Santa Cruz Dethroned

[jaydee]

<< Bottleneck?
Not in audio.... Even on my cheapest set of speakers the Acoustic Edge sounded much better than the SBLive. With audio, it can be many things that add up to create poor quality. Things like THD (total harmonic distortion) increases through every component the audio runs through. As for PC speakers; If you can afford it, get a nice 5.1 dolby digital/ DTS reciever. Even a $300 set of JBL speakers is gonna sound better than most PC speakers and be much more flexible and cheaper to upgrade (I have my tv/ pc/ dvd running through my Onkyo TX DS494). I can burn ~200 mp3's onto a cdrw and play them in a cheap dvd/mp3 player without using cpu cycles this way as well. >>


That's interesting, thanks for the info. I'm a graduating senior in high school, so I can't really afford much extravagance. Plus, in a dorm for the next few years, I think my set is flexible enough, and quality is decent enough for the amount of use they get. Headphones, I use constantly, I'm going out this weekend to try out a few pair in the city.

 

[Toothpick]

Theres no gameport though ??? what about us flightsim-geeks ?

 

[Floydian]

The grado sr60's are good (the 80's a bit better, but more spency of course) for computer stuff, you'll notice the difference IMO between sound cards.

The higher end model headphones seem to need a headphone amp to get any volume from the sound card outputs as they are higher impedence then the grado sr60's and down (usually 32 ohms or something)

 

[fatbaby]

<< As for PC speakers; If you can afford it, get a nice 5.1 dolby digital/ DTS reciever. Even a $300 set of JBL speakers is gonna sound better than most PC speakers and be much more flexible and cheaper to upgrade (I have my tv/ pc/ dvd running through my Onkyo TX DS494). I can burn ~200 mp3's onto a cdrw and play them in a cheap dvd/mp3 player without using cpu cycles this way as well. >>



$300 gets you a creative inspire 5700 5.1 speakers

They probably will kick the jbls arse because of the higher frequencies

Theres a fine line between cheap ht theater speakers and fancy multimedia speakers

 

[Goi]

I'm not sure if JBL even makes a 5.1 set of $300 speakers. However, if he's talking about a stereo pair, then it would kick the Creative Lab's ass, so to speak, and frankly, I'd take a good pair of speakers than a mediocre set of 5.1 speakers, but that's just me...

 

[madthumbs]

JBL SCS135 Home Theater Package
Get a Great Deal on Speaker Wire!
Stock Number: SCS135
$277.00

found here;

http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com/products/product.asp?class=153

They have some other nice deals on speaker packages as well. I was amazed that they delivered the second day after my order.

Anyway... I wouldn't argue over which is slightly better sounding... I'd argue that with a reciever you can hook up more than just your PC to the speakers you invest in, and get Dolby Digital and DTS through all your audio sources. If you want better speakers you can get much better, and they wouldn't be limited or cost too much because of an integrated amp or proprietary connections.

 

[Goi]

Well, I just took a look at pictures of the Creative Labs Inspire 5700 speakers, and frankly, they look cheap, have sats and centers that only consists of a single driver, and thus probably will sound like crap next to the JBLs that madthumbs mentioned.

 

[Hakeem]

Dear Goi... Don't just look at the look...

Creative Inspire 5700 are good set of speaker... and you better realise it is one of very few Digital Speaker sytems available.
Anyway these are bit underpower as compare to other offerings in this price range.

 

[Goi]

I'm sure its a good set of multimedia/computer speakers, but in the grand scale of things, it can't possibly bend the rules of physics and sound halfway decent with a 2-3" driver expecting to deliver full range sound. The choice of an 8" sub is good for reproducing low frequencies(compared to 5-6.25" offerings from other computer/multimedia speakers), but pairing it up with ridiculously small 2-3" drivers would cause a disparity in the crossover frequency. Also, the difference between the driver size and driver cone material of the 4 satellites and that of the center channel would also mean that they will not be that well timbre-matched, and will be different sounding.

However, I must state that its quite a daunting task to manufacture a complete 5.1 speaker system that is amplified, and includes a DD/DTS decoder for $300 and expect it to sound decent...impossible even, unless you're thinking about making a loss, so to that extent, credit must be given to Creative Labs for trying, and for offering the amount of features available in the Inspire series.

Overall, however, I just don't think it offers the kind of bang for the buck, or the sound quality that you can expect out of the JBLs, even though they may not be amplified, or include a decoder...