My year old speaker system, which was already pretty old to begin with, is starting to mess up a lot and I'm thinking of getting a new speaker system, but realized I actually don't know almost anything about speakers nowadays, and after looking through ebay, amazon, buy.com, and the like, have not come across any that meet my expectations (not standards, mind you). I keep coming across speaker pairs, which are for computers, and like seven piece speaker sets for like $300-400. I am using an LCD HDTV, and have just been using an adapter to connect my regular old stereo audio (white+red) cable from the HDTV to the speaker system, which was just a green and black plug. Basically I just replicated my older setup that my father had put in for me... is everything just crazy expensive now because of technological improvements? Where would you suggest I read up to find out more information, or perhaps an example of a decently priced speaker system that I can compare with others?

<3!

depends on what your actualy looking for.. cause at this point im confused.

are you looking for  (the speakers) or the (system) or both?

Am looking for 4 speakers and a subwoofer pretty much. I just want to have surround sound from my HDTV.

Consider buying used. A lot of older gear is of excellent quality and will go on forever. My amp, a NAD 3130 is approaching 30 years old and it works perfectly.

Buy a second hand 5.1 receiver. Hell buy one new if you can find something this cheap

Buy 2 pairs of bookshelf speakers. The cheap option is a pair of Acoustic Solutions AV-20. They're cheap as hell but really not that bad. They're by no means awesome but when you see how much they cost... Or you can go higher up and look at the Wharfedale Diamond 9 series of speakers. I have a pair of 9.0's that I got for cheap on eBay. Best £50 I've ever spent. If you're not sure whether the brand is any good Google it and see how many forums like HeadFi and What Hifi it shows up in.

As for a sub I don't really know of a cheap-ish way as I've never used a sub myself. Have a look for active subwoofers on eBay. I'd say that as long as it's of a reputable brand and 150w or more it should match up fairly well. Just don't get anything that's designed to be put in a car. That will sound like donkey. Something like this would do nicely. This one is a UK guy though so have a look on your version of eBay.

Thanks for responses! I hate looking stupid about anything, but I am really flailing in my own ignorance here :/

(30/06/2010 01:23 AM)S7* Wrote:  I also owned BigBen 2.1s and Logitech X-530 5.1s in the past, decent but nothing compared to the Harmans

That's what I'm currently using!
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-X-530-5-1...973&sr=1-1
but I am having a lot of trouble finding anything similar. It was more expensive when I bought it, but now it has dropped in price quite dramatically. So, do the Harmans emulate 5.1, or does it still sound like surround sound, or or what exactly? I use the 5.1 for multiplayer gaming on my consoles and movies, so this is the biggest issue for me.

As I'd said, this is not really my area of expertise, but from what you guys are saying, it just sounds like prices are higher for the most part.

(30/06/2010 03:17 AM)PSPkiller Wrote:  Consider buying used. A lot of older gear is of excellent quality and will go on forever. My amp, a NAD 3130 is approaching 30 years old and it works perfectly.

Buy a second hand 5.1 receiver. Hell buy one new if you can find something this cheap

I actually prefer buying used, but I was having such a problem with finding in the price range I'd remembered in previous years (was in lower $100s when I bought the x-530s).

As for a receiver, what is that exactly? That was where I got lost.

(30/06/2010 03:17 AM)PSPkiller Wrote:  As for a sub... [h]ave a look for active subwoofers... I'd say that as long as it's of a reputable brand and 150w or more it should match up fairly well. Just don't get anything that's designed to be put in a car.

So, subwoofers are interchangeable? Also, what do you mean by "active subwoofer"?

(30/06/2010 01:23 AM)S7* Wrote:  I got these recently: http://www.amazon.com/Harman-SoundSticks...0001DBEM4/

they sound fabulous

those looks sweet.
any thing made by jbl sounds great.

to hellgiver, a receiver is basicaly the unit you plug into your wall, you plug the speakers into it.  

any one corect me if im wrong, but im guessing an active subwoofer is a sub, that dous NOT need an amp.


right now im sitting on a (saba hts1500) geniric as hell, and can't find any info on it at all, BUT its actualy pretty good, its a all-in-one system(dvd, aux out, radio,cd player, surroundsound)
got it for 20$ at a garage sale, and glad i bought it. though the subwoofer sucks, i haVE got a better one.


if your not ashamed of having ghetto surround sound, i would just go to second hand shops and buy  any 5-6 small speakers you can find, and also a subwoofer.

(30/06/2010 07:27 PM)Cowper Wrote:  to hellgiver, a receiver is basicaly the unit you plug into your wall, you plug the speakers into it.

Specifically, what do you mean? I plug my subwoofer into my power outlet, and my speakers all plug into it. I've read that the receiver is just a converter, but does that mean like a tuner, except just auditory, or is it a DVD player/radio/stereo controller, or what? For some reason, this specific answer has escaped me. Perhaps I'm thinking into it too much -.-

(30/06/2010 07:32 PM)Hellgiver Wrote:  

(30/06/2010 07:27 PM)Cowper Wrote:  to hellgiver, a receiver is basicaly the unit you plug into your wall, you plug the speakers into it.

Specifically, what do you mean? I plug my subwoofer into my power outlet, and my speakers all plug into it. I've read that the receiver is just a converter, but does that mean like a tuner, except just auditory, or is it a DVD player/radio/stereo controller, or what? For some reason, this specific answer has escaped me. Perhaps I'm thinking into it too much -.-

in your case i would call your subwoofer the receiver, but that's just me.

i do beleive your thinking to much. if you have att or comcast or something, the box that you point the remote at is the "receiver"

http://www.cybertheater.com/wp-content/u...ceiver.jpg

that's a receiver for a speaker system. you plug your subwoofer and speakers into that.