Subwoofers

[Mushlafa]

Ok what im lookin for is a pretty decent subwoofer for my comp in the range of about $500.. I dont know that much about em... All I got right now for my comp is 2 Bose 4.5' mid range speakers 80 watts each.. they're perfectly fine can gimme really good sound except that when i try and turn the bass up to max i get distortion at pretty low sound...

Right now... I got a receiver hooked up to my comp caus ethe speakers themselves arent for comp.. they're stereo speakers and i got the speakers hooked up to the stereo.. I know its an old ass receiver.. some sony one that supports dolby prologic...

Yeah.. so any suggestions on good subs i can get for about $500?

[Null]

whats your sound card?

[Mushlafa]

peice of junk but i can upgrade tho... its uh.. hold on lemee check... SB Live Wave device... a sound card isnt that expensive is it? I figure the stereo is doin most of the sound processing

[Null]

well. if your sound card cant send it out to your stereo at enough quality.... your stereo only has so much to work with.

get an Audigy or Audigy 2.... they'll have surround sound built in.... seperate plugs for subwoofers and speakers.... and digital sound plug too.


Just a thought. not sure what your setup is. so i cant say for certain what would help or not.

[Mushlafa]

Right now all i got is 2 midrange speakers.. and how much would an audigy cost? I dont wanna shell out like $300 on a sound card im not gettin this till this summer... and im pretty sure this sound card is total **** unless my recevier is messin it up.. cause i can put it really really low and then put the sound in volume control all the way to the max and its all fizzy when im pushin my sound card like that... but on the other hand i can put the sound in volume control down really low and then put the recevier up at like 25% which is loud.. and it sounds good

[Null]

Audigy is like 70 i think



goes up to Audigy 2 Platnium.... i think is 200

range in there. i THINK.

[Ice006]

Most computer subs come with an amp built in, right?

[Mushlafa]

I dont exactly need a computer sub cause il prolly plug it into the stereo and thats like an amp aint it? I dont know much about sound stuff.. so im prolly way off..

[sdtPikachu]

AFAIK (remember I'm a brit) $500 will get you a fairly good sub.

But it'd be a complete waste (along with your Bose speakers) to use it on a) a rubbishy soundcard and b) a system without an external amp.

Grab yourself an Audigy Platinum (or PLatinum eX) - WAY better drivers than the Audigy 2 ATM - which will come with a breakout box which'll give you a decent optical or coax SPDIF out. Plug this into your amp, and hang your speakers offof that.

If you can't be bothered with an external amp, just sell your Bose and grab a set of Cambridge/Creative PC speakers. They'll sound just as good, since built in amps in soundcards have a terrible SNR (signal-to-noise ratio).

As an aside, the "wattage" of speakers is a stupid measurement designed to impress the gullible. NO speaker outside of a concert hall actually delivers 80 Watts, this "80 Watt" is measured on a scale called "Peak Music Power Output" or PMPO, which is another term for "make up any number you want". 80 W is actually powerful enough a speaker tyo make your eardrums bleed, if the watage is measure properly. The only real measure of a speakers power is the RMS Wattage. Even so, buying a speaker buy their wattage is stupid. What is the distortion level at any given wattage? What is the SNR? These are the things that govern quality. My speakers are 6W each, with a 10W sub, and with the dial turned up to 2 they make the floor rumble. They sound pretty good too (although I don't have an external amp yet)

[Mushlafa]

Ugh... ive typed this post up like 4 times already then had to re-write ok.. so here goes again

Ok.. how much would an audigy platinum cost? and excuse my stupidity but what exactly is an amp? and how much would it cost...
Ok.. let me think.. i wanna have the woofer by the end of july and lets say i work 4 days a week in july..... that would give me 1152$ by the end of the month.. minus lets say about 200$ on whatever...

So... how much would all that stuff you were talkin about cost pika? and one more thing.. isnt european wattage like different than american wattage :???: anyway..

Ugh.. i know im forgetting stuff.. i typed the first 3 times i typed this up.. anyway .. yeah...

[sdtPikachu]

I got my Audigy Platinum eX for £125, so it'll prolly cost about $120 stateside. Audigy Platinum is cheaper.

Semi-decent amp with SPDIF etc will cost me about £250, but you needn't buy one straight away, or at all if you don't think it's worth it.

And no, Watts are the same the world over. They're Joules per second. It's an SI unit. I imagine the reason you're confused is the way that everyone gives things multiple W ratings depending on how stupid they think their customers are. Pick up any semi decent audio mag and in not one advert will you see any more that one Wattage rating, which'll look something like "0.2% THD [Total Harmonic Distortion] at 10 W"

If you're buying a sub just to get punchy bass in games, just ditch your current setup and get an Audigy and a set of Creative 5.1 speakers. Audiophilia on computers is often a futile process.

[Mushlafa]

Not really for games... more for music... i like to play it really loud when nobodys home i use it like a stereo.. plus i watch some movies on my computer and i like to play movies loud also..

I may be confused about the wattage of my speakers.. it sais on the back somethin like 10-80 somethin per channel.. dunno what that is and I still dont know what an AMP is or does? I got my speakers hooked up through a stereo

The bose speakers i have right now are actually really old.. they were sitting in a storage a long time till i got this comp and told my dad i needed some speakers cause before i was just using his headphones .. and playing them really loud and he didnt like me usin his $280 sony headphones so he gave me the speakers