2.1 speaker setup or 5.1 speaker setup?

Ronaldo7 · 03-01-2004 1:57am #1

Should i go for a 2.1 speaker setup or a 5.1 setup?

What do you think?

Advice and recommendations appreciated.

The room my pc is in is a smallish one 14 foot long and about 8 foot wide.

Makaveli · 03-01-2004 2:13am

All depends on your budget really.
Your sound card has to support 5.1 aswell.

Ronaldo7 · 03-01-2004 2:20am

I have ac97 5.1 integrated sound onboard. But i have been looking around and am thinking about just settling for a 2.1 setup. Seems easier and better for the money i am spending. Have a budget of about 100 euro.

Señor Juárez · 03-01-2004 2:40am

surround sound is a rather nice thing to have, you should plump for it if you have the dosh. look on www.creative.ie, they have lots there. ya could pick up a decent set for as little as 150 euro (tis a little over what you want yo spend, but hey!)

captainpat · 03-01-2004 2:46am

I'm not an expert, but I would think that if you watch movies and play heavy games on the PC, a 5:1 surround is your man. You should be able to get a reasonable set for the PC for your budget. Of course, you will have to consider where the back speakers will go. You might have to put them on the ceiling behind you. If you have the PC in the middle of the long wall, you can place the 4 satellites in front and back, with the woofer and centre near you.

If you normally play music on the PC, and don't care too much about movies/games, the 2:1 will get a better quality stereo setup for the money.

Go for the 5:1. Spend a little more. The guys here will kill you with suggestins on how to spend €200!!

Wavey · 03-01-2004 3:09am

Have to agree with captain pat, If you already have a set top dvd player then and are not a seriously hardcore gamer then stick with 2.1....unless you're into surround sound music production. 200 yoyos would be much better spent if put towards a decent stereo and run your sound card through that. Get 5.1 for the set top cos its hard to persuade everybody in the house to squeeze around a pc to watch a movie!!!
Got a 5.1 system for my pc and its wasted. I'll sell it to you for 100 if you want though (Kind of shot myself in the foot there didnt I !!)

Ronaldo7 · 03-01-2004 3:24am

lol ok. Your all brilliant when it comes to this.

Ok so i have 150 euro to spend on 5.1 setup for my pc. Im a casual pc gamer and listen to mp3's on my pc.

What i was going to settle on was this; http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/shop/db.cgi?view=1&id=4788&type=6&path=14x130x4048

Who thinks otherwise?

PS: Wavey i just pm'd you.

maxheadroom · 03-01-2004 3:37am

Whatever you do, don't buy it in peats, you'll end up paying way more than you need to.

Creamy Goodness · 03-01-2004 3:37am

could i suggest these if your going for surrounds?

http://ie.europe.creative.com/estore/product.asp?prod=336

105 euros incl. vat

Ronaldo7 · 03-01-2004 3:59am

i saw that exact set in a small pc shop near peats for 90 euro.

Would my on board 5.1 sound be enough to run it or should i get a soundcard? What do you recommend?

Ronaldo7 · 03-01-2004 4:09am

look how tasty this is;

can i get better value than this?

http://ie.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?prod=447

maxheadroom · 03-01-2004 4:13am

Don't bother with a soundcard, unless you're going to spend lots of money on it. A cheap soundcard is unlikely to be any different to the onboard sound. What motherboard is it?

Have a look on www.pixmania.co.uk, or a couple of the online price comparison sites, most UK web-shops will ship to Ireland, and not all of them charge a fortune.

The_B_Man · 03-01-2004 6:07am

dont mind all that crap! just get the cheap ones. its not as if u'll notice the difference anyway! like how will u notice it in movies? just make sure u get sumtin with a bit of decent BASS anyway. after all, MP3's dont suport 5.1, or if they do its pointless, therefore DivX dont support it, and if it does it pointless etc etc.

wat u want is sum cheap-ish 2.1 with a decent woofer, who cares if u have an extra fukkin 4 angles of noise cummin atcha!!!
(to the theme of the national anthem) in fact, at home ive got 2 speakers, with 240W total output, "total BASS reflex" (watever that is), a 4" woofer and 2" tweeter! they do the job! as EPOX say "quality doesnt always cost much" so save urself the bother and stick with wat ur ears live with!!!

i vote me for president.

(honestly though, who d fuk needs 5.1? honestly)

SantaHoe · 03-01-2004 6:28am

Whatever you do, make sure you get something with a decent subwoofer... I picked up a cheapo set of Logitech Z640's (5.1) and the subwoofer is utter muffled crap... they just don't pack any *unf* like my Microsoft speakers.

The_B_Man · 03-01-2004 6:34am

funny u shud say that, my housemate actually has them Z640's and the bass on them duz the job!! i do whip them wen he goes home 4 the weekend and i get 2 watch me films in surround, although the surround duznt work, not just in divx but in powerDVD and the other fancy one! but with music, they're all u need! but like i sed, for them u#d payt extra for the 3 extra speakers wen all u need is the 2 with a bitta BASS! music is cool with them but if u were 2 buy 2.1 for the same price u'd get better quality speakers, with the BASS, and thats all u need!!! EOF

therecklessone · 03-01-2004 12:56pm

These bad boys have got some great reviews, so much so I'm awaiting their delivery!!! Postage is about £10 stg, so totalcost will be £75 (a tad over €105)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008O0U4/ref=sr_aps_electronics_1_1/026-1278209-5859645

Ronaldo7 · 03-01-2004 1:32pm

My MSI 648 max motherboard has ac97 5.1 onboard sounds which is apparently better than buying the standard creative 5.1 digital sound card...

Should i just get a pair and hook them into the back of the onboard sound?

The logitech 640's look very good. Lots of good reviews around about them.

So do those ones from Amazon.co.uk too though...

hmmm 2.1 or 5.1? i cant decide!!!!!

Pacifico · 03-01-2004 1:41pm

Cant recommend these enough......Megaworks

There 2.1. Have the 5.1. Amazing power though.

Col_Loki · 03-01-2004 4:53pm

Surround sound is great i think, brilliant for DVD's and especially gaming if its set up right.

Your onboard sound is probably simular to my brothers, and no matter what i do it wont work with surround sound...... so i guess i would recomend getting a card aswell for the extra €8.

I have the creative 4.1 & audigy 2....... im really happy with it. I find a very nice difference between 2.1 and 4.1 in dvd's and playing max payne 2 with surround is a dream.

Guess im recomending http://ie.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?prod=447 this again..... (free delivery aswell)

Stephen · 03-01-2004 10:24pm

I've ordered a set of creative inspire T5400's for 95 euro including vat. I'll let ye know what they're like when they arrive in a few days time

b_man: i bet that 240watts is a PMPO value. What's the RMS output?

elexes · 04-01-2004 12:29am

what ya think ?

http://ie.europe.creative.com/estore/product.asp?prod=509

or
http://ie.europe.creative.com/estore/product.asp?prod=372

Stephen · 04-01-2004 2:45am

Nice. You gonna be using it with a DVD player/HiFi?

The_B_Man · 04-01-2004 4:43am

i couldnt tell u, stephen. i got the speakers with me pc 5 yrs ago! they sound cool. good quality and the bass is cool. i think they're sum sort of german speakers! all it gives on the back is:
impedance (3.2 ohms), frequency range(20-20,000hz), T.H.D.AT 1KHz (inder 0.1%), dimensions (140 (w)*220 (h)*170 (d) mm), weight (4.0kgs).

i dunno wat any of that shiznit is! the model is G-401A so......

i'd still go with 2.1 unless u want 5.1 (which i know u do, just 2 b fancy) or unless u need 5.1 (which u dont, unless u wanna b fancy).

ur money, ur decision.

Col_Loki · 04-01-2004 4:55am

If you want the best combo, ie surround sound and good speakers then go for the 5.1 kit, you wont be dissapointed.

If you want very good sound get an audigy 2 (mabye zs)& digital speakers (mabye megaworks or 5.1).

If you are on a tight budget go for the 4.1 speakers, there good quality and are a small bit more than the 2.1.

Even if your not using surround sound, music comming out of 4 speakers is better than 2. There pretty cheap, i would think of them as the cheap option and not the 2.1's.

skipn_easy · 04-01-2004 3:46pm

I could sell you Creative Labs Inspire 5.1 5300 speakers (1 review here: http://www.web-user.co.uk/products/prod_rev.php?rid=248&cid=201) and a Philips Acoustic Edge sound card (http://www.pcsound.philips.com/acoustic.html reviews from amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000079678/ref=sr_aps_electronics_1_1/202-3991279-0752623) if you're interested for 125euro. Its a very good, low budget surround sound system imho.

Ronaldo7 · 05-01-2004 9:00pm

skipn_easy i always buy new. For times exactly like now....

Update: I bought creative inspire 5.1 5100 from Peats for 99 Euro as seen here http://ie.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?prod=336

Problem is; the remote control that comes with them doesnt work. The led does not go on when i turn the dial to go on. So the whole speakers dont work because theres no power going to them!

Does anyone know if Peats are any good at changing things?

Ronaldo7 · 05-01-2004 9:02pm

i'd still go with 2.1 unless u want 5.1 (which i know u do, just 2 b fancy) or unless u need 5.1 (which u dont, unless u wanna b fancy).

its nothing to do with being fancy. Its because i want "surround sound".

Stephen · 05-01-2004 10:13pm

I got my creative T5400's today. Not bad for budget speakers at all, they sound grand with a 5.1 DVD.

therecklessone · 06-01-2004 1:06am

And I got my Videologic ZXR-550s today. Only got them set up now, so don't want to blast the neighbours out of it!!! Still, Saving Private Ryan sounded great a few minutes ago.

unkel · 06-01-2004 1:45am

Originally posted by The_B_Man
dont mind all that crap! just get the cheap ones. its not as if u'll notice the difference anyway!

Beg to differ. My new Abit AI7 has one of the very best on-board surround sound (SNR >95dB o.a). Part of my plan to sell the legitimacy of upgrading to this board to myself was that I could sell my Audigy 2, because I wouldn't notice the difference.

Er, I was WRONG!

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
If you want very good sound get an audigy 2

Indeed. A chap here on boards was selling an audigy 2 and the 6.1 creative 6700 speakers that are a perfect match for this for €200 just a week or so ago. Get these if they are still available or get them new from creative.ie for slightly more. Stretch your budget a bit and you'll have years of pleasure watching dvd's, playing games and playing mp3's :cool:

Mind you do get very finicky in what quality your mp3's need to be

Col_Loki · 06-01-2004 2:13am

Yea i thought the sound from my Abit NF7-S (MCP-T) was great and was very happy with it, saw an Audigy2 on special and had to know what the fuss was about. Mainly got it for gaming and thought id notice no difference in dvd's or mp3's........

I was wrong.......

Mind you do get very finicky in what quality your mp3's need to be

Know exactly what you mean, Im going to invest in new speakers soon (prob creative digital) as a result. Ohh yea and ive started ripping some of my cd's again.....

2.1 speaker setup or 5.1 speaker setup?

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