A/V New soundcard and speakers to buy..

I am after a decent set of speakers. I live in a small flat and my computer plays all my music for the house.

After reading custom pc I have decided to buy a Asus Xonar DX soundcard so basically I would like to know what speakers you think I should get.

I am thinking of getting a decent pair of 2.1 speakers that will sounds great and play music loud, anything up to about £110. Any recommendations?

Should I be getting some 5/7.1s with this soundcard? Although they would be hard to use and wire as the PC is in the lounge with the TV.

The main use is playing music and playing games although with games I normally wear headphones.


Any help is appreciated

 

Can't comment on the Zonar soundcard, I'm a bit of a trusted established brand buyer - so for sound would always go with the Creative soundblaster range. I've got the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum - Fatal1ty Champion with Logitech Z5500 setup - awesome sound. I live in the country so when it comes to volume -don't have a problem cranking it up - you might not be that lucky. It has built in codecs for DTS, Dolby Digital and is THX certified. So when it comes to value, features and quality can't go wrong with the Z5500's.

 

Sound quality wise I'd look towards the Acoustic Energy Aego Ms (my flatmates new ones do have a bit of a problem with them, but it seems thats a rare occurance, and i can promise you they sound amazing!). I dont think they'd enjoy a party, but they're pretty darn loud (there's a difference between listening loud, and party loud), very clear and feel very solid. (it help that the satellites are encased in metal).

If you're more the partying type, the Logitech Z-2300s are more suited. The Z-5500s are a little out of you're price range (£250) and i much prefer the sound from my flatmates Aego Ms to my old 5500s.

Admittedly both of the above sets are £10-£20 above your budget, but both are well worth the money.

 

the creative gigaworks t40's are pretty nice, although they are not .1

 

I found the t40s sounded really good at low volumes, but as you turned them up the bass just disappeared, and they really started missing that sub.

 

I would suggest the Logitech Z-4 Speaker System (which is 2.1)

My friend has this Speaker system, and I believe it is of a good build and the sound seems to be very good (in my opinion).

Link below for you at Amazon(costs about £80):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Z-4-Speaker-System-Black/dp/B000BSTXFE

 

I really like my Creative T3130s if you want 2.1s (having a sub does make a difference). They are only ~£30 but they sound amazing to me running off the onboard sound, admitedly I'm not much of an audiophile at all.

 

i can definatly recomend the Asus Xonar DX it is a excerlent card and there are no driver issues unlike the creative series