fun:)
and don't hesitate to ask questions...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.