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General discussion

New system needs some adjusting

by mej Aug 31, 2005 10:54AM PDT

I just got a new Dell Dimension 4700,a 3.25GZ, 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHZ and a 128 MB PCI-E X16 ATI Radeon X300 SE. with integrated audio. This system has some cheap DELL speakers A215 that I'd like to replace. I'm thinking of something with a sub-woofer because otherwise these things sound tinny. Any suggestions for something under $75 or is that unreasonable? Thanks for your help.

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6 Posts
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Mej, Depends On The Quality You Want
by Grif Thomas Forum moderator Aug 31, 2005 11:00AM PDT

The more you spend, the better quality speakers you'll get. I recently found a set of "fair" speakers with a subwoofer for $15 on sale. I don't play a lot of games and I don't use the system as a primary music machine but they certainly improved the sound of watching DVD movies and listening to my music collection.

Watch for sales and spend what you can.

Grif

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What about wattage?
by mej Aug 31, 2005 11:14AM PDT

I've seen some with 9 AMP, 20 WATTS and some with 20AMP, and 40 WATTs (whatever that means). How do I know what will work with my computer? What is fair, good, better......Is there a compatability chart or something that I should be looking at?

Altec and Logictech seem to have some good specials at Walmart, but I don't know if they have good names.

I want a good quality, because I play a lot of CD's and my husband plays games, but I don't want to spend an arm and leg. My WIN 98 system has Boston Acoustic speakers and subwoofer, and its good, but I also think this brand is pretty expensive.

Any rating sites on this type of thing?

Thanks

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Basically, The More Watts, The More Power For The Speaker...
by Grif Thomas Forum moderator Aug 31, 2005 1:56PM PDT

...and to some extent, the better the quality will be..(This isn't technically correct but it does have a relationship when it comes to computer speakers.) Altec Lansing is a well know speaker brand as is JBL, etc.

In my college days, I used to play music professionally and believe me, speaker quality is definitely a preference defined by each individual. If you really want to know which is best, LISTEN to the speakers first.

But generally, as I stated earlier, the more expensive the speakers for your computer, the better they will be. (Obviously, that's a very general statement, but an expensive surround system is going to be better than the $10 specials at the local computer store.)

Hope this helps.

Grif

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wattage for fill, number of speakers for purpose
by linkit Aug 31, 2005 5:25PM PDT

The larger the room you need to fill with sound, the higher the wattage you need. Also, you need higher wattage for noisy rooms, parties, etc. As Grif said, the higher wattage systems generally sound better, too.

A 2.1 speaker system (2 satellite speakers, 1 subwoofer) can be great for music listening.

Go with a surround sound speaker system (5.1 speakers or more) to get the full effect from DVD's and high-end games. 5.1 surround sound is all most people need to be happy watching movies.

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Why don't you use the
by glb613 Aug 31, 2005 7:42PM PDT

speakers from the 98 machine. If the XP computer is going to be the main one, use the other speakers.

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Thanks
by mej Sep 1, 2005 12:48AM PDT

You explanations helped me to understand my choices

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