So Should I Build My Speakers or do I have to buy them pre-made

[alexsabree]

Hey guys,
Been a while but I'm back.. :laughing:

Right now I have an Xfi sound card with ATH-A700 headphones. With some very cheap speakers. Now that I've moved out of my apartment into an actual house - I can start using my speakers more. I'm interested in getting surround sound speakers and I expected after a few years the price of speakers will lower as technology improves.. for some odd reason that doesn't seem to be so. The same speakers that were $250 2 years ago are now $300?

Anyways.. I'm planning on spending around $200 on a surround sound setup. And I have a few questions.

Is it possible to build a custom setup like you can in a car? Would that be a cheaper/better solution?
Have any suggestions on where to look for parts or what parts to buy?
Anything else I should know?

Thanks for any help you guys provide. I'm really clueless as far as audio goes, and I hope to learn knowledge in audio just like how I did when I built my first custom computer. :happy:

side note:
WTF is up with speaker technology?? I mean, computers are advancing astronomically fast, why the heck isn't sound?

 

[Oreo]

It's possible to be speakers... but theres more physics and points to consider than you'd think. Can't just get a box and attatch a driver to it. Better to buy some unles you really know what your doing.

There isn't really speakers "technology" it's simply a matter of building the best quality drivers, with the best shape enclosure, with the correct weight, and using the best components inside. This hasn't really changed in about 40 to 50 years. speakers 30years ago surpass many speakers built today.

speakers are a relatively simple thing compared to computers and can only be improved so much.

they may of gone up in price because of the recession people are forced to charge more for things used to make speakers such as metal, magnets and wood.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Speakers are improving, just not drastically. The idea of a speaker being a coil, magnet, driver, and box has been around for a while. The main new technologies for audio are mostly in surround sound and audio processing rather than the speakers themselves. However, separate subwoofer and satellite speakers are a relatively new idea. Older speakers combined all frequency ranges into one big box with 3 or more speakers but for surround sound systems it is more efficient to channel all low frequencies out of a subwoofer and use the higher frequency sounds to create a surround effect.

You'll want to look for quality speakers. If you're just getting into surround sound you can find some cheaper speakers that will probably sound a lot better than whatever you had before, but you can go even higher and get expensive high quality satellites and subwoofers as well.

The receiver you use to control the speakers is also important, it usually does all the sound decoding if you use a digital (optical or coaxial) input. If it doesn't have a quality decoder chip your sound won't be very good.

 

[Crysalis]

I'm kind of baffled at how you think sound can be improved. Sound waves are sound waves... you can't upgrade them or research a new method. A speaker only moves molecules to make the waves. Its not like they are going to build a 45nm speaker that produces concert hall sound. Thats just not how sound works. The only advancements that can really be made are speaker construction.

If you are looking for "advancements" in speakers, check out Bose. Recent talk is that they are the best.

[/unhealthy amount of sarcasm]

 

[ricanflow]

^^^

LOL!

But yeah, everything has pretty much been said.

Some of the best speakers still around arent even made anymore.

 

[Crysalis]

sad but true

 

[SuxoR]

What are the top surround sound sets for under 200?

I don't have the space I'd have to go with a ******* 2.0 set

 

[ricanflow]

lol, none.

surround sound is so overrated.

 

[M733mhz]

For that price range see if you can find a used Klipsch Promedia set or something of that sort. They still make the 2.1 as far as I know. They made a 4.1 and a 5.1, They both sound great. Check Ebay, People are always selling those things.

 

[SparkMonkeyHellion]

definitely do NOT build your own. You will NOT be able to match the quality of store-bought speakers $ for $. Trust me, I've tried a few times. Don't get me wrong, what I made was good, but unless you're an acoustic engineer with lots of time and money on your hands, it's NOT worth it.

I gave up and got a JVC package of 6.1 surround sound speakers. The satellites are pretty small (about 10"x4"x5") and they are only 50 W RMS each BUT they are the best sounding thing I have ever had at home or otherwise. The sub is also MASSIVE and self powered, really high quality and clean. The whole kit was about $150 from Best Buy (ick)

Something like THIS is what you want:
Polk Audio - 5.1-Channel Subwoofer/Satellite Speaker System - RM6750 SYS