Zardon

Has anyone had the luxury of hearing both of these sets of speakers? id like to hear some feedback regarding them.

Randy P

hey man, I have creative cambridge soundworks thx. Hook em up digital and they sound amazing. Just think they use THX in movie theatres.....

pr0digal jenius

The logitech's have a much more pronounced 'tight' low end, but really have fairly mediocre midrange due to poor satellite design and have a habit of hissing/distorting at high volumes.

The gigaworks have possibly the best satellites i've ever seen, plus built in upmixing, and a very powerful, yet subtle subwoofer(it's very loud, but not overpoweringly so..very nciely balanced)

I'd say go for the gigaworks myself, but either way you wont be dissappointed

Lowfat

I totally disagree with you. I've had the Z680's for about 6 months now. The subwoofer sounds sloppy and its way to boomy. If you live in an apartment, dont get them for sure. even with the sub volume the lowest it can go, its still to loud. However, the satelites sound pretty impressive. The main reason why i bought them was for the digital input, and the fact that it does Dolby Pro Logic II surround and dolby digital/DTS decoding onboard. If you watch a lot of movies/ or play games then these speakers are for you, however if you are using them for music, the bass sounds sloppy like i said.

If you have the money I'd buy a set of Klipsh Pro Media 5.1's. The best computer speakers on the market IMO.

and Randy P dont get fooled by the THX logo's. Theses days THX means nothing, just another marketing ploy that makes george lucas some money.

sorry about my huge post...

__________________

pr0digal jenius

lucas doesn't own THX anymore...they are their own company


and yes...the logitech sub is loud, but you can control it if you play with the equalizer right. As epr the satellites, they are fine at 'normal' volumes, but the fact that logitech uses a single driver system and cambridge uses a dual driver system definately shws itself at high volumes or in multienvironment situations

Necrosis

If you have an A2zs - gigaworks, but another vote for Klipsch.

Zardon

Thanks guys im in the mood for an upgrade from my Altec Lansing 5:1s which are great, im also not sure if a 10x15 foot room really "needs" much more but hey, I like audio quality for music too and prefer a tight focused bass rather than a wallowy effect.

Im not sure if the UK sell those Klipsch ill have a poke around.

Drakon

get the klipsch if u can find them. i got the 4.1 set and they're sweet. my only problem is the subwoofer limiter. as u increase the volume, the subwoofer stops getting louder, but the highs and mids continue which causes an inbalance in sound. not sure if the 5.1 ultras have that. i was thinking of getting them but my room is small and the 4.1's create enough noise, so i'll be content for now...

Zardon

ive spoken with a few insiders and I have to say they werent overly positive about the KLIPSCH PROMEDIA 5.1 THX SPEAKERS. One guy in the trade told me today the creative gigaworks are a superior package...... klipsch are quite hard to find in the UK but ive found a few stores, interestingly today I stumbled upon this link which gives a few user "reviews".

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews3327.html not that positive.

Im not really sure what to do, the altec lansings I have fill the room but the treble is a tad harsh and the woofer a little fuzzy. then again im used to audiophile equipment so I may well never be happy with a set of PC oriented speakers - im not asking for audiophile quality but I would like semi decent stereo as well as a room filling 5:1 or 7:1 with delicate (but not harsh) treble and tight semi powerful bass. ive heard the logitech 2:1 variants of the Z680s a few days ago and I was less than impressed with the overall tone and balance of the setup, so I think ill be avoiding the 5:1 set. If nothing else crops up I might just go with the 7:1 creative set as the onboard audio on the Asus p5AD2 - e premium is a decent 7:1 setup. where to put all the speakers though.......

pr0digal jenius

i live in a dorm..i have the 7.1s.....it's possible to place them

center goes in front of you, front right and left go on the edge of the desk, rear right and left go on the dresser/bookshelf/etc behind you, sub goes next to you(mine's on the left) the side channel on the side your sub is on sits on top of the sub, and the other side channel sits on the mini fridge

the reason i highly reccomend you put your Audigy 2 back in, is that it has the THX control panel, which allows you to tweak your setup according to how far from you each channel is, and works exceedingly well, i might add

Zardon

I got a demo, the creatives are much superior, especially the satellites, very good quality on vocals, much more than im used to hearing with computer speakers anyway, and the subwoofer is pretty incredible.

Ive a set ordered, seem good for the price.

wolfran

I have the gigaworks s750 and I can tell you that it's far superior than the logitech in terms of quality. The sattelites are clearer and crisper than the logitech's. The sub is also tight and powerfull unlike the boomy logitech sub. Overall IMHO the gigaworks is the best speakers for gaming and watching movies. For listening to audio, you may need to adjust sub a bit, it can get too loud depending on where you positioned it.
I think you made the right the decision Zardon. You'll be happy with it.

Zardon

I guess its all down to personal taste at the end of the day. I have to admit after hearing so much positive commentary about the Z680s I was massively disappointed with how wooly and unfocused the sound is, they are just like the 2:1 set, same balance and quality. I also think the subwoofer is really exceptionally poor. its powerful yes but it sounded like a cheap end driver to me - no better than the (much lower priced) Altec lansings I have, just louder.

I went for a demo earlier and I was really quite stunned by how good the overall sound quality of the creatives was. Ok, they still arent audiophile and have weaknesses like I hear with most speakers in this price range - the high frequency audio range could be a little less "harsh" even with the Audigy 2 ZS used in the demo - but the subwoofer sounded like it could be tuned to give tight yet powerful playback. Its hard to come down to any PC setup after listening to my dali grand coupe audiophile speakers biamped and biwired with nordost flatline gold cable.

But these are the best ive heard and certainly shook the floor with the demo DVDs I listened to. Thanks for the opinions and info guys, appreciated. Now I hope they sound good with the 925x 7:1 onboard sound which has impressed me so far, if not time for a new soundcard too.

wolfran

I agree that a lot of people over-rated the logitech speakers. I don't think they even care of the quality. Most people just listen to the sub and if it sounds very loud (event hough not tight), they'll say it's a very good speakers.

Update: Btw, have you tried to hook up your audiophile speakers into audigy2zs? How's the quality of those ?

Zardon

no actually I havent, im using a few marantz power amplifiers on those, I dont trust them inside such a messy and noisy environment as my computer room. Its a different thing really. listening to CDs on my Marantz CD7 then coming into the computer room and fragging a few aliens

Dark Lord

im useing the Z-680's with an optical connection. it clears up the quality alot, i dont have any hiss or static with it even when im pushing the master volume a little past 90%. all in all, im very happy with my set. i dont know if it makes a diffrence haveing them in a wide open unifinihsed basement or not, but they sound very clear and very nice.

any way you look at it, they beat the hell out of my old altec lansing 4.1 ACS-54's

Zelig

Well, seems I read this too late to influence your purchase decisions Zardon, but I've listened to three systems quite a bit, so here are some quick thoughts on them:

Logitech Z-680 - Sats are pretty decent but the subwoofer, although loud, is quite loose in playing everything, some people don't mind, but I don't like them. They are the cheapest though. I haven't heard the Z-5500 much, but from what I have heard, it's a little better, with more decoder functions. Both models also have some static issues at high volumes, though with new versions of the control pods, this has improved.

Creative S750 - The sats are awesome, pretty much the best you can get from any multimedia speaker system setup. The subwoofer's good and tight. IMO 7.1 sound is overkill for a computer system setup, although it definately doesn't harm the sound.

Klipsch Promedia Ultra - NOT the THX model, but the updated Ultra model - The sats are very good, just barely inferior to the Creative sats. If you invest in some 16 guage copper wire, this difference is pretty much eliminated, at least to my ears. The subwoofer in the Ultra system is easily the best out of the three, it has massive sound when cranked up, and is the bass is as tight as anyone could want.


I finally got my Klipsch system last Friday to replace my Z-680 speakers. Bear in mind that the Klipsch system doesn't have a decoder or a remote, so if you plan on hooking it up to a console or DVD player, you only get 2 channels of sound out of it.

pr0digal jenius

the klipsch sub has dual 8" drivers.....doesn't it?

Necrosis

yes

pr0digal jenius

yea....that's the one thign they have in their favor....I still prefer the downfiring sub of the cambridge set tho

technonerd

I love my Klipsch 5.1 system, they're the best than any of my friends have (Inspire 5.1, Logitech Z640).

Since I'm hard of hearing and I can hear static on speaker, so I get very strict about sound and tried tune the speaker to clearer as possible. I've hears alots of static on Logitec and sometimes on creative but I can clear it good. Klipsch is very sweet for me because they're very clear. Logitec has very good bass and they're loud too but the static are not that good. Creative and Klipsch is better for me.

I've checked those Creative S750 7.1 at my computer Distribution (where I buy computer to sell on others). They were unbelieveable and you need alots of space for those speaker, I mean huge room. Other problem is that there's no games that use 7.1 yet and even on those DVD's too. I kinda like it and I might them if there are lots of games and dvd that use 7.1, so I'll prolly wait for a while. I'll think twice buying them and I want to wait for klipsch latest 7.1 speaker

pr0digal jenius

the thing with the s750s is they have upmix from both 5.1 and 6.1 built in.....so it can take any 5.1 source and upmix it to 7.1.....so it DOES work with games and DVDs...hooray CMSS

wolfran

Actually games do support 7.1 sound through DirectSound so you can play most games with 7.1 sound.
I'm also hearing that new dvds are going to use 6.1/7.1. I believe some dvd movies have been using 6.1/7.1.

I personally feel that the sub on my s750 is already massive and I sometimes need to lower it down (from default) when listening to musics.
For the size of my room, I don't think I can handle louder sub but it may be good for someone wiht larger room.

Zardon

Well the speakers arrived today after my order last week and ive just set them up. The sound is wonderful and they are without a doubt the best computer oriented speakers ive heard. The subwoofer is massively powerful and in this room anything above 1/3 setting is just ground shaking, but the sub is definately far superior to the logitech Z680 sub I played with last week, you can fine tune it to give a clear tight sound.
The satellites are excellent also and give a decent sound with most material, its a very good value package even considering the price. Im most impressed with center channel vocal quality in movies, thats the strongest part of this setup.

I might treat myself next year to a new Audigy 2 ZS but the sound from the onboard 925x intel 7.1 is excellent im not sure it would be worth the outlay, and would take up another slot (IRQ).

wolfran

Enjoy!!

Zelig

The problem with CMSS is that it tries to add extra bass to match the extra speaker output, and you end up with slightly distorted music.

I've got a few songs that I own both in DVD-audio format and in normal CD audio, and the DVD-audio ones which already have 6 channel sound, are appreciably better than the CD-audio copies upmixed to stereo 2x through the Audigy 2 ZS software.

edit: Heh, I should have fully read the post before replying, instead of only seeing "CMSS"... though my comments regarding upmixing from stereo still stand.

Zardon

I agree with you and your comments. I cant comment on the Klipsch speakers as I havent heard them and I dont think they are available at all in the UK.

Zardon

I just listened to Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds on remastered CD, AWESOME sound - richard burtons voice very well reproduced! im totally surprised how well those satellites handle strings. Only downside is poor quality Mp3s now sound worse than ever.

Vampyromaniac

Excellent, enjoy.

There's a rather odd fellow from work who has gone and bought two sets of those speakers. He has them set up as a . . . "14.2" I suppose you would call it. I hope I can go to his house one day just to see this, and shake my head in incredulity.
PS: I think he's a bit mentally not all there (I'm being serious), but a nicer fellow you can not find.

__________________

Zardon

Wow thats madness !. ive tested these speakers with a variety of sources since I got them and I have to say im totally amazed with the overall quality, if I had time id review them as I think the satellites are extremely capable speakers, especially for the relatively modest price. Ive played everything from classical to rap, and they only miss a very small range of frequencies, very competent indeed - and this is comparing them to £3,000 speakers. Even the extremely taxing "mike oldfield - AMAROK" gave a wonderful reproduction.

Best computer speakers ive heard and the subwoofer is really excellent but needs to be controlled, ive it mounted on an isolation support base.