# Best speakers



## mkjaekmi

What are the top speakers? I want 1 from either logitech or creative labs, or any really that have the best quality/sound for music/gaming/studio/etc..

Also 1 for my hdtv


Does creative lab have 1 for tv's also?
do logitech have 1 for tv's also?

Thank you


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## jds21

Personally, I would go for logitech... you can'r really go wrong with them

Usually the come with an adaptor so you can connect them to TVs

Log onto the logitech site to have a look what they have... they have quality high-end speakers but I don't really know how good speaker you want or your budget so have a look for yourself

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/&cl=au,en

This is the link to Logitech home and PC speakers

MY mate has the X-530 and they are quality speakers for a reasonable price...You can hook them up to PCs, TVs and DVDs players and consoles and they sound terrific. You can always of course upgrade to something better but that's if you want the best of the best and can afford to get the best of the best


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## mkjaekmi

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/3549&cl=au,en

pretty damn nice. 1 of the top speakers for logitech I guess.

Does that work for t.v's also?


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## mkjaekmi

oh yeah and also, If I hook my computer to my t.v, will the sound come from the computer speakers or from my t.v?


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## whatthehuh

mkjaekmi said:


> oh yeah and also, If I hook my computer to my t.v, will the sound come from the computer speakers or from my t.v?




that way youll only recieve the audio signal from your PC, not your tv. You have to be connected to you tv, via audio outputs to speakers. I notice this question comes up quite alot. If you want to link everything and be able to listen to TV ,vid games, your pc etc through the same speakers the best thing to do is get a stereo reciever or amp with multiple audio inputs and run everything through that imo. Then its all there at the click of a button.


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## mkjaekmi

Would the g51 be a top stereo for gaming/entertainment (music/studio/etc)????
Thank you


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## Gareth

Logitech x230 are just over $30 and they have one of the best sounds I've ever heard. Bose Noise Companion III are the best though, well, at least I think so.


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## mkjaekmi

Would any studio stereos be better then the logitech for gaming/music? I need surround sound, does any studio monitors ahve them?

Thank you


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## lovely?

they really already said, you dont get much better then the logitech 5 series, go with that you'll like it


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## jds21

When it comes to speakers, look no further than logitech.... you honestly can't go wrong

X-530
G51
Z-5500

These are in order of power and price, X-530s still sounding terrific mind you for w very reasonable price.... G51, double the power at a higher price and Z-5500, about 8 times the pwoer at a very high price


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## Gravite

is it the more power the better? i saw a 600 watt pioneer 5.1 surround sound system for only $99 + free shipping


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## jds21

Don't be fooled... watts mean how much power the speakers have overall.... be sure that you are looking at the RNS power not the maximum power output because that isn't the same thing

Also, for that price... i would suspect something because a really good speaker system would not be that cheap unless it didnt have very clear audio or something like that

I am about to head out to get the Logitech G51 because after heareing them on display in a store it had to be the clearest sound i have ever heard and my old 80 watt 5/7.1 needed an upgrade anyway


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## mkjaekmi

What's the 5.1? the 5.1 channel or w/e is it surround sound?

Are all 5.1's surround sound?


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## mkjaekmi

Also, without money being a problem which is better and which looks cooler and which would you rather have?

G51
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/3549&cl=us,en

OR  

Z-5500
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/224&cl=us,en


Which is better for gaming?


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## Schonza

mkjaekmi said:


> Also, without money being a problem which is better and which looks cooler and which would you rather have?
> 
> G51
> http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/3549&cl=us,en
> 
> OR
> 
> Z-5500
> http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/224&cl=us,en
> 
> 
> Which is better for gaming?




Well, obviously the Z-5500 is better due to having a higher RMS output, but remember this, the bigger the output, generally the bigger the speakers and subwoofer. So make sure you know how much room you have for your system. Also, think about the size of the room the system is going into, the G51 will be more than enough for any bedroom, but you might have some troubles mounting the speakers in the right spots to to relatively short cables.  If you're going for a bedroom setup, go for the G51 as they are all you need, and you'll be saving a heap of cash. If you need the speakers for a big theatre room, then go for the Z-5500.


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## jamesy

mkjaekmi said:


> Also, without money being a problem which is better and which looks cooler and which would you rather have?
> 
> G51
> http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/3549&cl=us,en
> 
> OR
> 
> Z-5500
> http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/224&cl=us,en
> 
> 
> Which is better for gaming?


I would say the G51 for gaming, the Z-5500 seem more music oriented. But i'm not really sure.


mkjaekmi said:


> What's the 5.1? the 5.1 channel or w/e is it surround sound?
> 
> Are all 5.1's surround sound?


5.1 means 5 speakers 1 subwoofer. And yeah 5.1 sound is usually surround sound.


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## mkjaekmi

what's a subwoofer? a bass?
If there's 5 speakers, how do I know which 1 is for the left front or left back, right front, etc..?? Will it say on the speaker?


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## jamesy

^If your speakers are anything like mine then each cable coming out of each speaker will be a different colour. And on the subwoofer, it shows what colour goes where. Pic:






And a subwoofer essentially just enhances the bass.


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## gamerman4

I have had my Z-5500s for two years now and they kick a**, I havent tried any other high-end speakers but I would definitely say that these are great. Also, the speakers hook up using speaker wire instead of the cables that most speakers hook into, so you could technically mix and match different stereo speakers if you wanted to.


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## mkjaekmi

So do u mean the subwoofer amkes the bass "better"? So is the subwoofer like the next generation bass or something?


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## jds21

mkjaekmi said:


> what's a subwoofer? a bass?
> If there's 5 speakers, how do I know which 1 is for the left front or left back, right front, etc..?? Will it say on the speaker?



the sub is your main bass source, if you turn your sub off... there is next to no bass left running through your system.

I have the G51 and I can tell you in confidence that they are a great system. Sound very good for music and movies.... and of course games. They are nowhere near as powerful as the Z-5500s but if you have a small area then the G51 will be plenty. I have them in my bedroom and they are more than enough but if you have a bigger space and like everything loud then the Z-5500s or other high RNS output systems would be better for you

When it comes to which speaker is which... the G51 have colour coded cables so instalation is easy and each speaker (i.e front right, front left, centre, reas left, rear right) are easily distinguishable by the cable colour and cable length... 

hope that helps


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## Gravite

I just bought the x-530 and it sounds average i dunno why i kept getting headache


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## mkjaekmi

so 5 speakers is including the bass or no? It's for back corners, 2 for front corners, and 1 speaker in the mid and 1 bass correct?

So a subwoofer is basically a bass, correct?


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## WhiteFireDragon

IMO, logitechs are the best bang for your bucks. i have the z-5450 for about a year (i bought it right before it got discontinued). wow they are powerful with clean sound. volume wise, i never get to go past 1/3 of the way because i live in an appartment and any lounder than past 1/3 up, i get complaints. and the z5500 is even a little bit louder. both models can be used for gaming and a home system because they both have plenty of connection options. i don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but the z5450 is wireless on the rear and it totally dominates my whole wireless system. if you have a wireless mouse or connected a laptop to a router by wireless, you will get bad signals from everything else if you turn on the speakers.


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## jds21

the Z-5500s, are the most vercitile speakers around imo... they can easily be hooked up to a PC, TV, gaming console or home theatre and be more than enough for all of them.... i have heard them before coz i friend of mine has them and if it is up half way, we can hear it down the street.... it really is a VERY LOUD system

Yes, there are 5 speakers and 1 subwoofer... that's why they are called 5.1

and i also agree that logitech are the best bang for buck and quite simple to setup and use. The X range is the budget end, the G51 is the middle range and the Z range is the high-end systems


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## mkjaekmi

how is g51 better for gaming if it's half the price with less power? What does it have that z5500 doesn't have? 

Also, I can hook up g51 or z5500 to my t.v? How will it sound with g51 with my t.v?

Also, is it possibly toh ook up my z5500 or g51 to my pc and the t.v at the same time?


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## Gravite

its weird that i can't get my musics to work with all speakers... Only works when i play games that support 5.1 sounds and movies that supports 5.1. Anything else like 2 channels won't work... And alot of people said theres a way to make it work but i don't know how...


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## gamerman4

Here is a rundown to relieve any confusion.

- z5500s can hook up to a Coaxial, Optical, or 3.5mm (headphone/PC) jacks

- If money is not an object then the Z-5500s are easily the best logitech has to offer.

- 5.1 mean 5 speakers and a subwoofer
the .1 is for the subwoofer because it is used to play the lower 10% of the sound spectrum.
5.1 = surround sound
6 speakers:
Center
Left Front
Right Front
Left Rear
Right Rear
Subwoofer

- A subwoofer is a special speaker that is the biggest speaker in a package because the bigger the speakers, the lower frequencies it can play.
- The smaller the speaker, the higher the frequencies it can play. This is why you see most high-quality stereo systems with varying speakers size, so the speakers can reach all of the frequencies on the sound spectrum.
- The Z-5500 has a 10" subwoofer, the biggest logitech has to offer in terms of PC speakers. Subwoofers are the difference between BOOM and thump when something blows up in your game.
- The G51s are being recommended because they sound great at $100 less, you didn't give a budget of how much money u were willing to spend so its hard to recommend a speaker system. Hell if you wanted you could go spend $5000 or more on a speaker system.
- RMS is a rating (incorrectly) used to measure the average peak power the amp in the speakers can put out without distortion.
- G51 = 155 watts 
   Z-5500 = 505 watts
This means that the Z-5500 can go MUCH louder with no distortion to the sound also there is much more power used to power the big 10" subwoofer and the rest of the speakers for a boost in overall sound quality.

- either speaker sytem will sound fine on your TV because they use something called a "decoder". Since most audio sources only have a left audio channel and a right audio channel (this is called "stereo) normally this would only allow sound to go to 2 speakers, A decoder is used to make the left and right channel sound output to all 6 speakers.


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## mkjaekmi

So is bass a stereo or the sound? Cause I here people saying they sell bass, never herd them saying subwoofer, or is it because bass is easier to say?

Subwoofer is basically the bass stereo. bass is basically the boom sound. Correct?


How do you rep people in this forum?


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## CG man

Bass is the  sound of the lower end of the sound spectrum they say bass when describing the type of sound.  All normal spekers  produce bass sound but no normal speaker can hit  the low end of the sound spectrum like the subwoofer can hit. With a subwoofer  pluged in an explosion in a game will be heard by everyone in the house it gives a huge thump to the floor  at the same time as hitting the low notes.

For my PC sound I prefair seperates amplifier and Speackers designed for music more clear and powerfull sound  and more sound detail than any PC sound package.


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## WhiteFireDragon

when people say bass, it can mean both. they can refer to the tangible subwoofers, or the low frequency sound


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## PunterCam

I've had my x5500's for a week or so, and they're pretty nice. For gaming and regular pop and rock music - anything with not much mid infact - will sound great. The problem with them is the mid, cos its rubbish. It sounds really thin and nasty, orchestral strings sound horrible. I'm using the internal computer EQ program to scoop as much of it out as poss, it's really not nice. Like somone has said though, you could change the speakers, it's just regular speaker cable, and as long as you matched whatever the resitance of the output is, and found some speakers that wanted about 65watts rms, you'd be happy.

I'm running an optical cable from my mac, and it all works nicely. The controller lets you balance the amount of sub, centre and surround you want, so you can change it to fit your room easilly. 

It's a lovely little system, but I've read it's pretty fragile. Touch wood this one lasts.


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## jds21

The G51s are designed for PCs... I have a set and they sound tremendous... I only have a small room so i decided aginst the Z-5500s because they were overkill. The G51 sound very clear and they do not distort very easily providing that the sound is coming from a good source, if you have these speakers for your PC, make the most out of them with a good sound card... such as the Soundblaster X-Fi series

I fyou want to spend less, I can assure you, you won't be disappointed with the G51 unless you want them VERY VERY loud (as in, you can hear it down the street)


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## newguy5

treble and bass are just frequencies.  a subwoofer is a speaker that has a crossover built in to it.  a crossover is simply a filter that only allows signals of 80hz and less to pass through--80hz and less are your notes that are considered "bass."  

subwoofers and/or amps are also built with crossovers that have slopes.  a standard slope, like 12 db/oct, basically scales down a note that is played above 80hz by 12db every time it reaches an octave.  the steeper the slope (6 db/oct), the less bass that will come through the speaker, but it's not really less, it's just more bass and less mid-range.  

problem is, most people will turn their crossover to 120hz or more (for their subwoofers) so their subwoofer is actually playing music, and you can actually hear people sing if you put your head to the subwoofer.  this is just bad mixing and a true subwoofer should rarely play frequencies above 80hz.

of course with these types of speakers you don't have that option to adjust your crossover.  i've got years of experience building car systems and you can manually adjust those things when building car systems.  but, i just wanted to give you a clearer understanding of what bass is and why subwoofers play it.  

subwoofers are just speakers built to handle those low frequencies and they are built in boxes so that they vibrate and you can "feel" them.  you take a 15" 2000 watt sub out of a car enclosure and play it and you won't feel any bass.  put it back in a case and in the back of a car and you'll go deaf.  bass resonates because of the enclosure it's in and buying a system with a subwoofer will only just give you a more resonant and clear bass.


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## MosIncredible

Everything newguy said is basically what needs to be known about subwoofers coming from another expert on audio.


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