what should i do for audio?

[isus]

well, this summer was all about getting a nice setup that i could drag to college and make a server for college next year.

my question: i have an allotment for audio and displays... the display will be an lcd from... kds i think? 17", etc. anyway, thats not what the question is...

i want to know if i should buy a home theater system, or a set of computer speakers.

if i get the home theater, i can obviously go out and buy a tv and what not, and hook that all up to it, and bam, no extra money, but still with 5.1 sound. and i can just hook in the computer via optical or rca or whatever i happen to want at the time...

if i get a set of speakers, then they are dedicated to the computer, but there wouldn't be a need to turn on a stereo to get sound...

opinions?

[serrebi101]

I personaly use a home theatre system with my computer for sound, and man, you'll never regret it.

[cpugeniusmv]

i just use a really nice headset....

works for me.

[Etnies]

My home theatre system is a Denon AVF 100 it does everything I need plus more... including the wall mounted ceramic speakers it is an ideal system for suround sound.. the subwoofer adds extra depth for any movie, as you can really feel it.

[notbob]

this is a thread about sound for a dorm room, not about having a zillion dollar stereo that will get you robbed 2 days into the semester

[Etnies]

It lasted throughout my university degree, without getting robbed and was an ideal purchase to spend my university loan on,

[isus]

Originally posted by notbob
this is a thread about sound for a dorm room, not about having a zillion dollar stereo that will get you robbed 2 days into the semester

hmm, not really. i will have it for a year sitting at home before i go to college... maybe by then we will have that hypersound crap thats been talked about, and 5.1 sound would be nothing important :-P

anyway, since that won't happen, my thoughts were find something like a lockable desk, or maybe one of those fire safes. heh. find a good enough drill, and drill some airholes and wire holes ;)

[Ken17625]

i just use a really nice headset....

works for me.

Ditto..............and so does he.........:fire

[PowerMan57two]

Well I would go with speakers but that is for me. Because what I do is put my cd in my cd rom and blare it with my 400watt speakers and subwoofer, (good enough for my small room) those cost around $168 from tigerdirect.com

I also have nice BOSE surround sound system in my living room which was around $850, (that will shake the house, and no system is better than BOSE, they are the loudest you can get)

I also have some nice BOSE headphones for my cdplayer and those were $300.



As you can tell I like my sound to be the best and loudest. I love BOSE they are my favorite

[isus]

the only thing i dont like about headphones is they are just one more cable that i have to get in the way.

i'm the guy waiting for everything to get a bluetooth chip... from my ipod to my joystick.

wires = bad.

wireless headfones are too big. i like earbuds, or at least, small headphones. so...

i dunno. i was just asking bc somehow the store i work for (acme) got a home entertainment system back, and it's open... so i was thinking about a) asking whats wrong with it, and b) finding out how much it costs. i'm not sure about brand name... i will check saturday, as i have the day off tomorrow.

bose is nice, but unfortunately, i did not allow THAT much room in my budget. i have about 200 or 300 dollars... and less is always more ;)

[thegorillahunter]

If you are looking for good cheap sound that doesn't make enemies of your roomies, then go to headphone.com and try the airhead. Perfect w/ cd, mp3, ipods. Good also for on the go or working out. Hope you find what your looking for.

[DainBramaged]

The speakers have alot less to do with loudness than what is powering them. Anyway, Jamo regularly trounces Bose in sound tests. Couple some Jamo gear with a high end Denon 170W/ch 7.1 receiver (multiple rooms as well), and you're good to go.

But that's irrelevant.

I'd go with home theater. There are just more advantages than having it dedicated to your computer, especially with the way that home theater has really exploded since the whole DVD oh-my-god-athon started.

Score yourself a low(er) end receiver that retails for $300-500. You should be able to get at least a 6.1 receiver that supports almost any format you can come up with, that has plenty of I/O and tuning options, and has the juice to power your speakers.

Look around on the net for review sites, and pay attention to them. Home audio manufacturers are notorious for misadvertising, especially when it comes to power ratings, but consider everything.

If you're careful, you an find excellent deals online for said receivers in pristine condition that will serve you very well for a LONG time.

[FrozenShadow23]

I'd go for the headphones in your place man. Your roomies will hate you if you have a great loud sound system (as will all the people living around you!). After that, i'd go for an excellent home audio system. who cares about turning on the shit, that takes a press of a button or sumthin. Besides, computers don't need to be turned off, I swear....

[BigFatLazyAss]

I got the Logitech Z-680 surround sound & I love it.

This was the first thing I have gotten since my JVC 60 watt Stereo System in 1980 (don't laugh, it was before they degraded the unit & increased the Wattage. It has a .0003 decible ...... which is now unheard of) Speakers were/ are 3 foot tall & 18 inches wide. It is now going into the back room, I just never use it now I have the Computer.

The Logitech Z-680 I use with my TV, DVD & Computer. The sound is Awsome. The speakers are just little things 4 x 5 inches (4 of those) & base speaker of 400 watts with also a midrange base speaker ...

I have had no problems, the sound is clean, and can really jam. I am now changing my computer sound card to a surround sound card so all the speaker will play with the computer ... at the moment it only plays out of two of the little speakers & the main base unit. Hopefully after the sound card upgrade it will in all speakers. But it still kicks ass with just the three speakers.
Cost is about $400.

:fire

[The Hunter]

Well I know this sounds stupid, but if you have a blaster with a aux audio input, you can just run the audio from the pc to that. No fancy stereos to steal, and it will use what you already have. Hell how much power do you need there? the headphones are always a good choice to keep good neighbours, as well as not pissing off anyone close.Having the bass kicking butt is cool, but not when a bud is studying for a final.

[PowerMan57two]

Originally posted by BigFatLazyAss
I got the Logitech Z-680 surround sound & I love it.

This was the first thing I have gotten since my JVC 60 watt Stereo System in 1980 (don't laugh, it was before they degraded the unit & increased the Wattage. It has a .0003 decible ...... which is now unheard of) Speakers were/ are 3 foot tall & 18 inches wide. It is now going into the back room, I just never use it now I have the Computer.

The Logitech Z-680 I use with my TV, DVD & Computer. The sound is Awsome. The speakers are just little things 4 x 5 inches (4 of those) & base speaker of 400 watts with also a midrange base speaker ...

I have had no problems, the sound is clean, and can really jam. I am now changing my computer sound card to a surround sound card so all the speaker will play with the computer ... at the moment it only plays out of two of the little speakers & the main base unit. Hopefully after the sound card upgrade it will in all speakers. But it still kicks ass with just the three speakers.
Cost is about $400.

:fire

Oh man do I feel bad for you! You got robbed! I have the EXACT same set. 400watt, logitech, base, 4 speakers, THX, same thing. With shipping ect. got it for $168! Saved over 50%!

Where did you buy these from? they ripped you?

[BigFatLazyAss]

From now on www.tigerdirect.com ... Thanks, Powerman57, you are right ... wow ... I searched everywhere on the net & found Chumbo's only $50. cheaper than Best Buy (oxymoron). BUT, at best buy I was able to take back the one I got from Chumbo's (Z-560) & get the Z-680 (BUT, that was last Christmas), But that was at another $230. & Tigerdiect is (now) $280. (and no tax, BUT plus shipping)

Did I say this unit has a headphone jack, optical jack, PC type jack, and I thing another one I think.

I like it myself.

[d3ft0n3s]

pioneer has a decent all-in-one dvd player-surround system thingy for like 300$ at sams club(same as price club) just pickup that. then if you got an extra 300$ laying aroudn pickup 5 bose 141 speakers to replace the less than awsome satellites that it comes with. i woudlnt worry bout the sub sense your going to be in a dorm