Seeking Logitech Z5500 upgrade advice

[gothictoss]

Hello all,

Around 6 years ago I purchased a set of Logitech Z5500 5.1 speakers and a Creative Audigy 4 Pro to complement a new PC I was building. Since I was a child I always enjoyed immersing myself in music, squeezing my earphones tight against my head to get the best sound and likewise getting down and positioning myself about a foot from my parents hifi speakers to find a spot where it sounded just right.

While I was initially happy with the sound compared to free plastic 2.0 PC speakers I have come to hate the Z5500 more and more, having very high bass and some treble but seemingly no mid-range. Adjusting the sub volume basically leads to a treble only sound, and as these are marketed as the best "computer speakers" for dearly a decade I guessed it was time to move onto something greater.

During a discussion of EQ frustrations with a friend it came up that if I wanted a flat sound I should invest in studio monitors, which I since have been viewing and auditioning some KRK rokit 5s, 6s and 8s and Yamaha HS80M. I wasn't overly impressed, though that was just with a lame demo CD, it is hard to know how they would come over in my room but I'm sure they would wipe the floor with the current 5.1 setup. My only fear is that the studio monitors might not have enough bass for my liking.

An alternative I have been looking at was floorstanding tower speakers, where I was thinking that the many speakers included would cover the audio spectrum well and indeed I know a few people with a set and they sound fantastic. The problem would be that sets with multiple speakers per tower look expensive.

Finally there are bookshelf speakers which I know little about. These seem like a good go between where they have the great sounding audio of the tower but the compactness and less expensive nature of the monitors.

As such I was wondering if anyone had advice. I sold the old speakers and together with some additional funds was looking to spend around £500 (<$800USD) on a 2.0 setup.

I will be mostly playing music with the speakers, prog rock some d&b and lots of relaxing music.

Thank you for your time and sorry about the wall of text.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

These are the monitors I own and I'd highly recommend them to anyone:
JBL LSR2325P Powered Studio Monitor

though I have to admit - I paid $334 for the pair

 

[bikemig]

At £500, you could go with passive speakers and a stereo receiver. There are a lot of great British speaker manufacturers that have outsourced production to China. The wharfedale 10.1s are very highly regarded and run £169 via Amazon UK, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wharfedale-Diamond-10-1-speakers-Walnut/dp/B002IZFU3C/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce5. Then you just need a suitable amp/stereo receiver. The HK 3490 gets a lot of love on this site at £270, HARMAN KARDON HK3490 RECEIVER: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics. But since you have a PC based playback system, you will want to take a look at the Onkyo 8050 at £299.00, Onkyo TX8050-BLACK Network Stereo Receiver with Direct: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics. It has a lot of pretty neat features for computer computer playback. It is networkable and DLNA compliant so you can access music off a hard drive on the network plus play streaming interest radio from a variety of sources. It has a usb port that can play music off a hard disc or ipod. And it has multiple digital inputs that are way cool when setting up a computer based playback system.

Edit: you may not care about the bass once you have a nice 2 channel set up but if you do, both the HK and the Onk have sub outs for adding a sub later if you choose.

Edit: Or you could get this integrated amp Pioneer A-209R Stereo Amplifier - Black
by Pioneer, the Pioneer A-209R at £134.98, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pioneer-A-209R-Stereo-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00005OOJG/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1318436915&sr=1-4. It's stable down to 4 ohms so it will work with a number of different speakers.

 

[gothictoss]

Bikemig, some of the amps look fantastic, its nice to see so many inputs meaning I could also link it up to my DVD player. Especially nice is the optical input, meaning I could connect it to my Apple Airport wireless optical out from a laptop.

In regards to the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, I see they are only 5" drivers, would they be capable to producing enough low end? While I'm not a big bass fiend the last sub was 10" (used motsly on its lowest setting) so I just want to be sure bass is still available for some drum & bass.

Does anyone have any advice on monitors compared to bookshelf for music listening? I love the idea of a flat response enabling music listening as recorded though I hear they can be challenging to listen to as they enhance small imperfections.

Thank you all for the suggestions thus far.

 

[bikemig]

The AE express will pair up very nicely with either the HK or the Onk and give you airplay streaming; that will be a nice set-up. Here is a review of the Wharfedales with some measurements, Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com. Frankly I think you'll be happy with the low end on these and if you're not, it is easy enough to add a sub down the road; both the HK and the Onk have sub outs. The point is I'd put my money on a limited budget into a pair of speakers and the electronics and focus on a really good sounding 2 channel system.

 

[gothictoss]

Bikemig,

After a little more reading I am very interested in the Onkyo, while I wont need half of the inputs the ethernet connection for internet radio, optical and amp seem like a great package.

I was also comparing the Wharfedale 10.1 and 10.2, the 10.2 having a bigger driver and little price difference.

In terms of compatibility the bookshelfs range from 100-120W, now I read that a compatible amp should be capable of supplying double that to give a good overhead, is the 130W of the Onkyo suitable? Not that I plan to be playing loud music with a newborn in the house.

Thanks again.

 

[bikemig]

The "suitable" amplifer power for the Wharfedales (from the spec sheet) is 20 to 100 watts; you'll be fine. This is a useful calculator for figuring out how loud your system will go (you'll need to plug in the sensitivity of the speakers and a few other variables): http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html. This will go a lot louder than your newborn will want to listen to, .

 

[bikemig]

By the way, make sure you connect the AE express to the receiver with a mini toslink cable like this, http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-27016-Velocity-Toslink-/dp/B0002JFN1A/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1318483750&sr=1-2, rather than a mini-jack cable. This way the receiver does the digital to analog conversion and not the AE express; it will sound much better this way.

 

[gothictoss]

Yeah I had been using the AE optical output for the previous setup, avoiding the built in DAC.

OK, I think my mind is pretty much made up, thank you for the recommendations all.

 

[PedroDepue]

I could also link it up to my DVD player.

 

[gothictoss]

Nice one elitest prick.