Speaker question for those of you in college

I'm gonna be put up in a suite next year for college, and I'm doing some preliminary planning into the sound system I'm gonna get. I'm wondering if a 2.1 system will be enough, or whether I should just break the bank and get a pair of Logitech Z-5500's.

How long do sound systems usually last? If I can buy them, and they turn into a 10 year investment, that'd be pretty good.

 

if your playing just mp3's, just get some sweet 2.1 speakers (sweet = able to shake the foundation of the building ) Since mp3's are not surround sound, I wouldnt recommend a 5.1 speaker system.

Now, if your doing movies and games (I bet you do both), then I'd defantely recommend a 5.1, with a digital sound card (a card that have 3 different sound outputs). Those logitechs are kick arse. And for a notebook, if you have a PC card slot, I'd recommend the Audigy 2 ZS. This would obviously be if you had alot of dough to spend. When I was in college, everyone in my house pitched in, and we did that. My marks dropped significantly that year , but we were the best party house in the neighborhood.

In my albeit small amount of experience in sound systems, If you play it loud all the time, 2-3 years. You play it fairly high, but still able to hear each other talk, 5+.

 

it all depends if you would fully utilize a surround sound system, do you do a lot of movie watching / gaming that a 5.1 system would be good for? Mp3 music cant fully utilize 5.1, to mp3s its just left and right channels.

Also, if you get a surround sound, you would have to get an external sound card that supports 5.1 or 7.1.

 

I'd get some acceptable satellite speakers, and then some really, really nice headphones if you're looking for a college set-up. NO ONE likes to live below/above/beside the person with a decent subwoofer when they're trying to study. There will be some houses where you'll have no problems, but dorms and 'quiet' houses are going to want you to be quiet. Bring noisy around people that want to study/sleep is a quick way to generating intra-house/dorm problems.

 

haha oops overlooked the 'suite' part

 

I say buy a solid 2.1 system, like maybe the Klipsh Pro-Media systems.

A Z-5500 set is really not a great choice if you are looking for a long term solution. Sure, it is OK if you want to impress your friends with your computer setup, but it is not a realistic solution for everyday film viewing (which you likely will not be doing through your laptop for very long). Small satellites simply do not provide the dynamic range or output required to fill a modest sized room, without overdriving of the sub. Also, their tiny driver size and poor cabinet development often force the mfg. to provide mid bass output to the sub woofer. This creates terrible soundstage and image because the mid bass region is directional, where the sub bass range is omni-directional. This is one of the reasons that Bose is so frowned upon by audiophiles. That and their terrible misdirection techniques they use in an attempt to "fill the room" (this is why the satellites have speakers pointing in multiple directions), create the most horrible, muddled surround experience.

Look here for a decent set:

http://cgi.ebay.com/KLIPSCH-PROMEDI...oryZ3702QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

Well here's the 2.1 system I was thinking of ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121122

I'm pretty sure the Z-2300 will be able to fill a small dorm room with sound. People do have good points - it's not like I'll be able to recognize the benefit of a 5.1 system with a small room, nor will I be able to take advantage of 5.1 with .MP3.

I was thinking the same ... I'm considering getting a pair of Sennheiser noise-cancelling headphones to go along with my Zune and its standard earbud headphones, because the standard earbud sound just doesn't cut it sometimes -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826106328

 

Buy a receiver and hometheater speakers. A cheap Onkyo htib set would probably do better than most computer speakers.

 

As someone who's in grad school now, let me assure you that many fights would have been avoided/friendships have blossumed if people hadn't insisted on using massive 2+ speaker systems. There is nothing like having to give a presentation worth 80% of your mark the next day, and being kept awake 'til 6:00am because someone 'was just watching a movie'.

Those Sennheiser's look nice. As a note (and not to denigrate the degree of assistance this forum can provide) HardOCP has a great sound forum with lots of knowledgable individuals. It might be worth getting their input as well - more informed people offering suggestions is usually better when making decisions with money, or so I've found.

 

I am going to again suggest the Klipsh. In the initial post you suggested you were going to possibly step up to the z5500. For less then the cost of the z5500 you could get the Klipsh and the Senns (which are VERY nice headphones, I myself have a set). The Klipsh are, in my opinion, the best computer speakers you can get for under $250, and well worth $50 more then the Logitek Z2300s... WELL worth it.

 

I have plenty of sound equipment in my room - enough to make the entire 2-4 floors of my dorm listen to my music if I would like to, and I will tell you for anything close to a dorm, a nice logitech 2.1 is great. There are times when you are allowed to have music turned up. They will sound good, and deliver a nice performance. You aren't trying to fill a stadium, so these will be fantastic. I have a pair of logitech Z3s that I use, and I use them everyday, they are amazing, and I have had them for several years. Just be reasonable with them. If someone is studying, respect that.

 

I've had PHilips 2.0 multi-media speakers, logitech x-230s, and logitech z2300s in my dorm room so far. This year I brought my Klipsche Pro Media 2.1 and they're great. as for what is good for a dorm room any decent 2.1 system is good enough. as for cash, if you are on a budget, the x-230's are nice at ~$50 or less, if you've got som cash to spend then the z2300 or pro media 2.1 are very very nice.

 

As someone who's lived in college dorms for the last four years (and now counting the days til I'm out), I can say even the biggest of rooms are too small to reasonably set up 5.1 speakers. Get a good 2.1 system and save your money to get a fantastic sound system for after graduation.

 

I'd suggest getting the Klipsche Pro Media 2.1 system, it sounds awesome, and can easily rock a room.

 

I have the Logitech Z-2300's and used them for all 4 years of college. They've been with my 6 years now and are working awesome still. My college friend back freshman year had the Klipsche Pro Media 2.1 (what are the chances eh?) and they were also awesome but you really couldn't tell the difference unless you were an extreme audiophile. I couldn't. Anyway, his Pro Media's Subwoofer died Sophomore year and he ended up getting the Logitech Z-5300 and are still using them.

But damn, 5.1 is way too much power for a speaker system when you live with roomates. I could hear his speakers from next door and he'd have them on LOW. The woofer was so huge it'd bother people living downstairs of us.

Of course, this is just anecdotally, but from my experience, I'd just go with the cheaper logitech z-2300's. They sound excellent and have an excellent woofer too (if you like to crank it up). It's also not too overpowered for a dorm/shared apartment setup. I'm planning to bring them to law school later this year and if they survive another 4 years, it'll be a 10 year investment in an excellent pair of computer speakers.

 

z-2300 .... nuff said.

3rd year of college, these things are enough to bump my whole living room filled with 40 people and have the windows shaking. Also had them in my dorm room my soph year and if i only got a dime for every time someone asked for me to turn the bass down! haha.

awesome bass, awesome sound. you won't be disappointed.

 

if you want information on headphones, go to a forum where people will tell you how to spend what little cash you have faster than greased lightning...

http://www.head-fi.org/