Logitech X-230 speakers

[Pi rules]

I've seen some great reviews on the Logitech X-230 speakers, and I see that they are $34 + free S & H at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121119). Does anyone know if they are decent? Or, would cheaper speakers like the Altec Lansing ACS33BW (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836113170) be sufficient? Both are 2.1, but the Logitech has a 20-watt sub and 6-watt sattelites vs. 15 and 5 for the Altec Lansing. I sometimes listen to music, but not very often. Most of it would be for watching DVDs or a few games like NBA Live and Madden. I'm thinking that the $12 is probably worth it in the long run.

PS: I wasn't sure where to place this, as it wasn't really a hardware problem, sorry if it should be there instead of PC building/gaming.

[photolady]

Why put 2.1 channel speakers on a motherboard which has more than that channel sound?

I have a set of 2.1 channel speakers but my onboard sound is 5.1 channel, and am thinking about getting speakers to fit the channel.

[Pi rules]

I don't know if I would use 5.1, or where to put the speakers. My desk is facing the wall, behind it is some empty space and then my bed. It would take some software adjustments to get right.

[dbarrow]

Well.. I once bought a big $300 set of Logitech speakers.
Got them home and hooked them up.
Bass was an atrocious rumble with loads of distortion.
They sounded absolutely horrible. Even with my hearing loss, they just pained me to hear!
15 min later... the right channel blew out in the amp ... gone.. DOA.
Packed up and back to Compusa where I had gotten them on sale.

A heated argument with the manager resulted in him opting to give me a better set of Klipsch ProMedia GMX 6 speaker set with 12" woofer (discontinued now) just to get the nasty old bald guy out of his store.

Most incredible speakers I ever heard....
Bass, at volume loud enough to move house off foundation is crystal clear. Highs are beyond extraordinary. Mid tones are solid with no distortion. Optical digital. Yowsa!

I happened to browse the Kilpsch site when I registered them and they had a "buy these and get an add-on sub woofer free" statement. Of course, I immediately requested same. They replied... have to buy them from us... I replied site makes no mention of that and I bought the set and want my free speaker or I'll notify appropriate authorities of false advertising. They replied, speaker has been shipped ... and website was changed within hours.
In a couple days, I received my $200 additional powered sub-woofer.

With two of them, I can blow the windows out....

A year or so later...
I see an ad for the same speakers on clearance at Amazon for $99. Bought them immediately and son now has same set. Have never seen them again at that price but well worth searching out.

As for Altec...
I still use my Altec 5.1 set with 6 speakers and sub along with the Klipsch. Altec has a very mellow mid range that just fills the void. Same on son's set. While they don't have the bass or the highs the Klipsch have, Altec has always been great quality.

I like to sit surrounded by 12 speakers with environment adjusted for concert hall when I blast my classical.
Compares favorably, if not better, to Bose Home Theater.

6.1 and 7.1 speaker sets for computers seem to have vanished in the last year. Klipsch is still making a ProMedia set for $399.
If you want true audio quality, visit their site and then shop around for specials and especially the GMX ProMedia set they discontinued.

[photolady]

I was thinking of the sound quality compared from 2.1 to 5.1 Pi. Mine as I said are 2.1 and the quality sucks big time.

[kern]

I listened to many brands of speakers before choosing Altec-Lansing. imo they have the best overall sound. fyi, i was not looking for concert quality, just a decent set of speakers to listen to mp3's on the pc.

[dbarrow]

If you are looking for quality, 6 speaker 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 speaker systems FOR COMPUTERS seem to be getting hard to come by. Maybe the market just dried up as few people, other than gamers, were buying them.

Most "home theater" systems now have SPDIF optical or coax digital inputs on them that you can connect the output of your soundcard to.
Most (better grade) sound cards have digital outputs.
The problem can be finding a suitable length connector cable to reach where you park the system.

Quality is as much dependant on the sound card as the speakers......
While many mobos now offer 24 bit digital 6.1 or 7.1 surround, many onboard sound card chips lack the high end ability.
The advent of cheap onboard audio chips on the mobo has just about killed that market with lack of competition.
(Why buy a good sound card when you can get "adequate" on the mobo for free)
Choices in sound cards have petered out to Creative, Creative, and Creative.....
Turtle Beach, which used to beat the pants off Creative, fell off the wagon a while back.
Others that used to be in hot competition with them have failed to progress.

We ran up against that problem with son's new gaming box. He has the speakers (Klipsch) but just finds the onboard sound (Realtek) lacking. Last night, he ordered an Audigy 4 Creative. There was a $30 rebate on it that expired today so we grabbed one yesterday.

I (we) use the computer(s) as a stereo system, gaming system, and even DVD players. The vast music library we draw from resides on the file server machine. I even pipe it out to speakers buried in the back yard!

It is still possible to use your computer as the basic component of the "system" but you will have to plan out your parts accordingly.
You can find some decent "home theater" sound systems at reasonable prices and connect them to the computer. Just make sure your sound card is up to the task.

Or, shop around for a deal on the Klipsch (I looked yesterday and didn't see anything spectactular).
Get 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 surround digital and play with your ability to "fill" the room and custom tailor the sound to your liking. The sound can be really amazing. You can mimic the environment of the Kimmel Center if you work at it.

The big problem is, you can't just walk into Compusa and compare speakers side by side as they rearely have any sets hooked up and on a machine that can really show them off. It's pure pot luck!
You can go into Cicuit City and get spoiled listening to a Bose home theater set, then go try to compare everything to that. NOTHING beats Bose!

Hint: Whenever I have gone shopping for sound stuff, I take along a cd and/or USB stick with my selections picked to stress a system to the max.
Bach Toccata and Fugue in G, a few Blue Man Group cuts, and a couple Galway flute recordings are enough to evaluate bass, mid-range, and pure high notes. The Bach organ can blow amps and speakers at high volume! If it's prone to "rumble", that one will do it.
Bass should be clean, powerful and without distortion.
Mid-ranges should be clear and mellow, not muddy.
Highs should be crisp and precise.
Despite hearing loss, I still have a perfect sense of pitch and an "off color" sound system will annoy me as much as a stone in my shoe!

[Pi rules]

I'm just looking for better speakers than I have. It's a 2.0 system (Altec Lansing) that's decent with OK bass for their size and no sub, but they make an annoying noise at night whether they are turned on or off. I have integrated audio, so if I get some top-of-the-line speakers I probably wouldn't be able to hear it.

Many of you have mentioned Altec Lansing, does the 2.1 system I linked to above look decent? The average rating is only 4, though.

[kern]

I'm just looking for better speakers than I have. It's a 2.0 system (Altec Lansing) that's decent with OK bass for their size and no sub, but they make an annoying noise at night whether they are turned on or off. I have integrated audio, so if I get some top-of-the-line speakers I probably wouldn't be able to hear it.

Many of you have mentioned Altec Lansing, does the 2.1 system I linked to above look decent? The average rating is only 4, though.

the acs33's are not full range speakers, but imo A-L speakers have a better overall sound than other brands, especially in that price range.