Mustang_steve, I can emphatize with your distress. As a PC audio enthusiast, you must be.
I once used a PC to archive my CDs. Very convinient as each disc gets its own file so that everytime I inserted a disc, the PC immeditately recognized it and played only my favourite selections from that disc that I had previously programmed, even 2 years ago. No home single cd player can ever do that. I never bought those sub-sat speakers for PCs as I was fortunate enough to have the PC close to my sound system to which it was hooked.
I've seen many sub-sat speakers for the PC and I agree with you that many may not even be worth the materials they're built with. Have you tried the Altec Lansing PC speakers? I don't use them but they look well-designed and on the PC of a officemate, can be room-filling enough.
mustang_steve said:
The soundcards claim S/N ratios of 100Db, yet I can hear hiss on my Yammie at about 50pct (which even on my CD player only hisses at the top 10pct of the volume, and it claims hte same S/N ratio).
This is a real problem. I had the same hiss but at max volume. Not distracting at normal listening levels, but the mere thought that it had was simply disconcerting. OTH, with my regular cd player deck playing a silent disc track from the Sheffield My Disc test CD and the preamp volume maxed out, the speakers are totally DEAD. That's why i've discarded my old pentium PC seven years ago as it didn't have that S/N i wanted as a serious audio enthusiast. And that's also my reservation for getting a new one these days. I probably have to research more on the right soundcard.
But since your soundcard claims 100db S/N, that should be sufficient. I would assume your cables are ok but you still get hiss. That can be unnerving. Try experimenting with another soundcard.
The speakers....I can't even find a proper starting point. Most designs are incredibly poorly designed, and the power output claims of the amplifiers in them are nothing less than disgusting (800w form a IC that takes in 2.5w...MOO!!). Frequency response claims are often far worse than even their "power output" claims (yeah a 2x4 speaker really hits 20hz...MOOO!!).
Yeah, marketing hype is the name of the game. Welcome to the real world.
It goes for many HT gears as well. Many have this P.M.P.O ratings that have no technical meaning nor real world correlation. But they can be very impressive to the uninitiated. Even among serious audio gears, the marketing hype abounds with less than candid and overstated power ratings measured under un-real conditions. But it's good to know what they really are and only patronize gears that we know are a truthful match to the promise in their commerical data sheets.
1) crappy pressed papaer cones: please stop it...trees died for those, at least have the respect to use polypropelyne...at the least it will sound far better than that flimsy ultra-thin paper...
2) crappy cabinets: at the least, polyfill them....even better yet, use wood...even the crappiest wood cabinet with polyfill will mop up on a cheap plastic enclosure anyday. Please don't port 2" speakers....let's be real here...
3) grabage amplification: Please leave your tiny amp chips at home, and build something decent. We don't need to hear power claims in the bajillion McTrillion of watts. Instead, how about putting up detailed amp section specs instead? Also consider using two amps, and putting one in each speaker, this design often works quite nicely.
4) overpricing: Yeah...$70 for two 3" paper cone, plastic enclosure radio speakers and a $3 MCM woofer in a ported peice of plastic with a whole frekaing real 30w for it all.....really good pricing....how about making a decent product and selling it at a decent price.
I have the impression powered PC sub-sat speakers are an after-thought to the multimedia craze this past 5 years. But I am almost certain that they are better than the built-in speakers in many multi-media PCs, right?
There are many good brands out there that are a notch above many entry level PC sub-sats. Like I said, Altec Lansing CAN be one of them. They're not using paper cones in their satellites, last I look. But if you really want serious audio out of your PC, I would strongly suggest that you get a respectable multi-channel power amplifier and use a more mainstream audiophile grade speakers and subwoofer. Hooked the amp to a multi-channel soundcard of superior quality and watch your hours go by viewing and listening. Many audio enthusiast I know go to this HTPC route. They get real high definition digital displays on their monitor besides. And some who can afford use industrial grade LCD projectors from Barco and Infocus for a larger display. They're basically enjoying digital HD earlier than most folks do.
Just my thoughts.