# Custom 5.1 system



## Concorde 0 (Jul 16, 2015)

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## CJCerny (Jul 16, 2015)

You can roll your own 5.1 system, sure. I don't think it is any more difficult to do than setting up a HTiB. You can use whatever size speakers you like in any position, as long as the amp in the receiver that is driving them can handle their impedance.

Playing games in 5.1 on a PC is a tricky thing. Many games don't support 5.1. Some do. The easiest way to get 5.1 on a PC with games that support 5.1 is to get a sound card with Dolby Digital Live and then connect that sound card digitally (optically or coax) to the receiver.


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## AsRock (Jul 16, 2015)

Whats your budget ?

Maybe some thing like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882115476&ignorebbr=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16886200008&cm_re=Klipsch-_-86-200-008-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882780100

Or do away with the small speakers and sub and get floor standing ones.

I would consider going though ebay for speakers.



CJCerny said:


> You can roll your own 5.1 system, sure. I don't think it is any more difficult to do than setting up a HTiB. You can use whatever size speakers you like in any position, as long as the amp in the receiver that is driving them can handle their impedance.
> 
> Playing games in 5.1 on a PC is a tricky thing. Many games don't support 5.1. Some do. The easiest way to get 5.1 on a PC with games that support 5.1 is to get a sound card with Dolby Digital Live and then connect that sound card digitally (optically or coax) to the receiver.



I have had no issue with it over the last 5 years or more. Sure you can get issue's but that tends to be the games fault were it don't support it in the 1st place.


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## Jetster (Jul 16, 2015)

It revolves around a budget. You need to decide on that first


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## Jetster (Jul 16, 2015)

Well your in the right price range. Maybe BumbleBee will throw a recommendation your way. I went with Yamaha RXV571 and Klipsch B-20 / C-20 totally happy with it but there might be a better bang for buck and newer tech. Maybe Marantz


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## CJCerny (Jul 16, 2015)

I would consider Pioneer SP-BS22 and SP-FS52 speakers for your price range.

Receivers aren't really too different in feature sets in the $200-$300 range. If you have any other gear that you are connecting to the receiver that uses analog video connectors, you'll likely want a receiver that can upconvert analog video input to HDMI output.

I don't agree with AsRock's statement above that it is easy to run games in true 5.1 on a PC. It is easy if you have sound card with Dolby Digital Live and a game that supports 5.1 natively. If you try to pass 5.1 to a receiver via the HDMI output of your video card, though, it ain't gonna happen, at least not for video games, although DVD's and Blu-rays work fine as long as you have the supporting software for that. The reason it is tricky is because not a lot of PC users actually have 5.1 setups, so game makers and hardware makers don't spend a lot of time making all that stuff play well together. Even in 2015, the only truly easy way to game in 5.1 sound is with a PS3/4 or Xbox 360/One.


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## AsRock (Jul 16, 2015)

Concorde 0 said:


> For the receiver / stereo / subwoofer part, about $650 usd. But if I can get significantly better quality from higher, then I'll save for it.
> 
> I'm even open to spending way more if it really would be worth it, obviously would have to save for a long time.
> 
> I'm not gonna need hugely loud speakers as it's a reasonably small room. After quality not magnitude.




Well if waiting not a problem wait for the A/V sales and speaker sales, take you time in what your aiming at as home audio has some crazy price cuts even more so when a range is being replaced.

But a Yamaha \ Kenwood \ Technics \ Marantz \ NAD \ DENON even ONKYO will all serve you well, how ever what types of music you in to?,  as it does play a factor in this.  Sound quility from most brands can differ a lot and anyone says they all sound the same don't know what they are talking about or have a hearing issue.

Any chance you got any HI FI shops around were you live as these typically have a sound room for testing, sure they may not be the best place to buy from but it will give you a idea what your after.

Any history with HI FI in the past ?, why i ask is that i find some older speakers sound better good part of that reason is the size of the speakers back  before 2k were 8" woofers which still today i like more over the 6" or less speakers of today as they require a sub to produce the lower end.



CJCerny said:


> I would consider Pioneer SP-BS22 and SP-FS52 speakers for your price range.
> 
> Receivers aren't really too different in feature sets in the $200-$300 range. If you have any other gear that you are connecting to the receiver that uses analog video connectors, you'll likely want a receiver that can upconvert analog video input to HDMI output.
> 
> I don't agree with AsRock's statement above that it is easy to run games in true 5.1 on a PC. It is easy if you have sound card with Dolby Digital Live and a game that supports 5.1 natively. If you try to pass 5.1 to a receiver via the HDMI output of your video card, though, it ain't gonna happen, at least not for video games, although DVD's and Blu-rays work fine as long as you have the supporting software for that. The reason it is tricky is because not a lot of PC users actually have 5.1 setups, so game makers and hardware makers don't spend a lot of time making all that stuff play well together. Even in 2015, the only truly easy way to game in 5.1 sound is with a PS3/4 or Xbox 360/One.



Well the main thing you need to do is to set windows to 2 speakers and the rest is done and i don't have any issue's knowing were a sound is coming from in games.


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## Brusfantomet (Jul 16, 2015)

CJCerny said:


> You can roll your own 5.1 system, sure. I don't think it is any more difficult to do than setting up a HTiB. You can use whatever size speakers you like in any position, as long as the amp in the receiver that is driving them can handle their impedance.
> 
> Playing games in 5.1 on a PC is a tricky thing. Many games don't support 5.1. Some do. The easiest way to get 5.1 on a PC with games that support 5.1 is to get a sound card with Dolby Digital Live and then connect that sound card digitally (optically or coax) to the receiver.



The best solution is using HDMI to output the sound from your GFX card, no analog signals in the PC at all, Problem with that is at least AMD cards need to output a picture trough the HDMI port to be able to send sound as well. If your screen has an HDMI port then you can use that. The advantage of the HDMI is that you can get PCM (lossless) 7.1

The other digital option is Coax or optical with s/pdif. This can ONLY give two channels of PCM, if a movie/music is encoded with DTS/Dolby Digital then 5.1 will be played through the two channels with some compression. For games to give 5.1 trough s/pdif you will need the sound card to mix the 6 channels into the s/pdif link, this is possible IF the card has DTS Interactive or DDLive, or you can use your built in Realtec card with  these  drivers. The nice thing is that since the signals still are digtial the quality of the sound chip is less important, and you do not have to spend money on a dedicated board.

The final solution, and one that is garaneed to work is to use analog 5.1 outpot form a card and feed it to a multi channel input on a receiver, the downside here is that the quality of your sound card will matter, as you are using the analog parts.



CJCerny said:


> I would consider Pioneer SP-BS22 and SP-FS52 speakers for your price range.
> 
> Receivers aren't really too different in feature sets in the $200-$300 range. If you have any other gear that you are connecting to the receiver that uses analog video connectors, you'll likely want a receiver that can upconvert analog video input to HDMI output.
> 
> I don't agree with AsRock's statement above that it is easy to run games in true 5.1 on a PC. It is easy if you have sound card with Dolby Digital Live and a game that supports 5.1 natively. If you try to pass 5.1 to a receiver via the HDMI output of your video card, though, it ain't gonna happen, at least not for video games, although DVD's and Blu-rays work fine as long as you have the supporting software for that. The reason it is tricky is because not a lot of PC users actually have 5.1 setups, so game makers and hardware makers don't spend a lot of time making all that stuff play well together. Even in 2015, the only truly easy way to game in 5.1 sound is with a PS3/4 or Xbox 360/One.



I beg to differ, i am getting 5.1 from my games on my system here. (using HDMI out)


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## CJCerny (Jul 16, 2015)

Brusfantomet said:


> I beg to differ, i am getting 5.1 from my games on my system here. (using HDMI out)


 
Does your receiver show it is getting a 5.1 input in games from your PC or does it show that it is getting a 2.0 input in games from your PC? Games typically output 2.0 via a video card HDMI--it just sounds like 5.1 because the PLII logic of the receiver kicks in and makes it sound like it is true 5.1.

Sorry for the tangent, OP, but this tangent might make some difference in your decision making. Dolby Digital Pro Logic II (or the DTS version or the receiver's own version of 2.0 to 5.1 conversion) pales in comparison to true 5.1 sound coming from the game engine unaltered to your receiver.


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## Brusfantomet (Jul 16, 2015)

I does not up mix , and i remember listening to things coming from the suround and center speaker during games.

But i will check when i get home today to be on the safe side.


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## CJCerny (Jul 16, 2015)

In my experience, in Win 7 all games send 2.0 PCM out the video card's HDMI, regardless of how many speakers your have configured in the Control Panel. Could be that newer games have overcome this (I don't play a lot of current games) and now send 5.1 PCM out the HDMI. Either way, it is a good thing to clarify this now so the OP knows if they need to get a sound card with DD Live or if they will do fine just using the HDMI of their video card connected to their receiver.


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## Brusfantomet (Jul 16, 2015)

Ok, tested GTA 5 on the system in "System Specs" and there was sound coming from the back speakers. This was with the receiver in "pure Direct" where it does nothing to the signal, straight pass trough.

Dont have manny games instaled on this machine at the moment, but can try with my old computer (Win 7, Hd 6950 CF, HDMI audio) with the games i have installed there.


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## CJCerny (Jul 16, 2015)

Okay, I guess I'm wrong, which happens often. 

OP, as long as you have recent video card with HDMI, you are in good shape on the PC side.

There are plenty of nice inexpensive 5.1 speaker sets available. Energy and Paradigm make some fine sets. I don't think you need to stop at 2.1 for now because of budget reasons. I prefer the UI on Onkyo receivers, but Pioneer, Sony, Denon, all make nice product too.


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## Brusfantomet (Jul 16, 2015)

Tested GTA 5 under Win 7 also, got sound from all speakers there also.

Easiest way to get digital 5.1 is with the fixed drivers i linked to further up here, and using DTS interactive, requiers that you have a digital output on your motherboard that matches the receiver.

 Personaly i like Yamaha receivers.


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## Jetster (Jul 16, 2015)

HDMI is all you need. Video and sound


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## Brusfantomet (Jul 17, 2015)

I would use HDMI to your screen trough the receiver.

I use Displayport, but that is only because the receiver cant handle 2560 x 1600 (but does 4K) so i have to have a separate screen conected from the reciver to the same screen i am using, and setting it to the smales possible size of from my screen


The extra screen on the bottom is the same 30" screen as the main display, but its just there to fool the 290X into sending a picture stream to the receiver, where i also add the 5.1 PCM signal.

So the simpler solution is to just use HDMI and be done with it.


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## AsRock (Jul 22, 2015)

Concorde 0 said:


> I listen to Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Simon and Garfunkel etc.
> 
> Yeah I do have a few good hi fi shops.
> 
> ...



Sorry for the late reply, But sounds to me a Yamaha  would be a good option for you which i find more natural sounding or even a Marantz which i think it a bit more up beat.

ONKYO i would recommend you keep away from they sound more flat sounding, how ever their price is temping with normally more features but Pink Floyd will sound so much more lively and even more so on a Marants.

If you want some nice clear vocals maybe you can get lucky and find some AR18's cheap but due to age they need refoaming which is not hard to do but i would highly recommend watching video's on that.

The main issue with the AR18's regardless how good the top and midrange is the bass can lack but their are tracks that make the base come alive like Sail gravity mix. Base is allays tight and in step so no boomy crap were the bass is out of control.  They even keep Dubstep in it's place.









And lisioning to Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon on the AR18's  sound so so nice and accurate and i am not much of a fan of Pink Floyd really but i do like how they sound. 

Polk are pretty much just bright sounding if your after the bass i think you are you ideally want 8" speakers not this cock'n'bull smaller speakers are clearer crap.

Here's a pic of one of the pair ( well one  ) of AR18's i have although the bottom piece of wood and badge is missing and i guess the guy who gave them to the second hand shop knew they had some value but did not have the balls to refoam them. O yeah they were $3 and when i told the guy they were broken he gave them me .

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/your-pc-atm.65012/page-1094#post-3313114

And this is were i got the refoaming kit from ( your lucky i found that bookmark haha ) all so they have many video's how too.
http://www.simplyspeakers.com/Acoustic-Research-Foam-Kits_c_120-1-3.html

But always remember every ones ears are different which is why i said go out and check some shops out.

I am surprised that @BumbleBee did not post here.


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## WhiteNoise (Jul 22, 2015)

Onkyo is a fantastic choice for features and price. I have one in my theater room and it works beautifully with my 7.1 home theater system.

That said I don't think Onkyo is the end all. Not even close but when on a budget it is hard to beat. Plus it sounds (mine anyway) beautiful for music which I feel is highly dependent on the speakers being used. My Infinity Beta series speakers are the bomb.


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## AsRock (Jul 22, 2015)

WhiteNoise said:


> Onkyo is a fantastic choice for features and price. I have one in my theater room and it works beautifully with my 7.1 home theater system.
> 
> That said I don't think Onkyo is the end all. Not even close but when on a budget it is hard to beat. Plus it sounds (mine anyway) beautiful for music which I feel is highly dependent on the speakers being used. My Infinity Beta series speakers are the bomb.



I agree but if you get the chance of picking up a low end YAMAHA A/V cheap like from a secondhand shop which is were i got my RX-V375 beats the pants of my ONKYO TX-SR608.

And i am not disagreeing with you @WhiteNoise feature's you get for the price is awesome which is why i got one in the first place. and sound quality is nice from a ONKYO but it's not as lively as YAMHAHA.

Probably due to or partly due to range my YAMAHA is it takes less electric too which is about 20w-30+ difference from what i remember.  The YAMAHA don't have the passthough like my 608 which allows it to be turned off and get sound still but that option takes about 25w if memory serves me right.


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## Jetster (Jul 23, 2015)

A co worker of mine just spent $7000 on two speakers and a receiver. Its a completely different sound.


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## AsRock (Jul 28, 2015)

Not at all the speakers connect to the Home Theater.  You be using larger speakers is all.

Jamo 's that i have had and tried in the passed never been suited to my music range and some are just terrible.  I used to love the old ones for ragga and fast music passed music.  These you posted just look like rum of the mill kind of thing.

Don't let old speakers worry you if they are working they should keep working if looked after. MY AR 18's are from 1982 and work perfectly fine only others i would replace them with would be the old TANNOY Mercury from the same time period which do have much more bass than the AR18's.  Which partly is due to the front port.


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## hat (Jul 28, 2015)

What about a sound card with HDMI? Shouldn't have issues there I'd imagine (with games)


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## AsRock (Jul 28, 2015)

These are the old Tannoy's i am talking about, Controlled bass top ends not bad at all









Video sucks but that's not why i posted it, and they are not M2's lol.  But anyways problem you might have is getting them due to being a British speaker un like the AR18's which are a American speaker.

With the TANNOY Mercury ( not the new ones ) i have had a pair and you can feel the base pass though the room setup right with the right music to do it.  Personally i think the AR18's are better suited to Pink Floyd than the Tannoys due to the great vocal they have even today.

Now if you put the Tannoys with like dubstep or dance \ happy hardcore you in for some fun bass, the Tannoys being very accurate just that the vocals are not as pronounced.

I don't believe i could find a pair of speakers that would fit all my music tastes same goes with A/V's too.

I have even thought of porting the AR18's and putting a tube that nearly hit s the back of the box but worry that it would kill some of the vocal quality and that be a real shame.

EDIT:
I would grab them to find out, liking the Ar18's i would have to try those out for that price for sure.  I do believe i posted a link to were to get the replacements just make sure you take your time with it and watch the video's of their site.

Just be careful when you buying of ebay even more so if the price is low but shipping is high.


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## AsRock (Jul 28, 2015)

You can hear the singer breath if the song is recorded that way.

1st one not to sure as i just used youtube but here's what i found

Time i can hear those clocks around 2.5s in

Maybe you can point out the other 2 songs of youtube ?, but as for my hearing goes i don't hear what your after, and don't have them on CD with not being into Floyd.

But then again i don't have my speakers strapped to my head ( pun intended ), the recordings on youtube seem to have a lot of hiss for summer '68.

But i am fully aware what you mean by missing sounds, when i 1st moved tot he US i got a ONKYO 5.1 and those speakers were so bad so many sounds were missing. 

It could be all so due to source too Yamaha are a natural sound kinda deal were with Marantz it's a bit more forward sounding and say NAD are typically more in your face with a very tight bass. Could be the speakers to so your right to check as there can be so many factors why.


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## AsRock (Jul 28, 2015)

Nope, maybe more sensitive speakers would pick it up, on the second i hear him say some thing but that's it,  don't sound like "Isn't this where" to me.


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## AsRock (Jul 28, 2015)

Concorde 0 said:


> Aw, maybe it's hard to get the same details in speakers as you do in headphones. I'll also try going to a few hi-fi shops sometime, see what they have to say about it.



Take ya own music that you know you can hear all the sounds, and remember they are probably payed by commission and stuff is most likely cheaper online.

Have fun,  wish there was HiFi shops around us some thing that i really miss about the UK  ooh and real food haha.


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## AsRock (Aug 2, 2015)

Best tweeters will only be the original ones which will set you back for each unit about $25 - $35 a piece.  They modified any thing else ?.


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## AsRock (Aug 2, 2015)

I would not think so as the originals would be balanced to match the cross over to the woofer, And if they have been tuned in  it's probably by some ones ear and everyone hears differently so if that's the case the cross over has been modified too.

But if you are going for them Good luck.


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## AsRock (Aug 2, 2015)

Concorde 0 said:


> Ok, guess I won't bid higher then



I my self would take the chance on the Polk Audio although they been around some time now i was not born in the US so i never heard any thing of them until i moved tot he US some 15 years ago.

Plus i am a sucker for speakers with port holes and \ or rads lol.

Buy at your own risk but here's the link ( you might want to do some research on them 1st )
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Pol...Sound-Great-/381349582346?hash=item58ca34d60a


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## AsRock (Aug 11, 2015)

Totem are REAL nice speakers,  quality brand. They are small book shelf speakers with a real open sound to them.  Sounds like the price dropped since i last checked those out as they were around $500 some years ago.

Make sure none of the screws have been tampered with and such or if they have you be wanting to check if every things original with them


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## AsRock (Aug 12, 2015)

I am not surprised, they are good speakers.  Finding a matching sub might be a challenge.


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## AsRock (Oct 20, 2015)

Wow, long time since i even heard of Cambridge never mind speakers ( or the other  naim\rega, and no good speakers don't need a sub.

Anyways glad you did shop around as everyone's preferences are different,  made me think of Castle speakers too they were really nice sounding speakers but they used foam surrounds and going back 15 so years going online and ordering replacements for them were not possible.

Upped your budget a little ?, yeah i bet you have for that kind of gear and you had no luck with finding any Totems  in a shop ?.  Shame it's so crap around here for HIFI gear really miss shopping around and being a different country too it's a real shame i guess i just live in a crap area for it lol.


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## RCoon (Oct 20, 2015)

I think @BumbleBee is probably the best person to talk to here.


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## AsRock (Oct 23, 2015)

A friend back in the UK was totally hooked on a old pair of Panasonic speakers, some times you can get surprised.

I liked them too although i like a bit of extra bass but it's got to be tight and inline.


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## Jetster (Oct 25, 2015)

No, digital you have HDMI and optical which will do compressed 5.1 then you have analog also


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## Brusfantomet (Oct 25, 2015)

IF you use optical/Coax for sound the sound card will need to support DTS connect/Dolby Digital Live if the material is not already encoded, like games. (the unlocked Realtek drivers that enables it can be found Here)

With HDMI you will not get any of those problems, BUT with AMD the HDMI output MUST output a picture to enable sound output, probably the same with NV, its not the biggest problem, just duplicate your desktop to the HDMI output.


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## AsRock (Oct 25, 2015)

Jetster said:


> No, digital you have HDMI and optical which will do compressed 5.1 then you have analog also



^This^

How ever you might want to get a sound card that supports digital  and analog as they both sound different for sure.  The reason i went HDMI was due to gaming and comparability and as for my music i play it though a multi disk player,  to me a record sounds better to a CD i think CD's loose depth but not everyone will agree with that but everyone's different.

I just took the easy way to get every thing working, one thing for sure i like analog over digital for music for sure.


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