Stereo and Speaker Setups

[Tempest]

What kind of speaker setups do most people use when playing games? Right now I only use my TV's speakers, but I was considering getting some halfway decent speakers for my stereo. My stereo is pretty old (an old Aiwa Tape/CD player combo from 1996 or so), so I probably won't get the maximum effectiveness with new speakers anyway. Perhaps I need a new stereo as well. Any suggestions? Keep in mind I don't need ear splitting ground pounding sounds, just decent quality stereo.

Tempest

[Sylentwulf]

I would HIGHLY suggest getting one of the $300-$400 surround sound setups from bestbuy (Or circuit city, wherever) Reasonably good sound, received, speakers, subwoofer, for a good price.

Basically depends on what you want to spend, but ANYTHING is an upgrade from TV speakers. You WILL be blown away if you go from TV speakers to a $300 surround setup package.

[Tempest]

Oh yes I forgot to mention this is for a bedroom not a family room. My bedroom is a good size (I don't have the exact measurements on me), but much smaller than say my family room. That will affect my setup somewhat. I also don't have huge amounts of room for large speakers, but I could find room for a few I'm sure.

Tempest

[bargora]

Nobody ever seems to suggest this, but I've been using a nice set of headphones (plugged into either combo stereo like yours or a good quality boom box, even) about half of the time when I game. Real, heavy headphones, not the "lightweight" ones. I get perfect stereo imaging as loud as I like, my wife gets to study in peace, and if I don't hear the telemarketers calling, oh well...

But then, I sit four feet away from my TV/stereo. You might not want to contend with the extra cord over longer distances. For a few extra bucks, though, you can get wireless headphones these days.

[chadtower]

For a few extra bucks, though, you can get wireless headphones these days.

Not that they work that well... no matter what situation you're in you still get a variable signal for some reason.

[maxlords]

I use my TV speakers too, cause I'm too cheap to buy surround sound speakers right now. But conveniently, a lot of the surround speakers are REALLY small these days, so they are equally nice for bedrooms :D
And just think...porn in surround too! All that lovin' in such a small space....

[chadtower]

I use my TV speakers too, cause I'm too cheap to buy surround sound speakers right now. But conveniently, a lot of the surround speakers are REALLY small these days, so they are equally nice for bedrooms :D
And just think...porn in surround too! All that lovin' in such a small space....

Dude, just get a woman. They're a lot more interactive.

[Arrrhalomynn]

I also use my tv speakers even though I have a pretty good audio set (regular stero though). I used to have it all connected, but I really don't think the experience gets that much better from it. I actually consider it to be rather annoying when the sound overwhelmes me.

[Kid Ice]

Even cheap speakers should make a big difference over the TV. I'm still using AIWA powered speakers that I bought years ago. I will soon be upgrading to surround though.

the kid

[Sylentwulf]

Yeah, the Surround speaker package I was talking about has VERY SMALL speakers (Althought speaker mounts will cost a small fortune, you can put a couple 4 inch shelves on the wall I suppose)

[samuraiX]

I have a Harmon Karden amp powering 4 Speakercraft AIM series 3, a Speakercraft LCR and a new Velodyne 12" woofer.

It's pretty nice but I want to get a better amp with 6.1 or 7.1 options. Probably in 6 months or so I hope.

sound is nice

[Sylentwulf]

Well Samurai, yes that sounds great, but I think we're talking pretty cheap in this thread :) 99% of the world doesn't like spending that much money on TV's and Sound systems (Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the 1% that spends too much).

MY Theory is, you spend $10,000 on a car. The car runs for 60,000 miles (before putting a lot of money in it, blah blah, this is a fantasy for example post) you drive at 60 miles per hour. That's 1,000 hours that you just spent $10,000 on. I personally use my TV at LEAST 4 hours a day (understatement) in the course of a year, thats 1,460 hours.

Now, by this formula, the car is REALLY expensive, and I should be buying at LEAST a $30,000 TV, nevermind the stereo setup.

Sigh, if only more people would use my logic.

[chadtower]

MY Theory is, you spend $10,000 on a car. The car runs for 60,000 miles (before putting a lot of money in it, blah blah, this is a fantasy for example post) you drive at 60 miles per hour. That's 1,000 hours that you just spent $10,000 on. I personally use my TV at LEAST 4 hours a day (understatement) in the course of a year, thats 1,460 hours.
.


So how exactly does your TV get you to and from work? You're talking entertainment vs utility. Your TV is NOT a utility.

[wberdan]

in my bedroom i use a three piece JVC desktop stereo... i can't remember the part # on it, but i think it still runs $ 300. the speakers come in either faux woodgrains (including a nice faux birdseye), or gloss black. each small speaker cabinet is a vented design,using a 3" aluminum driver, and offers good bass quality in its price range, and excellent midrange quality for the price (and it's quite compact). it's definetely the best "all in one" stereo i have heard for $ 300. it comes with a cd player, tuner, and two sets of inputs.
most department stores used to sell them, but lately i only see them in tweeter or online shops.

the model i use looks like the JVC FS-MD9000, but without the minidisc option... i couldnt find the standard online with a couple minutes of looking, but i'm sure you could if youre interested.
good bang for the buck, especially in a bedroom.

willie

[Sylentwulf]

So how exactly does your TV get you to and from work? You're talking entertainment vs utility. Your TV is NOT a utility.

Well, I would have said Luxury vs Necessity, But you're right, just saying, for the amount of time people spend in front of the TV, I'm SHOCKED at how small some people's TV's are.

I know some full size family's with 3 cars, a brand new house, etc...etc... and they have this stupid little twentysomething inch TV, and they even have it in a huge entertainment center next to a new VCR and tons of movies. you can get a decent 35" TV for a couple hundred dollars, why settle for less?

[chadtower]

I know some full size family's with 3 cars, a brand new house, etc...etc... and they have this stupid little twentysomething inch TV, and they even have it in a huge entertainment center next to a new VCR and tons of movies. you can get a decent 35" TV for a couple hundred dollars, why settle for less?

This may apply to me! :) I have tons of dvds, fully configured cambridge soundworks surround mounted to the walls, 8" powered sub etc, hacked directivo, hacked dvd, etc... and a 27" tv. Mostly, it's space and the fact that so long as I get an excellent picture, the size isn't all that important. My living room isn't big enough that it's a real issue. If I could find a really good flatscreen that didn't have those stupid giant side or top speakers that would fit into my entertainment centre, maybe... I can definitely tell you, though, even though there is people in my house 24/7 that particular tv is NOT on four hours, so there's a difference there too.

[Captain Wrong]

@Tempest, if you wanna go on the cheap, here's my suggestion. Thrift an old 70s vintage receiver. Go for a fairly reputable brand. I'm partial to Sansui my self, but Pioneer, Sony, Marantz, etc. made good stuff too.

A lot of those 70s receivers have gobs of inputs and watts to spare. And most of that 70s stuff was built to last. You may have some capacitors that are leaky and throwing out some noise and you'll probably have to clean all the knobs and switches out, but that's fairly minor.

I got a quad Sansui receiver and 4 speakers (2 Dynaco 2 Sansui) for under$30. Granted buying old speakers is kind of dicey, but if there's no dry rot around the cones, you should be in good shape.

[chadtower]

@Tempest, if you wanna go on the cheap, here's my suggestion. Thrift an old 70s vintage receiver. Go for a fairly reputable brand. I'm partial to Sansui my self, but Pioneer, Sony, Marantz, etc. made good stuff too.

This is a GREAT suggestion. I actually like the old 60s vacuum tubed receivers better anyway, much more power and life to the sound. I have a 60s GE receiver with so many inputs and configurations that I could never use them all and it outputs the cleanest, most powerful sound I've ever heard on a receiver under $1000. I got it for $7 at a flea market... the other downside to old speakers, though, is that they're huge when they're old. The cabinets are pretty cool, though, and you can replace the cones with newer ones and there are 10000 uses for an old speaker magnet. :)