Klipsch HD 300 VS Z-5500

[Mkilbride]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882780017

100$ cheaper than the Z-5500


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120



From what I've been told, Klipsch is amazing and speakers from them will beat ANY PC Speakers.

But I've also been told that for the HD 300 I'd need a Receiver or something...and then there is the question of Digital Audio, because I've been told Digital Audio sounds worlds better than Analog Audio, so I'm not entirely sure what I need.

Recommendations?

 

[jinjuku]

The Klipsch HD is not $100 less since it will require a receiver. The good news is that you could most likely find a $100 5.1 receiver used out there somewhere.

My vote: This Parts Express System with 10" Sub Plus a $100-150 receiver.

They have the 12" sub for another $20...

 

[Mkilbride]

The Klipsch HD is not $100 less since it will require a receiver. The good news is that you could most likely find a $100 5.1 receiver used out there somewhere.

My vote: This Parts Express System with 10" Sub Plus a $100-150 receiver.

They have the 12" sub for another $20...

Never heard of them, reviews are nice, but I'm not sure, and a 100$ 5.1 Receiver?

Thanks.

 

[Polygon]

Well, the Logitech system has more wattage but the Klipsch system will sound better but will require a receiver. Personally, I would pick sound quality and get the Klipsch and an inexpensive receiver.

Also, I have a Dayton sub and I've been pretty happy with it. I can't comment on the sound quality of the satellites.

 

[Mkilbride]

Can you recommend a good / affordable reciever? Thanks, and can you please explain to me about Digital Audio and such? I've heard alot about it, but not sure on what to do, I already have a Soundcard that supports it, an X-Fi Titanium Pro.

 

[Polygon]

Can you recommend a good / affordable reciever? Thanks, and can you please explain to me about Digital Audio and such? I've heard alot about it, but not sure on what to do, I already have a Soundcard that supports it, an X-Fi Titanium Pro.

How much are you willing to spend on the receiver?

As for digital audio, it's simple, you use the SPDIF out on the sound card and connect it to a digital input on the receiver and the receiver does the processing. In fact, you don't need an X-Fi for that, you could use something a lot cheaper.

 

[Mkilbride]

How much are you willing to spend on the receiver?

As for digital audio, it's simple, you use the SPDIF out on the sound card and connect it to a digital input on the receiver and the receiver does the processing. In fact, you don't need an X-Fi for that, you could use something a lot cheaper.

I already own the Sound Card. No reason not to use it...so yeah.


So what do you think, is Digital Audio really worth it? From what I've read, it hardly makes a difference unless you just WANT to hear it make one, but who knows.

People told me HDMI VS. Analog input was a huge upgrade...but it wasn't that big of an upgrade to me to be honest. Looks 90% of the same.

As for Receiver price...I'd rather not go to high. 250$ for the speakers alone is about as much as I wanted to spend on speakers...

How much is all this additional receiver, Digital Audio, ectera?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2100310488 4017&name=$100 - $200

Shows some 100-200$ receivers...any good?

 

[bandphan]

A good set of Active Bookshelves and (maybe) would be something to think about.

 

[Mkilbride]

A good set of Active Bookshelves and (maybe) would be something to think about.

Yeah, but I'm not willing to spend that kind of cash, people say buy some now, and build up over time, but I'm just using this for gaming and watching movies on my computer, my current are the

X-530

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-X-530-5-1-Speaker-System/dp/B0002WPSCG

I've had them since early 2006 and while they're good, I wanted to upgrade to some nice speakers to really get the best I can out of my Soundcard, I was told that the reason my soundcard didn't make everything sound better is because my Speakers are horrible, and that the best they can do is medicore with my Soundcard.

So yeah, the HD 300 look good and very professional, trusted brand, too.

The Z-5500 is from Logitech, another well known brand, but not exactly known for amazing quality, just "Decent" and "Enough", but the Z-5500's have amazing reviews on pretty much all sites, they look cool..but not really professional I guess.

HD 300 seem like alot more work, and hell, even more money. It's a really tough decision, so far the Z-5500 are catching my attention more, but the HD 300 look so sweet and I feel like they'd provide better Audio.

 

[Polygon]

I already own the Sound Card. No reason not to use it...so yeah.

Yeah, I agree. If you've got it use it.

So what do you think, is Digital Audio really worth it? From what I've read, it hardly makes a difference unless you just WANT to hear it make one, but who knows.

Well, with the digital vs. analog that's going to depend on a lot of factors. If you have great DACs on what you're already using the analog can sound great. Some people prefer analog to digital for music. That's something your ears are going to have to tell you. Now, for movies you're going to have to go digital if you want listen to them in surround.

People told me HDMI VS. Analog input was a huge upgrade...but it wasn't that big of an upgrade to me to be honest. Looks 90% of the same.

Once again, that depends. There are a lot of different analog interconnects. Composite is going to look like crap compared to HDMI. S-Video will look marginally better. Now, component can transmit a 1080p signal unlike the other two, but it doesn't carry audio and can't carry HDCP. If you're using an HTPC you should be using HDMI, don't limit yourself and the upgrade is next to nothing unless you don't have a television that supports it.

As for Receiver price...I'd rather not go to high. 250$ for the speakers alone is about as much as I wanted to spend on speakers...

How much is all this additional receiver, Digital Audio, ectera?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2100310488 4017&name=$100 - $200

Shows some 100-200$ receivers...any good?

I would not buy a Sherwood receiver, ever. For your budget the Pioneer VSX-519 would make a good choice. You can get all your interconnects from Monoprice.com for not very much money as well. Avoid Monster brand at all cost. A lot of people are to concerned with interconnects but as long as you're getting good ones, spending more money will provide marginal gains and a lot of high priced interconnects are simply overpriced and you might not hear a difference at all. Just stick to the stuff at Monoprice.

 

[Mkilbride]

Yeah, I agree. If you've got it use it.



Well, with the digital vs. analog that's going to depend on a lot of factors. If you have great DACs on what you're already using the analog can sound great. Some people prefer analog to digital for music. That's something your ears are going to have to tell you. Now, for movies you're going to have to go digital if you want listen to them in surround.



Once again, that depends. There are a lot of different analog interconnects. Composite is going to look like crap compared to HDMI. S-Video will look marginally better. Now, component can transmit a 1080p signal unlike the other two, but it doesn't carry audio and can't carry HDCP. If you're using an HTPC you should be using HDMI, don't limit yourself and the upgrade is next to nothing unless you don't have a television that supports it.



I would not buy a Sherwood receiver, ever. For your budget the Pioneer VSX-519 would make a good choice. You can get all your interconnects from Monoprice.com for not very much money as well. Avoid Monster brand at all cost. A lot of people are to concerned with interconnects but as long as you're getting good ones, spending more money will provide marginal gains and a lot of high priced interconnects are simply overpriced and you might not hear a difference at all. Just stick to the stuff at Monoprice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117303

So this one? But it's got some mixed reviews...

And interconnects? Can you help me out by telling me or maybe even linking me to the appropriate wires? I've always just used PC Speakers and this is starting to sound like alot more work than I initially imagined.

I mean the speakers themselves are 250...and that receiver is 180, so I've already spent more than I wanted...and such...soo, I don't want to exceed 400$ if possible.

Thanks so much for all this, I know it's a pain talking to an audiophile noob like myself.

 

[Polygon]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117303

So this one? But it's got some mixed reviews...

And interconnects? Can you help me out by telling me or maybe even linking me to the appropriate wires? I've always just used PC Speakers and this is starting to sound like alot more work than I initially imagined.

I mean the speakers themselves are 250...and that receiver is 180, so I've already spent more than I wanted...and such...soo, I don't want to exceed 400$ if possible.

Thanks so much for all this, I know it's a pain talking to an audiophile noob like myself.

No problem man.

That's the receiver. The bad reviews are one person complaining about getting a DOA unit and the others are complaining about a lack of certain features but you can't complain at that price. As for the DOA unit, it happens in everything. It irks me when someone leaves a bad review about getting a DOA unit.

As for the interconnects, I'll have to know what all of your components are that you already have. I assume that you're using an HTPC. Just list off everything you will be connecting to the receiver as well as which T.V. you have.

 

[Mkilbride]

I'm only using this for my computer, not my TV or Stereo or anything else, it's JUST for the computer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019

That is my sound card. I have my Sound card...and that's it. I've always used PC Speakers so I just wanted some good ones this time.

See, I got the Sound card mentioned above and realized something - it sounded pretty much the same as my onboard audio, so after some questioning, I was told it's because "My speakers are so low quality, they cannot output better than onboard" or so.

That's why I wanted to get newer speakers to take advantage of it. The Z-5500's look awesome, and pretty much ready connect. I asked around alot and most people said they're awesome and whatnot, ectera. A few audiophiles told me that there is no way they'd ever use "PC speakers" because they always sound so awful they can hardly stand them, and that I should go with a good brand like Klipsch or BOSE, and hook them up to my PC.



So all I really have is my Soundcard, and if I do go with non-PC speakers, the Klipsch look great to me, good price, and they'd fit my desk just perfectly.

Receiver is already spending abit more than I wanted to, but I guess you're paying for quality, and they'll sound incredible compared to my X-530, right? I have very sensitive ears.(Though I do hear a constant ringing...)


Z-5500 seem like alot less work and again, the reviews are great. My X-530 do a good job, but I feel like I'm wasting the purchase of the Soundcard on them, EAX & Whatnot doesn't justice the 170$ purchase(when I bought it), I want it to produce some high quality audio.


So yeah, I've never setup a Speaker system with a receiver and whatnot, though my dads System is 2 Bookshelf speakers + a giant Receiver(It's four times the size of the one you linked)

Sorry for being kinda unclear, but again, I don't know much about professional setups like this.

 

[Polygon]

Oh, in that case this is really simple. You're only going to need one fiber optic cable and speaker wire if you don't already have it.

 

[Mkilbride]

Oh, in that case this is really simple. You're only going to need one fiber optic cable and speaker wire if you don't already have it.

Any suggestions on one that'll get the job done, reasonable quality, and not insane price? Thanks. I don't know any of the brands for speakers much, just getting into it. I'm more of a computer nut than audiophile, but I like having high quality of both, PC parts and Audio parts.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882155447

I saw this^ I get 18$ off if I buy them with the HD 300, but you said to stay away from Monster...?

 

[Polygon]

I wouldn't use that speaker cable, very low gauge. The reason I say avoid Monster that they are seriously over priced.

Optical Tosslink.

Speaker Cable.

These will do the job and are about as cheap as you're going to find. If you need longer ones they are only a little more money.

 

[Mkilbride]

I wouldn't use that speaker cable, very low gauge. The reason I say avoid Monster that they are seriously over priced.

Optical Tosslink.

Speaker Cable.

These will do the job and are about as cheap as you're going to find. If you need longer ones they are only a little more money.

Thanks, so it's decent quality, right? 6FT is a little short, I'll try to find a 10ft one or so, but thanks, pretty cheaper. All in all it seems like everything will come to about 450$. It's abit over what I wanted to spend...but how things can be =/

Z-5500 @ 350$ and just plugin n play, for 100$ extra for quality.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882021054 = Is this also acceptable for an optical cable? I'd like to try to get it ALL on Newegg in one big box.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882339162 = 10 feet, it any good?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123044 = Then I see things like this, alot more expensive and says it's for Speakers and whatnot...confused.



So in your honest opinion, which are better, not spec wise, just is it WORTH the extra 100$?

 

[Polygon]

The first two aren't optical cables. The last one is used for sub woofers, which I forgot, you will need one to connect the sub to the receiver.

The problem with buying all the cables from Newegg is it's going to run your budget way up. The only two TOSlink optical cables I could find were about $50. They don't have really any good speaker cable I'd buy and you can still save money on that sub woofer cable.

12ft TOSlink Optical.

Subwoofer Cables.

I didn't know what length you needed on the subwoofer cable, so I just posted the listing. Then just stick with the speaker cable I already posted, that should be enough to wire the system. You can't find the proper cable at Newegg, and the other are far too expensive. You can go with Newegg if you want but you'll end up paying a lot more and getting crappy speaker cable.

 

[Mkilbride]

The first two aren't optical cables. The last one is used for sub woofers, which I forgot, you will need one to connect the sub to the receiver.

The problem with buying all the cables from Newegg is it's going to run your budget way up. The only two TOSlink optical cables I could find were about $50. They don't have really any good speaker cable I'd buy and you can still save money on that sub woofer cable.

12ft TOSlink Optical.

Subwoofer Cables.

I didn't know what length you needed on the subwoofer cable, so I just posted the listing. Then just stick with the speaker cable I already posted, that should be enough to wire the system. You can't find the proper cable at Newegg, and the other are far too expensive. You can go with Newegg if you want but you'll end up paying a lot more and getting crappy speaker cable.

Thanks, I just noticed the reviews on Monoprice and heard lots of good things.

So I just get the speaker cable you already posted, and the optical cable on mono price you listed, plus the link you just gave, right? So Subwoofer cable is that cheap? I only wanted about 10-12 and it's barely a buck for it?


So basically I need this:

(Picture to just be clear)

So I just need those three cables + Receiver + for those speakers to work on my computer?

 

[Polygon]

Yep, you've got it.

Interconnects are a hotly debated area. However, most people aren't going to hear the difference in a higher end cable.

At least that's my finding. Those should work just fine for your system.