[tskov]

I'm going to buy a new g4 system this week, after the SF macexpo, with lots of goodies.

In particular, I want good SOUND. Now, anything will sound incredible after the one-inch speaker on my ibook, but I want something that will still sound terrific one year, three years from now.

I plan to get a Soundblaster LIVE! card, and have narrowed my choice of speaker systems to two: the Klipsch Promedia v.400s, and the Midiland S4 8200 5.1 system. I arrived at these choices from reading numerous reviews on sites like anandtech.com, etc.

I am going to use these for listening to music, for games, and for movies with my new G4 DVD (I am SO psyched!). My room is pretty small, 12x12, but I'd like them to be able to fill a larger space as well, say 20x20.

The problem is, I can't actually listen to these speakers prior to buying them--there are no local stores with demos. Also, my audio experience is pretty much limited to stereo. I don't really know how much of a difference surround sound makes. What I understand is that the Klipsch have tons of power and incredible sound (THX certified) but no surround sound capability, while the Midilands have great sound, decent power, and are surround-capable.

SO, any suggestions? How much difference is there between a system with a center (5th) speaker and one without? How much power do you really need to fill a 20x20 space and not go deaf? If I get the klipsch can I later "upgrade" them to surround sound by adding a center speaker?

Any suggestions/comments are much appreciated.

Thor

[Milio]

You might want to check out the forums at DigitalTheater. They are a very knowledgeable bunch and many of them use a PC as the centerpiece of their home theater setup. They won't know anything about the Mac, but the Live! card is pretty popular on the PC (understatement).

Also, there is a Creative employee contributing at the forums at MacLedge.com. He's been trying to clear up info about the Mac card. From what it sounds like, there may be some issues with 5.1 sound from the DVD drives in a stock Apple machine. Normally there is a digital connector on the DVD drive that is hooked internally directly to the Live! card. So when playing a DVD, the audio is piped directly through to the card. But the Apple DVD player is either missing this connector or has covered it up, so currently the card can't do digital 5.1 output. Even if the connector was available, the card doesn't decode 5.1, it needs an external decoder. So while the Live! card will give you the best sound possible on the Mac, it still won't give you the best sound possible.

Also, THX certification for home theater is more of a marketing gimmick than a statement of real quality. Real THX certification requires every component to be certified, not just the speakers. And it even dictates placement, room size, etc... So you pay extra for the THX logo.

[Cipher13]

What is your price range?
Want a lotta bass or is that not so important?
Is surround very important to you?

Cipher13

[giantmike]

Try The Monsoon speakers. They have great bass, midrange, surround sound, and are the best two satellite pair I have ever heard.
www.mosoonpower.com

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The Mac Information Depot. Why go anywhere else?

[exa]

The monsoons are not quite in the class of what he mentioned.

I would recommend the promedias, it does have surround sound (4 speakers, come on, it has to), simply not Dolby Digital, though that shouldn't matter much for most purposes. Plus, Dolby Digital won't be supported with the initial soundblaster release (the digital output will be disabled, and god knows when creative will support it). I would recommend the promedias over the midilands though, more power, thx certification, awesome bass. The midilands also have weaker high range than the Klipsch due to the fact that they do not have tweeters. OTOH, it has been noted that the Klipsch have failed quite a lot on the technicial aspect (my friend has them, one of the speakers do not work properly because the wire has gone bad).

If you can spend a lot more, however, consider the Videologic DigiTheater which basically kills any other multimedia class speaker. Also look at Videologic's Sirroco Crossfires if the DigiTheater does too much monetary damage.

[Milio]

If I recall correctly, the Klipsch speakers have a very focused sweet-spot. Great for games, but lousy for room music. If I recall correctly, this is from a review at SharkyExtreme.

[tskov]

Thanks for all the suggestions. After doing more research, it does appear that videologic has the nicest equipment (even though it is the priciest).

you won't be able to use 5.1 speakers with the SoundBlaster until Mac OS X comes out. You can use 4 speakers instead of the 5 and I think you'll like it. You could just go with a cheap 3 set until the 5.1 becomes available. The Problem with the 5.1 is not with the Soundblaster, but it's with the current SoundManager which is limited to one stereo channel output. MacOS X will rectify this situation. You might want to check out the Boston Acoustic website for good speakers as well. They make some of the best and they have good digital models.

[Thunderbird]

What is the cost of the sound system that you are building?