PC Peripherals Altec Lansing 251 or Creative Inspire 5200 5.1

Q

Quad Master

Guide
Hi Guys

Which will be a better 5.1 Speaker.

Altec Lansing 251 or Creative Inspire 5200 5.1

One of my friend is looking for 5.1 speakers and he asked me for advice.
He has a budget of 5K.
He has a Creative SBLive 5.1 Sound card on which he will connect it.

He also wanted to ask
- Are the rear channel wires extendable without cutting orignal wires.
- Also the sound should not distort even at high volumes.

Purpose Gaming , DVD Movies , Music.
Also if you know the cost plz post it.

I am not good at suggesting speakers so asking your opinion.
 
In sound quality, its hands down Altec Lansing. Creative doesn't hold a candle to it. The output on my 251 is okay uptil 3/4th volume and the bass starts distorting a bit after that. Though i've never kept it at anything more than 1/2 cos its way too loud even at that. Neither of them have extendible wires btw.
 
Yup the 251 all the way, and most speakers will distort @ really high volumes. The altecs will handle games, music everything quite beautifully. Btw your friend might want to get custom wires made so that he can place the speakers sets wherever he wants.
 
my altec lansing 251(45watts rms) normal might have 60watts though.

my altec may have all bass turned on , behind the subwoofer
 
blade_runner said:
Btw your friend might want to get custom wires made so that he can place the speakers sets wherever he wants.
Click to expand...
Ne idea how much do they cost and how long are they.

@techboy - i didnt get you properly.

As you guys already have a A.L. 251 can you clear my few doubts

1.> What are the pins used to connect the Speaker to the Sound card
- Is it a Triple Stereo Pin[1 Stereo Front , 1 Stereo Rear , 1 Stereo Center+Woofer]
- Or a Single SPDIF Audio pin is provided

2.> Can you tell me the approx default lengths of the Front , Center & Rear Speaker.

3.> The SB Live has following pins at the back

1 Front Stereo
1 Rear Stereo
1 Mic
1 Line In
1 SPDIF [Last Orange Colored Pin]

Image:- http://www.emaxasp.com/product_images/feature/CE34005C.jpg
Better Image:- http://itc.ua/img/dpk/2003/1/!SB-Live!-5.1-Digital_2.jpg
Top View:- http://lbs.elektroda.net/grafa/Live/sb0100m.jpg

Now my doubt is if the AL 251 has a Triple Stereo
- 1 Front Stereo Pin from the AL251 goes to the Front Stereo of Creative
- 1 Rear Stereo Pin from the AL251 goes to the Rear Stereo of Creative

- Where does the Center + Sub Woofer Stereo Pin from the AL251 go to
which socket on the above mentioned creative as it has no Stereo socket
for Center + Subwoofer , Does it go into the SPDIF Hole of Creative

4.> Also is there any way i can hook this speakers to any standalone DVD
Player with , any cheap Anolog to Digital converter is there.

5.> Wanted to confirm is AL 251 having 25W Woofer and 5x 7W Speakers
Total of 25 + 5x7 = 60W

6.> Are there different combo colors available , he is looking for a more of Black.

7.> Also can you tell me the current cost if you know.

Sorry to ask you so many questions as later i dont want my friend to blame
me that its not connecting or funtioning properly.

Edit Added Later
Link:- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007FS3M/002-7968869-6595212?v=glance

One of the Reviews at amazon on guy says this
So-so performance for a low price, April 5, 2004

Reviewer: Asphodyne (PALO ALTO, CA USA) - See all my reviews
My ears are quite sensitive, so the audible hum the speakers produce when on but not playing music is extremely annoying. I can ignore the noise of the computer fans, but I cannot tune the hum out for some reason--perhaps subconsciously I just don't expect them from speakers, plus the noise is pretty harsh.

The noise also submerges some of the finer details when playing music, especially at low volumes. It doesn't matter too much, since the detail level isn't high at all.

I agree that these speakers are good for people who don't care much about music quality. The bass is strong, though, so if you like bass-heavy music and don't mind the hum and poor midrange/high-end, get these.

Is this true

People at amazon have said about the "hum" sound when nothing
is played from the speaker or its just a electric disturbance and can be corrected easily.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1) Its a triple pin analog. (No SPDIF)
2) around 10-12ft for rears, 6-8feet for centre and left. 5 ft or so (real thick wire) for the right satellite.
3) The SPDIF hole doubles up as the centre/subwoofer.
4) U need to buy a receiver with an spdif in to do that. Not so cheap
5) Yeah thats true 60W total continuous power (RMS in other's lingo)
6) Only Black+silver AFAIK
7) around 4.5-5K depends upon dealer.
 
Thanks Chaos

About the hum sound is it there when the speakers are one but no audio signal is send
from the sound card , i mean i am not playing anything on the computer

So the Center+Subwoofer from speaker goes into the SPDIF of the sound card
phew finally got it.

And any idea on the extension cables how much does it cost.

And Black + Silver is a gr8 color.
 
Quad Master said:
Thanks Chaos

About the hum sound is it there when the speakers are one but no audio signal is send
from the sound card , i mean i am not playing anything on the computer
Click to expand...
I havent heard humming of the sub at all around medium volumes. Humming is a problem only with the logitechs.
 
4.> Also is there any way i can hook this speakers to any standalone DVD
Player with , any cheap Anolog to Digital converter is there.
Click to expand...
Wanted to clarify this small bit.
Most DVD players have 5.1 channel RCA Analog outputs in addition to the digital S/PDIF output (or at the very least, atleast a 2-channel analog output). So, you can connect up your AL 251 to the analog outputs of your DVD player. You will need a RCA to minijack kinda cable though.
 
Have a look at this image , taken from my Philips DVP642K Review

DVP642KBack.jpg


This only has front left and right analog output pins.

Whats the use of it if i will be able to use only 2 channel.

A Digital to Analog Decoder is required like the Creative DDTS 100
Link:- http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=4&subcategory=136&product=9468

Any idea that its available here
 
I am posting a pic of my 642. Looks different from the pic posted by you. This one has ports for 5.1 audio out.
 

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    642.JPG
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Wow CountDown , everyday i get news about Philips DVP642 i start loving it more for all the features it has.

Is that DVP642K [Karoke Version] or Just DVP642[Non Karoke Version]
Also when did you but it & which Firmware are you having for that player 0531 or 1109
or anyother Firmware.

Thanks for the Pic , do you mind if i add that pic to my Review
 
Quad Master said:
Wow CountDown , everyday i get news about Philips DVP642 i start loving it more for all the features it has.

Is that DVP642K [Karoke Version] or Just DVP642[Non Karoke Version]
Also when did you but it & which Firmware are you having for that player 0531 or 1109
or anyother Firmware.

Thanks for the Pic , do you mind if i add that pic to my Review
Click to expand...

You are most welcome to use this pic. In fact if you need any particular shot of the player, I can give it to you.

It is the karaoke version. I bought it around December in Delhi.It still has the older firmware, haven't updated it.
 
quad master there is one digital decoder from philips which convrts analog signal to 5.1 channel digital output with 5.1 speaker set. was quoted as costing something 13 k when i inquired for my cousin about 3 months back.

will come back with more info on that
 
The Creative Decoder DDTS100 is a fantastic Decoder ,
we can hook any Analog Speakers to it [if i aint wrong]
Costing not sure & where to get also not sure but heard its 10K.

More Info:- Soon Will be posting an article check in the General Hadware Section
 
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