2.1 speaker system

"There are 3€ speakers... does it means that a 300€ speaker will be 100 times better?"

Yes, I guess so. At least more so than 70€ vs. 7,000€. Why? Simply because the quality of a system cannot be improved indefinitely. There is a natural limit, and the more money you spend, the closer you can get to that limit. Likewise on the bottom end you get really crappy systems, which greatly improve in quality for even small increases in price.

The only question is: where is the threshold, the point where you really have a good mix of price and quality? I'd say that for speakers it should be around 500€ (just a guess). From that price on upwards you get much less quality increase for your money.

For me the 70€ speakers that I have right now represent the minimum level - below that quality I'm having trouble enjoying the music, at least at normal volume level. For listening at the office during work (low volume, with volume normalization) my 5 year old Logitech speakers for 20€ are doing fine.

If I had much money to spare, I would consider buying a good 5.1 speaker set for 2,000€ ... but that would be my top limit, I'm not spending more on speakers.

oliverstoned wrote: 5.1 set is the worst thing to buy! A pair of bookshelf on good feet with a sub is the good deal.

    
My 5.1 system is essentially a 2.1 system with a pair of speakers for the back. Where's the difference? I need it for watching movies (obviously) and for listening to SACD/DVD-Audio 5.1 mixes. Normal stereo playback is only using the 2.1 part, so I can't really see where the problem is.

oliverstoned wrote: Instead of having two decents speakers and a good sub, you get a false sub and many bad speakers. Moreover, 5.1 is crap!

We live in a 3 dimensional world ... when I play a computer game or watch a movie, I want to hear the sound of things behind me - coming from behind me!

BTW: There are also audiophile 5.1 systems. Just 2 more amps & speakers, no difference to a proper 2.1 system.
    

^ that's the most ridiculous thing you ever said, oliver. The bass (subwoofer) has nothing to do with the surround effect.

And please stop the bitching. I mention "movies", you reply "bad movies". I mention games, you reply "bad games". I mention music, you reply "trash metal".

Where is all that negativity coming from - and why is it directed at me?

oliverstoned wrote: Mind you that a 38cm reproduce extreme low freq which are responsible of the so-called "surround" effect. A crappy 20 or 30cm makes false low, just" Boom boom ". I was just saying that good hifi is only needed to listen to (good) music and not to play "games" or to watch american movies. No, definetly, good hifi is not for you!

    
Ok, now we've reached a new low with "american movies suck".

I hate to break it to you, but you're absolutely wrong with your "deep bass creates surround effect" theory. Maybe you mean that the bass seems to come from everywhere - that's true, because the human ear is unable to determine where deep sounds come from.

However, usually "surround" means a system with which you can place individual sounds of a recording anywhere in a position around the listener - and not just left-middle-right. 5.1 is the standard here (although there are even 7.1 or 8.1) - and what do they all have in common? Yes, one big subwoofer in the center.

Please Oliverstoned. Why attack Mikes taste in music, film and leisure activities?

Edited by Snow Dog - April 27 2006 at 12:25

^ It's nice to meet an audiophile person who not only has engineering skills, but also uses modern computer audio equipment.