Audiophiles I need some guidance .

[morfiend]

Anyone got any opinion ? Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System .

  Have you looked at any of Creative labs speakers? they have a 5.1 system,T160/1600 that you might want to compare with the logitech system.

  Recently,I've been considering getting a 5.1 for my comp but if I was going to listen to music I'd have to turn on my antique Castle speakers and Integra amp!



     

[Buzzard7]

Monster cable?  No better than hotwired coat-hangers.  They also seem to be overly litigious, and evidently engage in false advertising too.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blue-jeans-strikes-back

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Cable_Products

Maybe so but thats what they came with. You can always put your own wire on it. The speakers are incredible. I don't have the room for them anymore.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

almost like saying those who dont have a gf dont know anything about sex.


midway

No, it's like saying those who think your left hand qualifies for a lover and right hand for a girlfriend, know nothing about sex.

You can't get even 1 element for a proper speaker for 120 bucks.

[hlbly]

No, it's like saying those who think your left hand qualifies for a lover and right hand for a girlfriend, know nothing about sex.

You can't get even 1 element for a proper speaker for 120 bucks.

I get it . Let it go . I was not referring to myself as an audiophile .

[icepac]

No, it's like saying those who think your left hand qualifies for a lover and right hand for a girlfriend, know nothing about sex.

You can't get even 1 element for a proper speaker for 120 bucks.

How much relevent experience is necessary before you can say who is an "audiophile" and who is not?

There must be some sort of formula.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

How much relevent experience is necessary before you can say who is an "audiophile" and who is not?

There must be some sort of formula.

You don't need experience, all you need is ability to hear. Some people will never get the difference and for some a good system is a real eye opener. When I visited my first high-end expo I suddenly realized how crappy my own hi-fi really sounded in comparison. From there it was a constant quest for improvement untill some time around 2000 I finally found I could compare my home setup to the ones at the high-end expo. Of course there was still room for improvement but I'm not going to invest 100 000 dollars to audio. By that time I had a full range actively filtered electrostatic speaker setup coupled with a quality subwoofer.

When you listen to music using an average setup like mine was then, you can get details from music you could never imagine existed on the records. You start to spot badly made recordings from the good ones. It may be even surprising sometimes, there were several old records that sounded absolutely horrible on a regular setup but when played through ESL:s the sound 'opened up'. The recordings were made with a simplistic microphone setup in a real space. If you compare that to an artificial studio recording the difference is like night and day. The previous example makes you feel like you're sitting literally in the same room with the performers and the size of the room may be bigger or smaller than your actual room size The latter example just sounds technical and clean but dull and void of life usually.

In any case it should be clear to anyone who has spent time with audio that you can't get anything even resembling a good 5.1 setup for 120 bucks or from Logitech for that matter. Logitechs may be enough for games if you're not picky but I'd still opt for headphones instead.

You have to understand that if one asks advice from 'audiophiles' you can assume standards are a bit higher than your average plastic boom-box.

[guncrasher]

No, it's like saying those who think your left hand qualifies for a lover and right hand for a girlfriend, know nothing about sex.

You can't get even 1 element for a proper speaker for 120 bucks.

see that's where you go wrong.  what is proper to somebody is not proper to others.  I spent 120 bucks in a set of speakers after listening to some that would cost many times that.  I couldnt hear the difference.  perhaps I have bad hearing, maybe I am tone deaf, but for sure I got a great system for 120 bucks. and If I am happy then that's all that matters.

midway

[MrRiplEy[H]]

see that's where you go wrong.  what is proper to somebody is not proper to others.  I spent 120 bucks in a set of speakers after listening to some that would cost many times that.  I couldnt hear the difference.  perhaps I have bad hearing, maybe I am tone deaf, but for sure I got a great system for 120 bucks. and If I am happy then that's all that matters.

midway

Exactly. People who can't hear the difference are not audiophiles per definition. Consider yourself lucky, you save an awful lot of money.

This is exactly why I made the comparison to self pleasurer and a hustler. Someone who self pleasures and doesn't even want a woman, can't understand the depth and levels of pleasure a connoisseur in women gets from them.

Some people prefer beer over fine wine. They're also very lucky and save tons of money. If you consider missing out of one of the great pleasures in life lucky - but I'm sure everyone has their own sources of enjoyment.

[icepac]

When putting together audio equipment, you can sometimes end up with something that sounds sub-par even with all the research and knowledge in the world while some yahoo tosses together a few random Best Buy components and stumbles upon superior sound.

Nothing replaces auditioning the equipment in person.

I think I re-ribboned my first magneplanar in 1994 or so.

[Stellaris]

@buzzard7 - no disrespect on what your speakers came with.  I made the completely invalid assumption that everyone had at least heard of Monster.

But for those who haven't, they sell audio cables.  They make a lot of advertising claims about how their wires make your system sound and have sued many many people for many reasons, all of which seem totally spurious.  I have seen no convincing evidence that their cables actually do anything to improve the sound.  My own belief is they're basically an aggressive marketing company, long on the legal department but short on real R+D.

The underlying reality of audio experience is that the best human hearing tops out around 20Khz (in children).  In adults it's markedly lower (mine is 12Khz, not bad for my age).  The Nyquist criterion states that to properly sample a signal, you need a sample frequency equal to twice the highest frequency of interest - hence 44Khz for CDs.  In electronics terms, this is not very high at all (your microprocessor is running about 100,000 times faster, just for example) any modern amp will have a perfectly flat response curve that goes far higher than this.  Further, due to the non-linear response curve of the ear, ADDING noise can increase the detection threshold for faint signals, which in turn increases the perceived loudness and influences the perceived quality of the sound. 

Hence some people prefer vinyl, some people prefer tube amps, some people swear by this system or that system.  However none of this makes "different" into "better" and "more expensive" is so vastly different from "better" that it isn't funny.  Room interactions are well over half of the sound quality puzzle, and most people don't even know those pieces exist (and there's a limited amount you can do about it unless you want to build your own audio booth)

You need...

A decent signal.  The main issue for a soundcard is keeping out transients, but most do this OK.
A decent amplifier of sufficient power to run your speakers.  Anything built in the last 30 years will have a flat response curve.
Decent speakers of sufficient power to usefully use your amp.  You need to be able to handle the power at each frequency.

That's all.  Having fancy high end gear (cables included) is like having a fancy high end car.  It looks cool, but when you're commuting in traffic, is all that top end performance actually doing anything for you?

Other than attracting babes, I mean.

[Buzzard7]

The DBX speakers were expensive when new. I didn't pay for them they were a gift. Just two speakers and a controller create nearly the same environment as a system that uses at least 5 speakers and a sub. They need 8 feet between them and certain spacing from hard objects on the other 3 sides. Compare them to older Bose speakers. I loved them. This house does not have the room to set them up properly. They ran great on my Pioneer 100 watt receiver. They originally had a 300 watt amp driving them but it dropped a channel.

Never used them to attract babes. Just love listening to music of almost any kind.

[guncrasher]

Exactly. People who can't hear the difference are not audiophiles per definition. Consider yourself lucky, you save an awful lot of money.

This is exactly why I made the comparison to self pleasurer and a hustler. Someone who self pleasures and doesn't even want a woman, can't understand the depth and levels of pleasure a connoisseur in women gets from them.

Some people prefer beer over fine wine. They're also very lucky and save tons of money. If you consider missing out of one of the great pleasures in life lucky - but I'm sure everyone has their own sources of enjoyment.

I have had fine wine, it tastes like crap.   spending more than what your computer is worth getting a sound system is a waste of money.  there has been many threads about this same issue.  you love to only concentrate on one word "audiophiles" and really love to point out the use of words.  but in reality somebody as smart and knowledgeable as you should automatically know what he means.

trying to embarrassed somebody because he  uses a word and  chooses to spend 120 bucks on a set of speakers is stupid.  it  makes you look snobbish.  then again this is not the first time that this has been pointed out to you.


midway

[morfiend]

You don't need experience, all you need is ability to hear. Some people will never get the difference and for some a good system is a real eye opener. When I visited my first high-end expo I suddenly realized how crappy my own hi-fi really sounded in comparison. From there it was a constant quest for improvement untill some time around 2000 I finally found I could compare my home setup to the ones at the high-end expo. Of course there was still room for improvement but I'm not going to invest 100 000 dollars to audio. By that time I had a full range actively filtered electrostatic speaker setup coupled with a quality subwoofer.

When you listen to music using an average setup like mine was then, you can get details from music you could never imagine existed on the records. You start to spot badly made recordings from the good ones. It may be even surprising sometimes, there were several old records that sounded absolutely horrible on a regular setup but when played through ESL:s the sound 'opened up'. The recordings were made with a simplistic microphone setup in a real space. If you compare that to an artificial studio recording the difference is like night and day. The previous example makes you feel like you're sitting literally in the same room with the performers and the size of the room may be bigger or smaller than your actual room size The latter example just sounds technical and clean but dull and void of life usually.

In any case it should be clear to anyone who has spent time with audio that you can't get anything even resembling a good 5.1 setup for 120 bucks or from Logitech for that matter. Logitechs may be enough for games if you're not picky but I'd still opt for headphones instead.

You have to understand that if one asks advice from 'audiophiles' you can assume standards are a bit higher than your average plastic boom-box.

   I agree wholeheartedly with you Ripley,I know the owner of a highend audio store and he'd gladdly outfit your listening room with a couple hundred grand worth of equipment!

       However it come to a point were if you want to hear a difference you must spend 10's of thousands of dollars to actually "hear" a difference. Kind of like cars,a 40 grand Z car is pretty good but you'd need a GTS Porche to notice a real difference.

    Now some will argue about the cars and the sound systems claiming they can notice a difference but thats human nature!

   BTW,never was a fan of the magnaplaners,had a set for a week or two and traded them for a set of EV home speakers. I'd rather listen to a set of antique Crowns over and electrostatics and the best subs!    Just my nature!.....   I like old tube amps for the "feel" something about that background hum that makes music seem real.


   

[Motherland]

This is why I focus on my headphones. My stereo is intensely mediocre. Way too expensive

[Reschke]

I am also a single dad with a two year old and cutting myself off from the world around m,e like headphones do is not an option . I know I will not be getting a Bose system for that price.

Hlbly

The best thing I ever did was get the Sennheiser PC360 headphones.....http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PC-360-Headset-Gaming/dp/B003DA4D2U

They are what is termed an open headphone and you can hear the outside world around you while you listen to music. They have great range and are an awesome gaming setup while also allowing others around you to hear the television, music, etc... while you play. They are all I have on my main work from home office/gaming rig and while working I can listen to music and listen to speakerphone conversations at the same time without taking the headphones off.

Hope this helps you out some.