Audio Yet another Sound Card + Speaker question....

esanthosh

esanthosh

Skilled
I was very, very hesitant to start a new thread. But, I was in a dilemma between hijacking someone else's thread and starting yet another thread and I chose the latter :ashamed:

What I have:

I have a Altec Lansing 251 and have been using onboard sound for a couple of years now (Had a Creative Sound Blaster Live! in my previous system).

Requirements:

My question is mainly with regards to watching movies. My (recent) taste in movies may seem a little odd and involves very old films viz., Kurosawa, Bergman etc., and as such has not required any "sound effects". But the odd new film I watch makes me want to upgrade the sound. But then it's only once in a while and I have not cared so much so far.

Music is not my main concern as most of the time, it travels with me inside S9/Clip+. I will however test the rips [or] play the odd CD and as long as sound comes nicely off the speakers, I'd be happy :p

Other facts:

  • The PC is still running XP as of now with plans to upgrade to 7 later on.
  • I am looking at Xonar DX having gone through some threads here.
Questions:

  1. Would Logitech X-540 be an 'upgrade' to 251? (Z5500 is off my budget for now)
  2. Are there any good 7.1 speakers for < 10K +/- 2K?
  3. Reading threads, it seems like Xonar D2X may be an overkill for the kind of speakers I am considering. Instead, if I were to buy only a sound card now and build a good speaker system slowly later on, would D2X make a better choice? And are there any alternatives to D2X?
  4. Any external sound cards capable of 5.1? OR Is there a way to do Emu 0404 USB -> 5.1?
 
To be honest, if you want to watch quality movies, in terms of the sound effects, then a Sony or Philips home theater is the minimum.

You get entry level Sony 5.1 HTs around 10k.

Get that along with an Asus Xonar DX. To justify anything higher than an Asus Xonar DX you need to spend at least 30-50k on your speakers and subwoofer combo.
 
Xonar DX (Rs. 4.5k) + Logitech X-540 (Rs. 5.2k) is an awesome combo. Superb sound quality.

Xonar DX is very compatible with windows Xp as well as Windows 7. It is the best VFM sound card at the moment. And is rocking for anything upto and slightly higher than Z-5500.

Totally recommended.

PS: It may not be as loud as Rs. 10k home theatre systems, but sure has much better sound quality.



Im sorry i have no clue about Altec Lansing 251
 
sato1986 said:
PS: It may not be as loud as Rs. 10k home theatre systems, but sure has much better sound quality
Click to expand...

Thanks! I am all for quality than loudness :)

I know specs do not mean everything (or anything). But, just for the numbers game - here is the specs of 251 vs X540.

X-540 Specs look better on paper. But, would it make a good upgrade in terms of power?

251 Review back in 2002

Code: 
Specification       Altec Lansing 251   Logitech X-540

Total RMS Power         60                        70
Total Peak Power        90                       140
Front Speakers           6.5                       7.4
Center Speaker           7.6                      15.4
Rear Speakers            7.2                       7.4
Sub-Woofer              25                        25
SNR                     70                        75
Frequency            35 Hz - 18 Khz        40Hz - 20 Khz
 
Specs dont mean everything but they do mean alot :) From the specs, i feel the Logitech X-540 is a decent upgrade, not anything big.

^You are currently using onboard audio or Creative SB Live?

If you are using Onboard audio, buy the Xonar DX first. See the output improvement and then decide whether you want more power output and quality from your speakers.

If you are using Creative SB live! sound card, buy the Logitech X-540 first. Then decide whether you really want to spend on slightly better sound quality.
 
sato1986 said:
If you are using Onboard audio, buy the Xonar DX first. See the output improvement and then decide whether you want more power output and quality from your speakers.
Click to expand...

Yup! that seems to be the way to go. Thanks :hap2:
 
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