Have my Bose now for a while, VERY happy with it, especially the epic bass. Only downside is that It's not 5.1.
Now I am willing to give up the epicness of the bose, with like the 1 media center thingy etc.
I got like 500 euro ATM, but I could take a job to earn more.
I want 5.1, no ugly ass speakers, like those logitech things. If possible with HDMI etc. Do I also need like a receiver and amplifier and blah blah? Sorry for the questions, I don't know alot about it. I just want a kinda good looking 5.1 set. For PC, AND TV, and with a FM tuner, With better sound then what I have now.
So if anyone wants to help me a bit, thanks.

B

im not sure what you mean by ugly but logitech have good speakers.

check these out: http://www.logitech.com/index. ... /devices/224&cl=US,EN

logitech z 5500.

i have them and i have to say you wont be upset with them at all.
they are great clear sound,mad bass that will get your whole house shaking and make everything in your room full over lol. it is a 10 inch subwoofer with 2 front speakers 2 rear speakers a center speaker and digital control pad that comes with a remote if you are too lazy to press the control pad buttons lol.
trust me you wont be sorry.
and for tv use like movies and games its great they are thx certified like cinima speakers and also have dts and dolby digital pro logic 2.

when your playing video games say if your blowing something up the bass will shake everything and its like being there.

and for music you cant go wrong. its great for all sorts of music but me personally i like techno trance dance and you can really feel the beats through your body.
have a think about it they wont let you down.
also i picked mine up for $400 australian.

Quote from gruggy :

im not sure what you mean by ugly but logitech have good speakers.

check these out: http://www.logitech.com/index. ... /devices/224&cl=US,EN

logitech z 5500.

i have them and i have to say you wont be upset with them at all.
they are great clear sound,mad bass that will get your whole house shaking and make everything in your room full over lol. it is a 10 inch subwoofer with 2 front speakers 2 rear speakers a center speaker and digital control pad that comes with a remote if you are too lazy to press the control pad buttons lol.
trust me you wont be sorry.
and for tv use like movies and games its great they are thx certified like cinima speakers and also have dts and dolby digital pro logic 2.

when your playing video games say if your blowing something up the bass will shake everything and its like being there.

and for music you cant go wrong. its great for all sorts of music but me personally i like techno trance dance and you can really feel the beats through your body.
have a think about it they wont let you down.
also i picked mine up for $400 australian.

Can you connect both PC and TV on them? Does it also have like HDMI and stuff? I don't think it has a FM tuner. I heard the bass is mad. But those speakers are ugly as hell. I want to replace what I have now. So i need more options. Unless i can buy a amplifier with fm tuner and other speakers for it...

I reccommend u to move on amplifier/reciever and speakers. Much more quality and more future proof for all kinds of features. I can suggest brands like Yamaha, Technics, Pioneer and few more ... anyways, on speakers i really dont know but the price matters, nothing else - and the specs tho lol All the logitech and those speakers are crap, i agree with u. I had z5500 system but i sold it, i regret it but in other way i dont. The quality is just sucky sucky 5 dollars and the surround decoder was just awful. Now im on Pioneer amplifier with mid-range speakers, much better than z5500 and also. 5.1 systems are weak, i recommend a proper stereo system for music but if u want to watch HD movies and that kinda stuff then 5.1 should do the thing.

Edit: On Z5500 there is no bass lmfao ... its farting or what should i call it ... Dont know, anyways dont flame me people because that fact is ... if u havnt owned anything better than z5500 then clearly u will say that "fu z550 rulz" or something. I had them and in my opinion theyr just crap - cheap tangband chinese elements and the sub doesnt play lower than 25Hz clearly, just air pumping chinese woofer.

Why are 5.1's weak? My brothers rather old JVC is still quite good. I watch movies, listen to music and play aLOT of games.
But the main concern is just the price actually...

Quote from Bose321 :

Why are 5.1's weak?

From a hi-fi standpoint, there is nothing inherently weak with a 5.1 setup (when compared to a 2.1 setup). Of course, for the same quality, you've got twice as many speakers, so expect to pay twice as much on that front, and the same applies for the amp/receiver as it's got a lot more to do (more surround features + amplification channels, needs more power, etc), plus the expense of additional cabling. So for comparable money, there's no way a 5.1 system can provide comparable sound.

Then there is the extra complication of room placement, getting all the speakers equidistant from your head without them getting in the way of things or ending up in the corner of a room.

yeah right. How much will something cose better then my bose321? alot i think?

Quote from hazaky :

I reccommend u to move on amplifier/reciever and speakers. Much more quality and more future proof for all kinds of features. I can suggest brands like Yamaha, Technics, Pioneer and few more ... anyways, on speakers i really dont know but the price matters, nothing else - and the specs tho lol All the logitech and those speakers are crap, i agree with u. I had z5500 system but i sold it, i regret it but in other way i dont. The quality is just sucky sucky 5 dollars and the surround decoder was just awful. Now im on Pioneer amplifier with mid-range speakers, much better than z5500 and also. 5.1 systems are weak, i recommend a proper stereo system for music but if u want to watch HD movies and that kinda stuff then 5.1 should do the thing.

Edit: On Z5500 there is no bass lmfao ... its farting or what should i call it ... Dont know, anyways dont flame me people because that fact is ... if u havnt owned anything better than z5500 then clearly u will say that "fu z550 rulz" or something. I had them and in my opinion theyr just crap - cheap tangband chinese elements and the sub doesnt play lower than 25Hz clearly, just air pumping chinese woofer.

idk what your on about what ever floats your boat i spose. if you actually set them up proper and work on the acoustics in the room you use them on they are more then enough for a computer and games tv what ever.

and if you think the z 5500 has no bass then what is bass lol. that subwoofer can break things with that bass you know.

No need for an argument. So I understand it will be VERY expensive to buy a 5.1 better then what I have now?

Quote from gruggy :

and if you think the z 5500 has no bass then what is bass lol. that subwoofer can break things with that bass you know.

It depends on what do you compare them with. The Z5500 and a proper 5.1 system are not the same class. The Z5500 is a compact solution mostly for games, but of course you can use it as a home theatre system.
It loses the match against real home theatre systems on the cabling, amplifier, size of the drivers, and building materials, so kinda everywhere.
Thats why they are for PC, compact, relatively cheap, and has nice sound, but if you really want quality movie and/or music experience, you gotta go with a bigger system. Even that Logitech system would sound much better with a standalone home theatre amplifier, and proper cabling.

Myself using a nearly stoneage Klipsch Promedia 5.1. Ideal for games, and music, has the best sound of it's category imo. Not really planning to replace it

Quote from RevengeR :

It depends on what do you compare them with. The Z5500 and a proper 5.1 system are not the same class. The Z5500 is a compact solution mostly for games, but of course you can use it as a home theatre system.
It loses the match against real home theatre systems on the cabling, amplifier, size of the drivers, and building materials, so kinda everywhere.
Thats why they are for PC, compact, relatively cheap, and has nice sound, but if you really want quality movie and/or music experience, you gotta go with a bigger system. Even that Logitech system would sound much better with a standalone home theatre amplifier, and proper cabling.

Myself using a nearly stoneage Klipsch Promedia 5.1. Ideal for games, and music, has the best sound of it's category imo. Not really planning to replace it

how much did that cost you?

I used to have speakers like these except mine werent a powered module.
And then i got the z-5500's and they are MUCH MUCH better, and MUCH MUCH louder then the Bose speakers i had, the bass is insanely good although at times the bass is too much so i have to turn the bass down a bit on the pod itself.

Although the pod doesnt do fm like you asked you could just buy an fm reciever and plug it in.

The pod has
1x Optical In.
1x Coax In.
1x 3.5mm in on the side
1x headphone socket on the side.

and EITHER 3x 3.5mm sockets on the back or 1x 3.5mm socket on the back for 5.1 from your computer soundcard.

Im pretty sure you could connect an fm reciever into it rather easily.

The z-5500's are a bit fidly at first and a bit annoying to get setup properly but for their price range they are a great set of 5.1 speakers.
Im really not sure if you could find any other decent 5.1 pc speakers for under 500 euro.

sorry if an argument started before.
but im saying if you want good 5.1 speakers for under $1000 AUD i wouldnt bother with any home entertainment systems as they arnt as powerfull or as loud and the quality isnt as good as the z 5500s.

but.. before everyone tells me that the z 5500s are crap and not as good as home entertainment systems i havent come across any systems as good as the z 5500s for the price so if you know of any systems better for the price let me know thankyou lol.

but yea if you could afford more then i would look at buying some speakers and hooking them upto an amp/receiver and idk i thought a 10 inch subwoofer would be enough in z 5500 but if you want yea buy some speakers and a bigger sub and hook it upto an amp/reciever

I'm okay with the z5500, but the satalite speakers are so damn freaking ugly....

Have a look at the Edifier S550.
From what I know it sounds as least as good as the z5500.
It looks much better and no probs with high background noice (like the z5500).

Only drawback, it is not digital, so you have to use analog inputs.

Is the DAC in the Z5500 really any better than the one in your soundcard anyway? At least with analogue inputs you can use a third party external DAC if you wish.

Quote from yankman :

Have a look at the Edifier S550.
From what I know it sounds as least as good as the z5500.
It looks much better and no probs with high background noice (like the z5500).

Only drawback, it is not digital, so you have to use analog inputs.

Looks good. Is that subwoofer any good?

Yeah the DACs should not make a difference.
For high qualitiy DAC you would pay more as for the whole Z5500 .
But I assume the Z5500 supports hardware decoding of AC3 and DTS signals (for dvd playback), which cheap onboard soundcards surely not do.

Anyway, Logitech does not make very good sounding speakers IMO. Speakers in plastic enclosures are bound to sound like crap. There's more to a set of speakers then "OMG teh sub shakes ur house"

Quote from wheel4hummer :

Anyway, Logitech does not make very good sounding speakers IMO. Speakers in plastic enclosures are bound to sound like crap. There's more to a set of speakers then "OMG teh sub shakes ur house"

I really really agree with that. A nice pair of stereo speakers will definately give a better effect than z5500. Its just like some people say ... logitech is "overrated" - theyr not that good as people think. Theyr just cheap plastic with chinese tangband elements and thats it.

Quote from Bose321 :

how much did that cost you?

Well, they are around 5-6 years old, and their price were insane here in Hungary. With the current exchange rates it cost me around 700$, but it was like half, or even less in the states, or in other countries. The only problem with it, that it has no digital input, but it doesn't matter for me. They sound really nice with my X-fi Fatality. The mid and high-range are excellent, lots of room in it, but the 2 20cm subwoofers run out of juice much sooner than the satellite speakers. They are discontinued afaik.

Edit: As for the price differences, A wall bracket for my speakers would be 30$ a pair in the USA, and here they are 130$ a pair...

But they are a bargain now hehe, and this is the Ultra version.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Klipsch-Pr ... 39:1|72:1234|293:1|294:50

Quote from Bose321 :

I'm okay with the z5500, but the satalite speakers are so damn freaking ugly....

the enclosures or the speakers them selves?
if you dont like the look of the speakers you can just put the cover over them that are on the speakers when you buy them.

sorry to say everyone but hes not looking for the best speakers money can buy he was looking for good 5.1 speakers that he can use on pc/tv/whatever he can plug them into.

trust me for the price and what you need them for you can go wrong with the z 5500s. they support dts/dolby digital pro logic 2 and are thx certified what more could you want really?

its totally up to you i just dont think its worth spending any more money on speakers that you only want for pc/tv 5.1 what i would do is just buy the z 5500s and if you dont like them (which i think you will like them) you could just blow them up and logitech will give your money back or supply you with another set.

its your choice.
all the best with your search

Quote from gruggy :

the enclosures or the speakers them selves?
if you dont like the look of the speakers you can just put the cover over them that are on the speakers when you buy them.

sorry to say everyone but hes not looking for the best speakers money can buy he was looking for good 5.1 speakers that he can use on pc/tv/whatever he can plug them into.

trust me for the price and what you need them for you can go wrong with the z 5500s. they support dts/dolby digital pro logic 2 and are thx certified what more could you want really?

its totally up to you i just dont think its worth spending any more money on speakers that you only want for pc/tv 5.1 what i would do is just buy the z 5500s and if you dont like them (which i think you will like them) you could just blow them up and logitech will give your money back or supply you with another set.

its your choice.
all the best with your search

Haha, okay. I'll go for them I think. I'll keep you informed if I'll buy them.

Quote from Bose321 :

Haha, okay. I'll go for them I think. I'll keep you informed if I'll buy them.

sweet i really think you will be very happy with them.

so what were the specs on your bose?