= help me choose a good 5.1 audio setup in my budget =

[icebags]

hi, i hv finally decided to go for the next step of audio setups - from my current 2.1 creative speakers to something u ppl gonna suggest.

my budget is something like this : 5K for audio card and another 5k for 5.1 speakerset. which is practically the max / upper limit of what i can spend.

right now, considering 2 audio cards -
(a) X-Fi Xtreme audio and
(b) X-Fi Xtremegamer.

from that creative website, i couldnt understand understand if there are much differences in these 2 cards, both looked nearly same to me . but i suppose there must b some advantages Xtremegamer has over "audio" one. tell me some details abt it guys anso tell me their prices in kolkata and abroad ...... i would like to know if i can fit them inside my budget.

yah , forgot to tell ----- my requirement is everything - multichannel surround sound in movies and gaming as well as clear n crisp music listening. (not at ver high volume)

here comes the speakers now, currently i own that creative SBS 370 2.1 one. but extremely disapponted abt it sub-woofer, its sound is pretty hard to hear at normal or lower volumes and seems they r channeling all the other frequency sound @ a lower volume to that subwoofer. u can actually hear the whole song from it , not connecting the satellites and just increasing the volume . higher frequency sound will b produced in a lower volume tho. opposite is true as well , the most boom boom sound it prroduces are generated from its satellites lol . otherwise sounds are clear at normal volume.

what i expect from my next system is that, sub-woofer will be very strong (Max BOOM BOOM) and sound will b as crisp and clear as possible under my budget. we dont hv sounddproof walls in our house so , dont listen to stuff at very high volume - so no comparision with Z5500 guys (even if its uber expensive).

considering these speaker atm - (a) logitec X-540 (b) logitec X-530 (c) creative inspire T6060 /6100.

alrite, please share me ur suggestionss, experiences and price/ quality knowledges here with me. as i annxioussly waiting for my next big leap.

[shashank_re]

Just for your info, Z5500 costs Rs.14,999

[icebags]

Originally Posted by shashank_re

Just for your info, Z5500 costs Rs.14,999

yah thats why i m saying no comparision with Z5500 , caz ppl hav a tendency to compare 5.1 systems with Z5500.

[Sooraj_digit]

Did u researched for the AltecLansings...... They are also good... The VS3251 is good for clarity part but for hard powerful bass....nope!! It only accomplishes youNext comes the Artis S5200….. They are good for music as well as bass….. but not that impressive….. please have some demo of it since I have listened to it only twice.

About distortions….. both fails here…. Since you are not a loud listener I guess you shouldn’t be taking much notice for that.

Look for the Phillips sets too.... There are few good ones.... check out for MMS 5.500 i/C, I have heard 'bout it that they are good for your budget.


And about Z5500…. It is a God of Speakers!!! Wish I had it!!!!!

[demonkingfromhell]

Hey Man ,, Ur Audio Cards On Ur Choice ,, But When See Speaker Altec & Logitech Are Much Expensive In Higher End Speaker ... Spending 10k For Both Atleast U Should Get Some Wat Maximum Performance So ... Leave That Too Stick With Creative It Self ...... U Got A New Model 5.1 ... That Is T6100 Creative ,,, I Use M5300 Happy With That ,,,, I Ve Heard That T6100 Is Equal To Some Logitech Speaker Which Cost Around Rs7500--------------

Its All Yours-----------------

[icebags]

first of all thanx all for ur replies.

hey sooraj i cancelled out VS3251 caz in some reviews it they told it doesnt hav that much bass, altho few said the bass was sufficient for them. idk what seeting ands cards they used for it. it had good feature tho , with a remote ... meh ......
the artis one i searched in the net , and found only 1 page hit . even artis website didnt hav it - is it discontinued? idk again if artis is available here in kolkata if its a local brand.
phillips one did not look so popular lol even tho found some ppl recommending it - and they said it won digit best buy in 2006 . i doubt if they r still available.

some more analysis % research i am doing on youtube :

found some creative T6100 musicplay videos :
1) http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=UQD8gimPRDM
2) http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zEDzudHEOcg

then also there is logitec X-540 musicplay video
1) http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=vp7u1r...eature=related

creative one sounded like it has more crisper music than logitech. bass wise i m not so sure, since i m playing both of them on my SBS 370.
i have that bass, beats ,melody soundtrack and played it on my current system. and meh i can feel there is difference ... lol , my speakers never produce such bass and crisp tones together. (even tho i m on SBS)

also there are some analysis i hav done from their outer looks :
logitech X-540 subwoffer has speaker facing the ground - as a result has more reasons to produce heavier bass. its satellites , i hav noticed, have a pair of speakers. but i donno what are their roles, creative satellites have 2 speakers as well but 1 is smaller and specifed as tweeter. a tweeter works in high freq range and has tight diaphragm. those midrange and hi range speaker being different , there should b very less possibiliy that all sound will mix up and make distortion as well as there should be high output of sound for both mid and high range freqs.
idk what roles are logitech speaker are assigned to , both of them look quite of same size to me.

pls posting ur suggestions.......

[demonkingfromhell]

its all up to u , but dont underestimate creative its one of largest selling speakers than logitech .... its like power or performance------------all the best

LOGITECH-----------POWER

CREATIVE------------PERFORMANCE

[icebags]

Man , dont simplify it like that .......

i knoe many creative products can produce crisp and clear sounds, and ppl like logitech for its power. but there r some products in both of their assembly likes which were supposed not performing upto their brand name. i m just looking forward to get something which is a lil more balanced...... heheh

lets there b discussions ....... and yah we havnt yet started with cards yet (geez the difference seems a thousand of more bucks)

[demonkingfromhell]

COOL MAN

actually may i know your needs for this speakers ,, for mainly what you are going use if u tell this i can tell u ???

[icebags]

sure, as i already said this in the first post , my needs are pretty much all round ... i play games a lot , thats why opting for X-Fi cards , and i listen to musix all the time when browsing internet . lastly sometimes i get my hands on some movies with 6 channel hd audio ......

[comp@ddict]

Mate u got a bro, i listen to music all the time too..while surfing
Go for Altec Lansing, best quality sound(i use them too)

[mayanksharma]

The Xtreme Gamer card offers a better signal-to-noise ratio and lower total harmonic distortion than the Xtreme Audio, and is hence a better card even purely for music use, though the marketing of the two products suggests the cheaper product to be adequate for most users. However, you should know that, Xtreme Gamer card is rather costly than its counterpart.
As for speakers, i say u can go with either Philips MMS 460 5.1 (Excellent for Gaming) or Logitech X540 5.1 ! And price tag remains quite appropriate for both of them.

[jamifahad]

guyz how abt bose speakers...affordable one ( http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/...on_2/index.jsp) ..Companion® 2 multimedia speaker system costs $99. will it be better than creative/logitech/al/philips 5.1?..i doubt though.

[comp@ddict]

Creative is better

Bose high range speakers rock, but high range is added to extreme high price...but u get lowr price but asthetic appeal + happy ears wid sound quality with:
1. Altec Lansing(Personal Experience
2. Creative(everyone's fav, well almost i guess)

[icebags]

thanx ppl for all ur hearty response.

comp@ , yes , i considered the altec lansing 5.1 setup one (VS3251) for some time , but gave up with with caz there r many reviews saying it doesnt produce much bass. i m almost making up my mind for T6100 - if u listen to the fist creative video link i posted, u can find the sharp and bass sounds are producing at level. it quite impressed me . here some more reviews i found saying the bass is good , so are the sharps (notice the tweeters) .
check this ..... http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=204897

mayank, thanx for the info on sound cards thats quite helpful . any idea how much these cards now cost in street ?
i wonder if the computer shops deal with philips speakers, i will look for tho.

jami, i hab absolutely made up my mind for 5.1 system lol.

>.> going to visit the IT mall ssoon , i saw a logitech shop there lets see if i can manage to hear the X540 there.......

(dropped X530 , some ppl saying its bass produces hollow sounds sometimes.)

ppl , any ideas abt their price ?

[skippednote]

Creative sbs 580

[icebags]

Originally Posted by bassam904

Creative sbs 580

yaaaaaa , uber pwnage speaker system . i will get pwnt.

[jamifahad]

@icebags.. i know you need 5.1 speakers...but today i bot Logitech 2.1 Z-2300 THX. its more expensive than X-540 but DAMN its worth man! Awesome sound..was listening to lollipop by lil wayne on it...IT ROCKS!!

[icebags]

jami, congrats on ur purchase . ..... ya THX certified speakers are really great. thanx for recommending such a systems lol but really want that surround sound effect for the games and movies lol .....

anyways , how much did it cost ?

[Sooraj_digit]

Hey icebas,

For my suggestion, I should say that you should add more bucks to your speaker part pulling out money from your soundcard budget. A 5.1 can never satisfy which is under 5k mark, It would only make you feel like sounding good… so please add more K’s to ur speaker budget you would never regret and look for other sound card or I should say, stay with ur onboard sound, if it’s HD, if you are not a hard-core audiophile….

One thing I must say that a video review can never give the quality of real demo until its viewed in HD sound format… and I guess youtube is not giving HD clips….. insist on our friendly ears!!!

[jamifahad]

dude...i got it for $149! yeah..am not in india. I checked quite a few..klipsch,onkyo and even the bose ones..but dey were ofcourse outta my budget. I think u shud go for X-540..got its demo...n it sounds nice (...thou not as good as mine..!lol ) ..nyway..tell us wen u buy.

Cheers.

[raviramgopal]

pff topic
Lol,my friend went and bought a Bose 2.1 for 21k.

[icebags]

okay, today i went to the e-mall and entered the little logitech show room. guys there had X-540 , Z2300 and some other fitted with their audio equipment for ready demonstration. i like the way X-540 sounded- they were very clear, altho didnt find much bass in the sound. then i asked for the Z2300 demo, this one was obviously powerful , but for sum reason there was a lil hissing sound may b caz of improper setting or sumthin.

funny thing with X-540 was ..... guess what .... it was sliding on the floor when they played the song . but the sound volume was not very normal either.

i asked the price of both of them - X-540 they said 6000/- (~$133.33 if converted ) while Z2300 one was 9k . both were outta my budget , so i slipped out of the shop and they resumed their lunch once again.

because of puja season most other shops were closed. still those who were open, didnt hav creative T6100, most they had was T6060 priced at 4K - 4.2K which seemed a lil over priced to me for this model. i hav finally decided to resume searching after puja season .

--------------sound card note--------------------------

looked for Xtremegamer sound card as well , one shop said 4.3k , donno which of the two card he was reffering to.... i suppose he was saying abt audio one.

anyways, anybody who is thinking upon Xtreme audio card, i would like to tell , they dont use the audio chipset used by other X-Fi cards. the audio chipset Xtreme audio used is the one used by Audigy series , and has much lessed computing power than original X-Fi cards. so pls be aware and go for atleast XtremeGamer if u want X-Fi.

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