looking for speakers

hi all,
I am in the market for wireless surround sound computer speakers. Additionally I am looking for a good bass (does not need to be wireless). I am very much uninformed when it comes to electronics. Can I hook up a bass and speakers if they are not part of the same sound system?

Your help is so much appreciated!

Why wireless? You'll have to wire for power anyways and satelite speakers that are powered by a remote amplifier instead of a built in one are dramatically smaller than speakers with built in amps. Also many of the wireless solutions use the same spectrum as microwave ovens and wi-fi and are notoriously prone to interference, I would avoid them at all cost.

You can pick up 50-100 watt 5.1 surround systems at most commercial electronics stores, for around 100 dollars. Since you are not personally well informed about what is out there and how best to use it I would highly recommend buying an all in one powered system, depends on how much money you want to spend. 100 dollars is going to get you 5-10 watt satellite speakers and a 25watt subwoofer. These numbers might seem low if you look at some of the advertised power rating on some speaker systems, but from personal experience that much power will easily fill a whole room with satisfying bass and quality mids and highs. Also keep in mind that in order for the human ear to even perceive a noticeable increase in volume the power needs to double. So a 100 watt system vs a 25 watt system will not be four times louder, it will only be 6db louder or a 50% increase in perceived volume. Human audio perception is quiet tricky to the uninitiated.

I would go to a store and listen to a 25watt sub and four 5 watt satellites for yourself just to get a feel for what that will actually produce. If you really want to crank up the volume seriously it's going to get expensive fast. Also keep in mind that most if not all home theater surround systems can be connected to a computer via digital or analog outputs.

You can hodge podge your own system together out of whatever amplifiers and speakers you have available to you but the audio quality on a purpose built system is going to be dramatically higher unless you know what you're doing.

Hmm...that Wi-Fi interference breaks the deal for wireless speakers. I live in a small dorm so it may be inconvenient, but with some blue tape and good wall stands I think I can make it work. I imagine the wires extend past 25 feet, yes?

I love to blast my music so I think I will go with the 100 watt system. Are higher watt speakers less likely to blow out? My price limit is around $500 although I could go a bit higher (from what I've seen it doesn't look like I will need to).

As a side note, are Bose and other specialty speakers a rip off or do they actually produce better sound?

Depends hoopla on the system you buy, most 5.1s come with a decent amount of wire length, doesn't matter though, worst case scenario you have to buy some extra hookup wire for the rear satellites.

500 dollars will get you an audio system that will piss off everyone in the entire building.

I'm split on Bose. They cost WAY too much, they are however high quality, I don't recommend them though just because the extra cost is not worth the actual quality improvement.

You could do far better with a 200-300 dollar spending limit on a home theater style surround system, 7.1 or 5.1 your choice, just make sure your PC can output surround audio to them. I have a PC about 3 years old that has a digital out that will do full 7.1 output over a single RCA connector. Many systems have optical in/outs as well (uses the same format as the wire but over optical fiber) so just make sure you have the actual system connection part straight before you buy an audio system that can only be fed a 2.1 signal =)

My father recently bought a DVD/blueray player combo that had a built in surround system, was only 300 dollars and he can never turn it up all the way or he'll tick his neighbors off. It's hard to go wrong with commercial surround systems nowdays.

I did try on a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 15 noise reduction headphones at bestbuy the other day. Putting those things on is like having the world turned off, it's startlingly quiet and the audio quality seemed really good though it was just a demo so I didn't get to put any really taxing music through it. It's 499 for a pair of headphones though.... That's basically what you can expect from Bose, 50-75% better audio. 500% extra cost.

hoopla65 said:

I live in a small dorm
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I love to blast my music so I think I will go with the 100 watt system.
<snip>

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Why go out of your way to annoy your neighboring dorm members.
Get yourself a pair of wireless headphones!
Then you will be the only one with acute hearing loss by the time you are in your 40's

While Pat, I think the headphone post is quiet accurate, I would from an audiophile's perspective disagree. Cup style headphones are incapable of producing a front/rear sound, there are some tricks that work for single tones or signals or perception of 'depth' to stereo signals, but fully positional audio can't be realized in a cupped headset. Even then most modern movies use low bass signals for thumping in the theater or what not, you can't do this with headphone you need full body shaking bass.


Good bass needs to be felt =)

If you really want to blast your music right, you're gonna want Cerwin-Vega speakers...

Look on Google for Bose Bashing where people talk about the poor quality of their expensive speakers.
Their 4.5" little "sub-woofer" is boosted at 100Hz and barely produces lower frequencies.
Their 2.5" satellite speakers are similar to speakers on cheap clock radios.

I wired walkmans into some old 20Watt computer speakers and bought 3 FM transmitters at walmart for $11 each. Same concept can be applied to high watt systems.

Again though Mike it's kind of pointless, no matter what you do the speakers have to be wired for power, is an audio cable really that much of a hassle?