Brothers new 2.1 Stereo setup for music off his computer sub 3000 dollars incredible sound check it out

My brother just got a new 2.1 setup. He only watches movies at my house only needs music output so he went with an all stereo 2 channel system.

For his soundcard he uses an Auzentech X meridian soundcard. 24 bit/192khz 120dB S/N ratio DAC.

It is connected with a monster portable 400 mkII 1/8" stereo mini plug to RCA

to a Denon DRA-697CI Stereo Reciever. 100 watt x 2 into 8 ohms, 4 ohm stable A + B channel bi stereo amplification.

The speakers are Infinity C336 floor standing speakers connected with 14 AWG double braided speaker wire BI wire connected (has 2 sets of speaker terminals, 4 total, on each speaker one for highs and one for mids) Channel A on the Amp connects the highs and Channel B connects the mids. Normally each speaker has 1 + and 1 - terminal These have 2 each on each speaker for a total of 8 connections. Wiring the speakers this way gives the greatest sound detail and most efficient use of power. These speakers are utterly amazing. They could use even more power then 100 watts each but the Denon receiver is highly underated its the loudest 100 watss I ever heard. The bi amplification set up also helps out alot. Each speaker has 3x 6.5" mid bass drivers 1 4" mid range driver and 1 1" tweeter. The cone material on these speakers is called Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphram. Basically this cone material is incredibly light for high efficiency but also incredibly stiff no distortion at all and completely neutral to the sound.

The subwoofer is connected from the Denon's LFE output to the Sub's LFE input via a special subwoofer cable from Blue Jeans Cable. The monster versions of these cables were 180 dollars while BJC had the same exact type of cable for 45 dollars. The mini to RCA Monster was only 40 so he didnt mind paying that. The Subwoofer is an Infinity 12" CMMD cone 400 watt rms 700 watt peak PS212. I laughed at him when he said 400 watts as I have a fosgate 1500 watt rms amp in my car but man I was impressed by this things bass. You can feel it in your chest.

The shining star in his system has to be those infinity speakers it's a little overkill but you hear details in the music you never heard before. I could hear effects in a 24 bit 96khz SACD rip of pink floyd that I never heard and i've listened to it atleast 500 times b4. With the speaker covers off its jsut a huge array of speaker menancingly pointing at you. 6x 6.5" mid bass drivers is jsut insane overkill then they add 2x 4" midrange and 2x 1" tweeters 5 speakers on each tower. I envy how perfectly matched every frequency is from 20hz to 20khz the output level has to be within very tight tolerances.

If you have around 2600 to spend and want incredibly accurate stereo sound this is the way to go. And it doesnt have to be an output from a soundcard. You can even output off the headphone jack of an ipod with the stereo mini to rca connector and have the ipod run into the denon receiver and it would even make an ipods sound quality shine like a star. I Just had to share this set up after seeing it today. I was just so thoroughly impressed. Buy this eact set up and you will be the happiest music listener in the world i promise.

 

I guess it depends on if you want loud or accurate. Or impressive looking.

If my budget was ~3000 for a computer-based 2.1 system, and I wasn't looking to start an earthquake in a reasonably sized room but to enjoy all manner of audio well, I'd have gone haggling for Genelec 6020A's + 5050A. Actually accurate, tasteful and neat (no discrete amp - you will need a soundcard configurable for 2.1 output), punchy and as loud as it needs to be.

My current computer-based setup is pretty simple: I traded down to a pair of Genelec 8020A's (& no sub) a while back from bigger Genelecs + sub for room/size reasons, and it's hooked up to an Audient Centro again, after a while spent trying to do the monitor switching in a less ostentatious way but failing. The Centro is fed with both analog and digital outputs from the various soundcards, ranging from built-in to Prism Orpheus. I've tried all sorts of stuff - having separate speakers on two sides of the room with two distribution units, omnidirectional speakers, etc - but have to say simple is best.

 

No pictures?

 

Yeah gota give pictures, but i'd class that as overkill .

As for watts, they don't mean to much (although people think the bigger the better.) You really want to look at the rated sensitivity of the speakers themselves as well as THD figures .

 

My 2.1 system retails for 2500, but my speakers are bookshelf instead of floor standing units. I wish I had the space for some nice floor standing ones but I don't. lol

This is my setup but I have a new laptop since that picture. And I have moved my subwoofer(sunfire jr) so its not under my desk, I got it in a corner behind me, which is where sunfire suggests to place them, and it does wonders in a corner.

 

Thats quite like my first setup really, ill post my new one tommorow.

Mines a 2.0 vintage kenwood amp with shelves.

 

next time im over there ill take my m17x and take pictures with its webcam. Thats the only camera i have , And these are definately accurate. Infinitys CMMD woofers sound so clean and distortion free. Honestly I think he coulda went with smaller speakers 3 6.5" mid bass woofers on each tower is kinda pointless 1 on each of them would of been fine. The frequency response is very flat over the entire range tho. I dont notice any frequencies overly loud or overly soft. The all infinity setup blends very well together.

 

I went to Big Lots and got a pretty good 2.1 speaker set for $25.

 

I don't think that's quite the same caliber as the sound systems in this thread.

 

Damn, I so want a good audio system now. Since I've been lurking at Head-Fi for a while now, particularly the show off your high end system thread, I really want some good quality floor standing speakers, with a good amp, and a soundcard.

 

I have always said I think its better go to with a real stereo system rather than be dependent of "computer" speaker sets.

Better quality, more versatility, and more quality.

Im running an Optimus 540w Receiver with Klipsch Quintet III's and a Klipsch Synergy 10 Powered Sub.

I only run it on 2.1 mode, maybe for a movie I will turn on surround but for games/music 2.1 is better for me.

I cant get the volume knob past half way before the house starts to fall apart and my ears want to burst and the speakers still have lots of room to go louder before distortion or damage.

I think it would break my monitors or something from the vibration before anything else.

Cost for my system would be...

$400 reciever
$400 Speakers
$400 Sub
$100 10-Band EQ
$200 X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card
$50 Wires

But I got everything cheaper than that due to deals/sales.

I also have a set of Infinity speakers bookshelf/surrounds but I dont use them right now.

Im a big fan of Infinity though, used to run some Infinity Perfect 12's in my car great stats on those speakers and not a bad price.

Now that I downsized the car into a truck I have a Infinity Basslink-T for subs behind the cab seats.

edit: some pics

sub under my desk (didnt know it was so dusty cant see it without camera flash


right in front of me at the desk is the center speaker and the two front left/right speakers of the quintet III set


bit more light in this shot


reviver/amp and stuff


dont forget the other stuff like the Audio Technica A700's on the wall and you can see the Logitech Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10's a few pictures up sitting on the desk behind the keyboard.

 

I want pics, k? now!

 

Heres how im running,



Kenwood A-722 Reciever with the GE-722 Graphics equaliser running two LS-722's (I think.)

No dedicated woofer unfortunately, thinking about an official kenwood branded one though,

However the two sheleves have a 6.5 inch driver, 1 inch dome tweeter and 4 inch presence speaker, and a fairly sizable port, lets just say at a quarter volume its how im used to listening to music at, and half for partying lol

The 6.5 inch drivers have true rubber surrounds too which really does make a difference when listening to music with a high bpm count with all the other instruments going, they just dont falter, and i can enjoy all the frequencies to a ballanced level .

 

Geek/Nerd factor infinity. I salute you.

 

cata those speakers look pretty nice. What brand and model are they how much were they?

 

They're old kenwood shelves, i think model LS-722's,

I have a whole set of 5 too but the amp is primarily meant to be a stereo,

I know there about 20+ years old and i think the price was heading above the 2k range for all the parts but im not certain.
I also have the center (Three way), rear left, rear right, CD player and dual casette player.

Its a very impressive amp, and has a nice feature set too, although i dont think kenwood make amps anymore? maybe some drivers and car products. (But mainly kitchen stuff unfortunately.)

 

kenwood still makes car audio but it's not the best rated car audio stuff. Alpine/Kicker/Rockford Fosgate/JL Audio prolly the top are audio manufacturers.

 

Yeah its quite strange really, the audio output, and the quality of the casings, the reflex design on the drivers, i can't see why they've completely stopped on full on audio systems.

I was actually planning an integration of this amp into my car, but i think its a bit too big to replace my 45x4w radio haha.

(And 20 or so years says it all about the build quality, the enclosures are bashed up too haha.)

 

problem with home amps is they arent meant to run off DC power. You'd have to have some complicated DC to AC converter I dont think it would work out good. If you want a car amp go with a power series 4 channel fosgate u git a 500 x 4 RMS powering 3 way components in the front and rear and it has amazing clarity for car audio.

 

Hehe yeah, well from having these i'd easily say 2 tweeter/2 driver configuration, even in 2 way is more than enough, i don't find the need for a sub with 6.5" drivers, although i do plan on investing a nice 12" woofer at one point just to hear some of the low end frequencies more clearly.

Ill bear your suggestion in mind for definate though!! .

 

6.5"s can play some bass alright but 20-80hz you need a big sub. I got 13.5" jl audio w7's in my car and they sound great. I read about why they made em 13.5" cause most make em either 12 or 15 and they said 13.5" is the ideal size to get balanced bass output across all neccasary frequencies. The Jl's could be used in a hopme environment but they need 1500 watts rms not sure how many home amps supply that.

 

The 6.5's in this kenwood hit all the way down to 30, but the design of the amp suggests that these 6.5's are meant really to be midrange, but yeah i would love a dedicated sub of that size.

Man 13.5 inch must be insane haha, i bet that amps huge too?, i think home enviroment amps could possibly push that with the right amount of cash haha.

 

yea the amps are pretty big just guessing id say 18 inches long 6 inches wide i have 1 amp for each sub 1500 x 1 class bd fosgate amps. Had to replace the factory 140 amp alternator with a high current 220 amp alternator and the factory battery with a deep cycle yellow top optima battery

 

Jeez haha, you'l have to get some pictures if you ever have some time on your hands, now that i would like to see ^^.

 

That's still too much. Don't every buy Monster anything again!

Two totally different animals; don't ever compare the two.

Quality sound is never overkill.

It never was but they were once very popular since they made the entire line of auto products. For a time the dabbled in home stereo products as well.

 

And here I thought my $80 Logitech X-540 worked well.:confused2:

 

Probably best value for money the x-540, loud too, i used the 530s for movies, they were great, and for playing modern warfare 2, phenominal performance for such a budget set .