Need new speakers...

[Mordred]

I have this 5.1 set of creative speakers right now...for some reason the front left speaker barely gets any sound, and crackles when it does...I hooked up my Sennheiser headset to my sound card, that works fine. I tried switching out the speaker for another one (one of the rear speakers) and still the same thing. I have arrived at the conclusion that my speakers are screwed (I bought them off a friend a year ago for only 25$, had a good run with them for the price.)

I need some new speakers for my PC. I have a Creative X-FI Platinum sound card, and I really can't listen to anything unless it has very good quality. I don't need 5.1 (I'm actually moving soon, and they won't fit in my new room anyway.) I just want 2 speakers and a Sub. Remember though, they need to produce good sound quality. I will only use them for music mostly considering I game with my headset (better for footsteps in CS:S and all that junk.)

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Something within the 200$ range would be nice. (Lower if possible, just bought a new PC for 1500$ and am still feeling that blow to my wallet.)

 

[EricB]

go to samashe.com and look for studio monitors

 

[Mordred]

I feel the need to post again just to let you guys know that I know almost nothing about speakers and audio devices.

What's this active/passive stuff, and is the sub built in?

 

[ricanflow]

Active means they have built in amplification, and passive means they would need an external amp. Mine are Active Biamplified, which means each speaker has its own amp, and plugs into an ac outlet. Good studio monitors throw so much bass, that they dont need a subwoofer. Unfortunately, $200 wouldint be enough for a pair like these, but you could get some decent lower end ones. Mine were $400 and throw enough bass on their own, but i still want some more powerful ones.

I havent heard these, but i think ericb has em and theyre not bad at all.
M-Audio Studiophile DX4 | Sweetwater.com

And youll need a mixer to control the volume:
TAPCO Mix.50 | Sweetwater.com

That stuff right there will give you natural, high quality sound at an affordable price. If you could afford a bit more, you can get some nicer ones like these.

Mackie MR5 Close-Up | Sweetwater.com

Regardless of which ones you get, you will need these cables to connect the monitors to the mixer:

Hosa STX105M | Sweetwater.com

And this to connect mixer to soundcard:
Hosa CMS105 | Sweetwater.com

That would use the line level output from the mixer and go through to the line level input on your soundcard. Fancier mixers have spdif/optical so you could get full digital sound, but they cost well over $100.

 

[EricB]

Active means they have built in amplification, and passive means they would need an external amp. Mine are Active Biamplified, which means each speaker has its own amp, and plugs into an ac outlet. Good studio monitors throw so much bass, that they dont need a subwoofer. Unfortunately, $200 wouldint be enough for a pair like these, but you could get some decent lower end ones. Mine were $400 and throw enough bass on their own, but i still want some more powerful ones.

I havent heard these, but i think ericb has em and theyre not bad at all.
M-Audio Studiophile DX4 | Sweetwater.com

And youll need a mixer to control the volume:
TAPCO Mix.50 | Sweetwater.com

That stuff right there will give you natural, high quality sound at an affordable price. If you could afford a bit more, you can get some nicer ones like these.

Mackie MR5 Close-Up | Sweetwater.com

Regardless of which ones you get, you will need these cables to connect the monitors to the mixer:

Hosa STX105M | Sweetwater.com

And this to connect mixer to soundcard:
Hosa CMS105 | Sweetwater.com

That would use the line level output from the mixer and go through to the line level input on your soundcard. Fancier mixers have spdif/optical so you could get full digital sound, but they cost well over $100.

I have the BX5a

M-Audio Studiophile BX5a from zZounds.com!

 

[Mordred]

Wow....
I was looking at these...
Newegg.com - Creative G500 310 Watts RMS 5.1 GigaWorks ProGamer Speaker System - Retail
Newegg.com - Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail
Newegg.com - Logitech G51 155 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - Retail

The speakers are small enough to fit in my new room, and it's 5.1. It doesn't seem as extreme as the stuff you posted though....
Opinions?

 

[KSoD]

Newegg.com - Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speaker - Retail

That is the set i use for my PC and it gets the job done just fine. But i mainly only put MP3's on thru my PC. I would say that the Z-5500 would be just fine. But if you are a audiophile like Eric is then you might want to wait for his suggestions.

 

[Mordred]

Eric is crazy man. I like good quality, but to go through all that...****. Might as well buy a recording studio.

I'll wait and see what he says about what I posted, but I might get what he is suggesting...I'm a little hesitant to spend that kind of money on speakers though.

 

[ricanflow]

Eric is crazy man. I like good quality, but to go through all that...****. Might as well buy a recording studio.

I'll wait and see what he says about what I posted, but I might get what he is suggesting...I'm a little hesitant to spend that kind of money on speakers though.

I suggested all that stuff lol. You think thats a lot? High end monitors cost $1000 alone. The monitors i put up have better sound than all the logitech stuff posted. Be the gamer that makes the smart jump, and gets real speakers. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. If youre willing to pay $267 for some logitech speaker, might as well pay $33 more and get the mackies.

 

[Baez]

I have the Z5500's and if you like lots of bass then they're for you. The sub on this thing is amazing. Pretty nice sound from the speakers too. I have an X-Fi XtremeMusic card. Didn't really notice a difference between that and the Fata1ity.