5.1 speaker choices?

**kjg** · May 22nd, 2003, 02:24 PM

As the title suggests I need new speakers.
So far I have looked at 5.1 systems up to £80 (which is my limit) and have some choices.
btw some of the reviews I have seen have not been very generous to 5.1 at this price level and that getting a quality 2 speaker setup would be better, your opinions on this would be helpful.
The choices are:

Creative 5.1 5300 - £60
Logitech Z-640 - £60
Videologic ZXR 500- £70
ZXR 550- £80
Hercules XPS 510 - £?

Now the ZXR 550 is said to support dolby digital, DTS and pro logic, Im not sure if this is true for the others though

I will be using these speakers predominently for gaming (Unreal 2003 etc) and also music and dvd's (but less important)

At the moment I have a sound blaster live 5.1 digital but I will be prolly upgrading that soon to the audigy or something similar.

As always any opinion welcomed

**rastorize** · May 22nd, 2003, 03:24 PM

Logitch has become a serious player in the speaker arena, they've been producing some great sounding/looking speakers systems for not a lot of $$. The set you've chosen, here is 71.2 watts and has recieved decent reviews and is great for games...and not too bad for audio or movies. I think they sound awesome. This would probably be my first choice.

The Creative Inspire 5.1's here support Dolby 5.1 surround and work well with the Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 cards. The reviews on these speakers is mixed...some folks feel their audio quality wasn't as good as others in the same price range...they sounded pretty good to me. This would be my 2nd choice.

There is a revue of the Hercules system here ...they look good, the revues are good, but I've never actually heard them. I know that Hercules makes good products...they also make the Game Theatre XP audio system which is awesome. This would be a tough choice if it were between the Creative's and the Hercules.

I don't know anything about Videologic ZXR's IMO...only because I never heard of them...there is a review of them .here

Bottom line, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them...IMO, I'd go with the Logitechs

**iNeb** · May 22nd, 2003, 03:35 PM

Hey there, i can be of some help.

I have the Creative Inspire 5300 5.1 Speaker System, very nice system, i have it doing 5.1 now, listening to music, crisp quality and the volume controller is nice. I have never used anything more then 2.1 with logitech, but they were some of the best speakers i ever had, great sound and lasted around 3 1/2 years or more. I loved them.

BTW, read a small mini review on the SoundBlasterLive 5.1 here, not focused on it, but there were problems with the setup you had: http://www.nerdnations.com/article.php?cat=reviews&id=8

**MD1032** · May 22nd, 2003, 06:23 PM

Here is the link to the PM5.1 system, which is probably the best computer speaker system on the market:

http://store.klipsch.com/details.asp?ProdID=4

The new sets are fixed and probably won't fail you. On the other hand, if you need something with digital decoding or something in terms of a home theather system, the Z-680 might be worth consideration:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?pa...9&languageid=1

Get either of those, don't waste your money on anything less.

**EndobioticChaos** · May 22nd, 2003, 06:33 PM

Well MD, I'm inclined to agree, but if he's strapped for cash... well... you can get the Z640 set for probably less than half the cost of the Z680 or PM5.1.

And yeah, out of that list I'd recommend the Z640's.

**MD1032** · May 22nd, 2003, 07:00 PM

OK, get the 640. It's a decent system that will perform to satisfaction (although it's not going to kill you with unbelievable high-quality sound like a Klipsch system would).

**kjg** · May 22nd, 2003, 08:04 PM

Thanks guys for the quick info
My situation is such that not only am I limited by price but by those who are willing to ship to me for a decent price.

but from your recommendations I will look hard at the logitech 640

**Dudster** · May 22nd, 2003, 09:30 PM

I got the Z-640s recently after my Altec Lansing 5100s died on me (and I get the impression the 5100s do that quite a bit, and not from high volume either). For only £60, I'm really impressed. I pretty much like them as much as I liked the Altec Lansings and they were twice the price.

I prefered the sub on the Altecs, but prefer the centre speaker on the Z640s (the Altec centre was a little weak and flat I thought). The sub on the Z640s seems a bit high pitched and the bass seems a bit directional at times, noticably coming from under my desk and to the left a bit.

I can see how a higher quality 2 speaker setup would be better for music but I got my speakers mainly for games and DVDs so for me 5.1 was a must. I just set the speaker mode to 4.1 with my Hercules soundcard systray icon when playing games that don't support 5.1 (almost all of them at the moment). I can also clean the sound up a bit (highs mainly) with the graphic equalizer in said systray icon.

**iNeb** · May 23rd, 2003, 01:48 AM

My stepdad needs some 5.1 speakers, i'll talk to him and tell him to get the logitechs, thanks for the thread guys too

Found these, they have a 7.5 reseller rating

http://www.etw.com/ProductInfo.asp?v...oduct=12834726 $58 shiped 640's

**MD1032** · May 23rd, 2003, 08:27 PM

I have a brand new pair of Z-640's I want to get rid of for around 50 bucks on e-bay if anyone's interested.

**nurdonsite2** · June 28th, 2003, 08:55 AM

hey i just bought some z640s (for 74.99 CDN$$ about $45 US at costco, great buy huh?) anyway, i have to say that they are awesome, especially with my sb live 5.1. and for this price, you can't go wrong!!!!

**MD1032** · June 28th, 2003, 12:10 PM

Yeah, they're definitely an awesome bang for the buck. Better than Creative's speakers at any rate. I had the 540's until my fader switch broke. Other than being muddy, they were OK. The sub had some serious power considering it was only an 8" 10 watt sub with a 4" pressure driver. I'm a bit of an audiophile, so I was rather eager to ditch the 540's and get my current PM4.1's. Hi, I'm in love. These are awesome speakers.

**nurdonsite2** · June 28th, 2003, 12:18 PM

yeah ive heard some amazing things about hte PM 4.1s. just didn't have enough $$$ for them, saw these at a good deal and got em without thinking about it for a moment. ur right about the woofer, it does have a lot of power.

**MD1032** · June 28th, 2003, 01:52 PM

the woofer has a nice design, but it's a bit too boomy for me. I prefer the more balanced sound of the PM4.1 sub. The woofer also banged on its stand very easily. Also, I found that the satts on the x40 series actually sounded better after I had taken the screens off. No small task...they were in there tight!!