Upgrading my external speakers

I've been using a Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speaker system, but want to get something better. I'm looking at a pair of Polk R15 bookshelf speakers and another subwoofer (if I can't run the Polks through the Klipsch subwoofer). Would I need to use a separate audio receiver to drive the Polks?

Thanks!

 

If I am thinking of what you want to do, you probably will. I doubt you can hook speakers like that directly to the laptop. Do you have links to what you are looking at?

 

Here's a pic of what I'm thinking about...

How'd you get that cool sig?

 

Look no further than the Logitech Z-2300's. Won't find better speakers unless you spend 100's more. They are incredible.

 

I am going to have to agree with Chaz. I have the logitech Z3s, and for half the price, they are amazingly good, so my bet is that for $150, that is about as good as it is going to get (price to price), plus they will hook right up.

 

If you are reffering to the bar in my post - just click on it and you will go to the website. I need to change it to add paintball, but I don't know what I will remove.

 

And I third the Z2300's. 120wt. sub will shake anything in your room to pieces, and is plenty of power for a notebook. Too bad they dont sell the sub seperate, as then you could get even better speakers, but once you take the covers off the speakers, they sound pretty clear.

 

I've listened to that Logitech system and am in a small minority of those who weren't too impressed. I think my Klipsch 2.1 sounds better. My only gripe with the Klipsch is that the sound field is rather narrow. As long as I stay right between the speakers, they sound superb. However, if I move even a few inches to the left or right, the sound quality drops noticeably.

I found a Klipsch forum and asked if there was some way to drive different speakers through the subwoofer. The subwoofer is actually quite good; 200 watts, 8" speaker. It looks like it might be possible to build a cable that'd do the trick. If it can't be done, I'll probably just stick with what I have.

 

I have the same Klipsch system you have. I really do love it for the cost, and I also fine them to be better than the logitechs.

I don't see why attaching the Polks would not work. The Klipsch sub I believe has enough wattage to power them.

On a side note, it seems that you want to keep the Klipsch sub, which in my opinion is a good decision. The sound and range of it, is great.

 

Hey, if it works be sure to post impressions. It'd be interesting to see if my Logitech Z-560 woofer could power other speakers. All that size must be good for something other than bouncing my chair up and down!

 

BFD: The big question I have is getting the sub to connect with and drive the speakers. The standard black/red terminals will work fine, but I don't see how to connect the sub's "s-video-like" cord to the Polks. I believe that connection is what powers the two desktop speakers. I think this is where a new cable would be needed. I agree on the Klipsch sub. It's powerful, has great range and is pretty compact.

RWEI: If I get this figured out, I'll definitely post pics and a review.

 

I see what you're talking about now. Really its just the red/black wires that power the speakers. The S-video-like cable is seperate, however on the Klipsch speakers, they integrated the control unit underneath one of the speakers. Maybe I'm still not understanding this exactly, but as far as a solution I'm not sure what can be done.

 

Whoa, if you're right about the red/black wires powering the Polks, then this just got a lot easier. If I can hook up the Polks, then I can detach the control pod and use it to adjust the sub. This is definitely worth a try.

My decision on new external speakers just got a little more complicated. I found these at Newegg...

 

Okay, decision made.

I visited a HiFi Buys and listened to several different speaker setups. One thing that made a huge impact was mounting satellite speakers on stands. I bought the replacement Klipsch 2.1 satellites and stands in the first pic. I'll see how this works for a couple of weeks. If I still want mo' sound, I'll return the satellites for the bookshelf Klipsch in the second pic. I'll run them through my home theater receiver using the big subwoofer already connected.

 

I did that for a while with my receiver and two 8 inch driver floor speakers, it's pretty big sound. the sub would be able to power the speakers but you'd end up having to solder yourself some RCA to standard banana plug cables or something... imo the sub may power it, but the receiver is the only way to fully maximize the 100+ watts or so the satalites are capable of pushing.