Sound System / Speakers Recommendation

Sully

Hey all.

Interested in buying a "Home Theatre System" both for my PC and TV. Not looking for something very expensive however, but would be interested to hear any recommendations you guys/gals have on what you would recommend - id like some pretty good sound! Iv a set of speakers with my Dell PC and there not the best for loud music, and iv always wanted a nice set of speakers both that can be used for my PC and TV.

I was looking at this one, noticed it in a shop in Croatia, http://www.trust.com/products/product.aspx?artnr=14192 but Komplett no longer list the product anymore (wonder why?) so im thinking of not getting it.

Anyway, all comments appreciated. Thanks.

skywalker

How do you set it up so you can use for both tv & pc? Im gonna be upgrading my speakers in a while (was thinking of these) but Ive no idea how to actually rig everything up so everything uses them? separate box maybe?

DemonOfTheFall

Trust are rubbish. anything they make that ive ever seen or used has fallen to bits and been of crap quality.

Khannie

I've always liked Trust products. Found them to produce reasonable quality stuff for next to nothing, though I wouldn't buy them for "high end" stuff like home cinema.

stevenmu

That page doesn't say if the amplifier has a built-in decoder or not, so it probably doesn't (especially at that price). That means that if you hook it up to your TV, which probably just has stereo out, you'll just get stereo sound. It may be able to push the stereo through all the speakers and the sub but again probably not, leaving you with probably worse sound than the TV itself. If you connect it to a VCR/DVD player the same will apply unless it has 5.1 outputs.

The same goes for connecting them to your dell, altough that could well have 5.1 output, in which case they should have much better sound than the freebies that came with it. If it doesn't you can upgrade the dell with a better sound card, like an Audigy 2 ZS to get 7.1 sound. They're available at a pretty good price on the creative site these days (and pop up fairly often on the FS board here too). Creative also do a decent set of 7.1 speakers for around the €100 mark, they're pretty good, I have a set myself and love them. They do ones with decoders too, which should get you better sound from the TV too.

Sully

It has a decoder. Komplett emailed me back with this link;

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=305887&view=detailed

Sully

Anyone any comments then?! Should I go buy it?

CuLT

Personally, I wouldn't.

I'm looking at speakers myself at the moment, and I'd only buy Creative or Logitech. Just because they have a proven track record of quality in that department.

If you can find a review at techspot or something for the Trust system that would be your best information source.

I'm looking at a higher end I-Trigue system or maybe even that €319 beast of a logitech system. A mate of mine has it and it is breathtaking.

Sully

I cant seem to find any reviews on that, only one which claimed it was to bulky.

Im not looking for something "amasing" to be honest, just something cheap and chearfull which is still good

CuLT

Sully04 wrote:

I cant seem to find any reviews on that, only one which claimed it was to bulky.

Im not looking for something "amasing" to be honest, just something cheap and chearfull which is still good

Aye, I understand, I'm a bit of an audiophile (one who doesn't want to spend an exorbitant amount on a system). You might be able to get a decent second hand set on the Wanted Computer Hardware forum if you're lucky, some nice low-mid range systems sell there for reasonable prices, mostly audiophiles upgrading to another plane of existance

Sully

Second hand isnt something id go into to be honest, rather go with a new set. Do you think the Trust is any good for what im looking for useage - music playing, TV etc. Nothing special or amasing but still good ya know?!

Richard Dower

Trust are total ****_e, i suggest Kiplish or something like that.

CuLT

If I were in your position I wouldn't be looking for a "most speakers:lowest price" ratio.

I'd invest in a decent 2.1 creative or logitech system.

Richard Dower

The Creative I-Trigue L3450 is awesome, great sound quality and funtionality. I paid €160 for the 2.1 set.

CuLT

this looks like a decent system for ya:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304587&cks=PRL

I-Trigue 2.1 System.
It'll give you the boom for the music and for explosions on TV. I'm having difficulty believing Trust can provide a good audio system for less than most proven brands.

Same reason why Coke is more popular than TESCOBRAND COLA or whatever.

Webmonkey

Creative are deadly. I would recommend them to anyone. Top of the range for the home user.

Sully

CuLT wrote:

this looks like a decent system for ya:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304587&cks=PRL

I-Trigue 2.1 System.
It'll give you the boom for the music and for explosions on TV. I'm having difficulty believing Trust can provide a good audio system for less than most proven brands.

Same reason why Coke is more popular than TESCOBRAND COLA or whatever.

Not many speakers there, and tis a bit expensive..

CuLT

You get what you pay for

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=302219&cks=PRL if you want to stick around the €100 area.

Venom

Trust make crap products for cheepskates who dont know any better. Logitech have a really good rep for speakers and Peats tend to have good Creative speaker prices.

CyberGhost

Klipsch,
Creative,
Logitech

but Klipsch are only 110V so if you don't want to buy extra transformer, go with Creative and Logitech, they keep up with Klipsch nicely.

Sully

CuLT wrote:

You get what you pay for

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=302219&cks=PRL if you want to stick around the €100 area.

Id get that instead of the Trust based on the fact you guys dont recommend Trust and yourself suggested the above.

I wanted a few speakers to move about in different areas, the above suits perfect. Not to expensive either.

Any other recommendations? Gonna buy that and the iPod Rebel cover at http://www.iskin.com/store/I2shop_evo2ws.tpl?cart=11189341314776057&command=showcart&db=products01.db whenever I get the chance!

stevenmu

Found some reviews for the trust set here and here, they seem pretty good, especially considering the price. The reviews don't mention the decoder though, and considering that the whole set is cheaper than a normal decoder on it's own (even a cheap one) I'd be a bit sceptical about it's abilities.

Sully

If the above is the case, there not to bad of reviews at all compared to the one suggested by CuLT (Review http://www.digitalhomemag.com/reviews/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=34602&subsectionid=1302&subsubsectionid=944)? However, in one of those articles it suggested that the Creative Inspire T5900 at http://www.whatpc.co.uk/products/hardware/1161935 is a better choice?

Now im stuck, the Trust one got good reviews, CuLT's one not the best but the other Creative was recommended to be slightly better then the Trust ones.

Any ideas what I should so?? Stevenmu; if you see the specification for the trust set on Komplett it shows info regarding decoders.

stevenmu

The 5900s, or the 7900s (the same but 7.1) are decent speakers. I've the 7700s, which are really just an older version of the 7900s, and I'm really happy with them. The thing is, they definitly don't come with a decoder so unless you plug them into a 5/6/7.1 source then they won't be much use. Creative do a decoder for about €120 that looks pretty good, it'll upmix stereo to 5/7.1 aswell as decoding it from signals that have it. There's no way of knowing really if the trust one will do that.

The whole home entertainment setup can get a bit messy, and there's not really any simple one-size-fits-all solutions, unless you're willing to throw loads of money at it and buy a whole set of components designed to work together. To keep everything simple, I just use my PC for music and have it hooked up to the TV for DVDs and things. When watching TV though I'm stuck with just the tv's regular speakers. Most stuff on TV doesn't really have sound worth the effort of an extra system (altough that's changing with digital and HDTV becoming more common).

If you decide to stick with just improving the sound on your PC, then the 5900 or 7900s (I doubt there's much difference between them for most things) would probably be the way to go, assuming you have a sound card that has that many channels (an audigy 2 should be fairly cheap here on boards if not). If you want to try improving the sound from TV or DVD players etc, then you could chance the trust set, but there's no gaurantees it'll do much. The creative speakers plus their decoder (there's probably countless other ones available at similar specs & prices too) would be a better bet, but still no gaurantees, you'd have to compare the outputs on your equipment to the inputs on it.

Sully

is there any easy way of getting info of my DVD Player to see what system I should get?

Sully

CuLT wrote:

You get what you pay for

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=302219&cks=PRL if you want to stick around the €100 area.

Ha - went into PC world and they had that for sale, told him what I wanted in a sound system and he recommended this product. Said Creative where by a mile the best, and this product would suit me for switching between PC and home TV. Said all I have to do is position the speakers to my requirements. Recommend this; http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304587&cks=PRL if I wanted just one or two speakers but said it wouldnt support surround sound. The price for http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=302219&cks=PRL was €155 in PC World.

As for the talk on a decoder he didnt understand and said the only decoder he knew about was one you would get with Sky Digital etc and doesnt see the connection with the speakers.

MrPinK

Sorry to hijack your thread Sully, but I've got a bit of a similar question. I'm looking at building a media PC atm. I've already got a pretty decent home cinema setup though, a good AV Amp/Reciever and a full set of 100W speakers and sub. What I was wondering about thought is the sound card. If I'm just outputing the digital signal to my amp then is there any benefit in getting a good sound card, or would it be just the same as if I'd used the motherboard's on-board sound?

dub45

Sully04 wrote:

Ha - went into PC world and they had that for sale, told him ...........................

As for the talk on a decoder he didnt understand and said the only decoder he knew about was one you would get with Sky Digital etc and doesnt see the connection with the speakers.

And he is working as a sales rep!!! Your dvd player will have a digital output which needs a dolby or dts decoder to break the signal up into its varous outputs for your surround sound speakers. (Some dvd players will have a built in decoder which will take care of this part) but in both cases you still need a 5 channell amplifier to provide the output/volume for the speakers. Similarly with your computer - if you have the proper software you can get a dolby digital output from dvds but it must be decoded somewhere along the way and fed to an amplifier.

In the case of the creative itrigues which will provide stereo sound a decoder is not necessary and they will have a built in two channel amplifier.

In the case of the creative surrounds these need to be used with the audigy 2zs which has a decoder capability - if you were not using them with the audigy a decoder would have to be found elsewhere.....

It really is wise to take a bit of time when choosing speakers and listen as much as you can. You can spend a little money but a lot of time regretting the purchase as the 'real' sound of a speaker system really only becomes apparent over time.

dub45

MrPinK wrote:

Sorry to hijack your thread Sully, but I've got a bit of a similar question. I'm looking at building a media PC atm. I've already got a pretty decent home cinema setup though, a good AV Amp/Reciever and a full set of 100W speakers and sub. What I was wondering about thought is the sound card. If I'm just outputing the digital signal to my amp then is there any benefit in getting a good sound card, or would it be just the same as if I'd used the motherboard's on-board sound?

I suppose a sort of logical approach might be why not go with the motherboard sound system initially - if you already have a good h. cinema set up then the quality of output from the mb sound can easily be gauged by comparison with your existing set up. If you are not satisfied with that then explore the dedicated sound card.

DemonOfTheFall

If you can find Logitech Z-5300s anywhere they might be a good compromise. I got mine for 180 euro over a year ago and theyre fantastic. They have a decoder to upmix 2 or 4 speaker signals to 5.1, theyre THX, they have a remote and they look the biz. About 300watts too, I think. Maybe 350. Ive seen pcworld and places like that selling em for 200 yoyos, so Im sure you can find them for a good price somewhere. Trust me, theyre incredible value for money.

Sully

dub45 wrote:

In the case of the creative surrounds these need to be used with the audigy 2zs which has a decoder capability - if you were not using them with the audigy a decoder would have to be found elsewhere.....

Whats a "audigy 2zs"? How can I find out if my DVD Player needs the decoder or not? Im really lost here!

gizmo

The Audigy 2 ZS is the name of an excellent soundcard from Creative.

The decoder hes talking about is the one needed to convert the audio signal a to Dolby Surround/Digital i.e much better.

As for choices if you want higher end stuff I'd recommend the Logitech Z-5500, its an absolute beast of a system and the quality of audio is nothing short of phenomenal. It has has a built in Dolby Decoder in the control station and also comes with a nice remote.

If you don't need a surround system and only want high quality speakers then check out the Logitech Z-2300. They're the ones I use and I love them...

Can't really comment on the Creatives but from what I've heard they're also great.

Trust products, in my experience anyway, have been cheap, tacky and nasty so I'd say avoid really.

stevenmu

Sully04 wrote:

Whats a "audigy 2zs"? How can I find out if my DVD Player needs the decoder or not? Im really lost here!

If you look at the outputs on the back of the DVD player, it may have seperate outputs for front/rear left/right centre/subwoofer, that means it has it's own decoder built in and you can connect them directly to the inputs on your speakers. If it only has left and right then you'll need a decoder to break the single into all the other channels, ideally it'll have a digital out and your decoder will have a digital in. Alternatly I think it'll still work without the digital connection by connecting it's left/right output to the decoders left/right input, maybe someone can correct me on that if I'm wrong.

CuLT

Most DVD players that cost more than €40-50 have a built in decoder, tbh, a decoder is generally a part of a high-end system, most speakers in the mid-range have them built into the subwoofer, seperate decoders are usuallly markedly more expensive.

You'll find a big difference, generally, between onboard sound and something like an audigy. The difference really is clear when you upgrade, spine-tingly so
Much sharper, crisper and defined sounds. Unfortunately it's one of those differences you won't miss unless you've heard it, but it's worth it.

dub45

stevenmu wrote:

If you look at the outputs on the back of the DVD player, it may have seperate outputs for front/rear left/right centre/subwoofer, that means it has it's own decoder built in and you can connect them directly to the inputs on your speakers. If it only has left and right then you'll need a decoder to break the single into all the other channels, ideally it'll have a digital out and your decoder will have a digital in. Alternatly I think it'll still work without the digital connection by connecting it's left/right output to the decoders left/right input, maybe someone can correct me on that if I'm wrong.

You are potentially wrong:) Even if a dvd player has a built in decoder - if it has there will be five phono sockets onthe back - the sort you see on the back of an amplifier for instance - a dvd player will not provide an amplified signal to speakers you will neeed to make sure that the spearker you buy have an amplifier built in.

What make and model number is your dvd player?

Sully

My DVD Player is a Panasonic DVD/CD Player DVD-F65. Its a 5 Disc Changer. Got a Dolby Digital and DTS logo on the front. Supports WMA/MP3 and JPEG. On the back its got "Video Out" Left and Right with a component Video Out area...

Sully

Any good then??

Sully

Well I got the package, but the cables dont fit into the TV and iv been told (on Boards and by local shops) I need to get a decoder which is pretty expensive but I aint got much of a choice.

Just said id post an update, thanks all for your support ;D

DemonOfTheFall

Shoulda gone for the Z-5300s mate Same price as cheapo speakers and a separate decoder and about 20 times better.

Sully

OK well here is the story. Apparently, according to Creative, I CAN connect the speakers using an Adapter (http://dmzweb4.europe.creative.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=322,E=0000000000077966399,K=6882,Sxi=0,kb=ww_english,VARSET=CategoryID:4,VARSET=catfaq:CATFAQ_4,usetemplate=product.tem,VARSET=ws:http://ie.europe.creative.com/#CAT136) - Q How do I connect my Creative Speakers to my TV (TV's with a SCART connector)?)

But others say I cant and I need a decoder?! :S Im lost.