I've bought an over-engineered second hand laptop

[mclaren85]

I bought a 10 year old HP Pavilion G6. This was a very special over-engineered laptop. What makes this laptop special was its unimaginable sound quality. I have never heard any laptop or desktop sounds better than this one. So let's take a look at this excellent work of HP:

At first, it was in a very dirty condition, and shuts itself off due to temperature. So I cleaned the laptop completely, and changed the thermals with MX-4

The fan was working loudly, WD-40 thankfully solved this issue

This is the best part of the laptop. The sound chip:

After a good cleaning it is ready for assembly:

It is bundled with SRS Premium Software and built-in Altec Lansing speakers.

And here is the final result:

Hp Pavillion G6 was one of a kind brilliant laptop. I insist the Audiophiles to try this perfectly designed laptop for once. Especially if you have a nice quality headphones, you will get better results, and grasp what this machine was capable to.

 

[QuietBob]

What are the specs and what is that sound chip called?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

What are the specs and what is that sound chip called?

Probably an old realtek of some sort. The Altec Lansing just applies to the speakers themselves that were either made/tuned by Altec Lansing or had an audio EQ profile made for realtek software to run

 

[R-T-B]

Probably an old realtek of some sort.

A realtek clone by IDT it would appear.

 

[mclaren85]

@QuietBob
Pardon me I forgot the specs:

i5-2430m CPU
4gb ddr3 1333mhz ram
1gb Amd 6470m GPU
500gb hdd
DVD writer with Lightsync feauture

the Sound chip is not realtek but IDT. The exact model is idt92hd80b1x5

And This is the special software for this superior sound chip. SRS Premium Sound.

 

[DR4G00N]

Is there something special about that one in particular? My same era Dell laptop has an IDT chip too and it just sounds like anything else, except when using the nvidia gpu then it just pops and crackles nonstop.

 

[mclaren85]

Is there something special about that one in particular? My same era Dell laptop has an IDT chip too and it just sounds like anything else, except when using the nvidia gpu then it just pops and crackles nonstop.

I read the datasheet and it says it supports wide range of software including SRS dolby etc. I think that makes the difference. Why don't you install its specific software?

 

[eidairaman1]

Not that over engineered, the cooling is sparse.

Look at a Dell Inspiron 9100/XPS Gen 1

 

[mclaren85]

the cooling is sparse

I mean the sound system is over engineered.

 

[Aquinus]

I mean the sound system is over engineered.

Versus what you'd get today? Nah. For the time? Maybe.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Versus what you'd get today? Nah. For the time? Maybe.

totally true, i had one and for the time, it was just... wow ...

nowadays, yeah still a bloody good sound system, but not over engineered versus some modern equivalent

i should have kept it for nostalgia sake...

ah, thanks @eidairaman1 to remind me i also had a Dell XPS of that kind ... found it in a dumpster ... unfortunately i lost track of it (lost it more likely) when i moved home in 2013... now i am crying, ahahah (bitter laugh )

 

[mclaren85]

Versus what you'd get today? Nah. For the time? Maybe

Couple of months ago I got the the most expensive MSI motherboard with ESS Dac and Nahimic sound system. I also did try Asus Crosshair sound system. But this thing is better imho. I don't understand why

 

[qubit]

I insist the Audiophiles to try this perfectly designed laptop for once.

Sounds quality is important to me, so I'd love to hear what it sounds like. I've never heard decent sound from laptop speakers. The closest I've come is my iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd gen with 4 speakers. Sounds amazing for a tablet with a full sound. Also, put it flat on the right surface and there's even a little bit of bass, too.

 

[xtreemchaos]

the best sound ive hear from a laptop is from a 2013 macbook pro, g6 sounds good thow, ive repaired maybe 2 in the last 10 years not sound related. well done.

 

[P4-630]

My Asus N53JQ laptop I bought in around 2010 had "Bang and Olufsen" audio system, I was impressed, for a laptop.
But now even my 14" HP Pavilion doesn't sound that bad either, also Bang and Olufsen audio.

Quality audio seems to be more and more common these days.

 

[mclaren85]

Just wanted to add a note: the built in speakers are perfect no doubt, but even you connect external speakers, the sound quality is unmatched. That is the difference.

 

[eidairaman1]

totally true, i had one and for the time, it was just... wow ...

nowadays, yeah still a bloody good sound system, but not over engineered versus some modern equivalent

i should have kept it for nostalgia sake...

ah, thanks @eidairaman1 to remind me i also had a Dell XPS of that kind ... found it in a dumpster ... unfortunately i lost track of it (lost it more likely) when i moved home in 2013... now i am crying, ahahah (bitter laugh )

That thing cooled a Northwood Extreme or Prescott P4.

 

[sam_86314]

Just wanted to add a note: the built in speakers are perfect no doubt, but even you connect external speakers, the sound quality is unmatched. That is the difference.

Yeah, those old HPs with Altec Lansing speakers sound great. One of the best-sounding laptops I have is an old HP G71.

Of course, most modern laptops tend to be pretty good. I mostly like how my Envy 13 sounds, but the problem is that it relies heavily on some EQ in the B&O drivers in order to sound good. And those drivers have a horrible loudness equalization feature that can't be turned off, so some stuff sounds really bad.

Without the drivers, it sounds terrible. That also means that if I wanted to run Linux on it, I'd be stuck with terrible sound.

 

[micropage7]

i have aspire 4736 with dolby and i have to say laptops from that era is pretty kick ass, you can change the processor and wide variety

 

[Bill_Bright]

Not that over engineered, the cooling is sparse.

I agree - plus, to suggest audiophiles will find its sound superior is quite the exaggeration - just an observation, NO offense intended.

No doubts audio reproduction technologies have made vast improvements over the last couple decades especially with tiny speakers with mid to high frequency audio. But there is just no way a tiny speaker, regardless its quality, or the quality of the electronics pushing it, can reproduce the full audio range "faithfully".

When you consider an "amateur" audiophile could easily have $2000 invested in just his or her front-left speaker (more than the cost of that entire laptop when new), and that $2000 does not even include any of the electronics to drive that speaker - there is just no way a laptop can produce "audiophile quality" sound.

And sorry but while that 10 year old sound chip was/is no doubt a quality device, it cannot compete with an audiophile quality Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, or Mac. Even a budget Yamaha 2-channel integrated amp will blow the socks off it and today's best laptop audio devices.

As for beating PC sound, I have to wonder if you have ever heard a set of Logitech Z906 Surround Sound speakers with a higher end motherboard or decent sound card? Or Harmon Kardon SoundSticks 4? I have and they sound great! They still don't compare to a 1/2-way decent home theater surround or 2.1 system, but if you don't let your expectations influence your perceptions, they do sound great.

A friend just recently bought a pair of highly-rated Audioengine A2+ speakers that he claims sounds really great - for their size and money. I have not heard them yet, but judging by his home theater audio system, I will trust his word - but still can't wait to hear them.

Sound quality is very important to me too. In fact, as an electronics technician, supporting and repairing audiophile quality electronics was my first love - long before personal computers even came to consumers. I still own my first pair of quality speakers, Acoustic Research AR-3a Speaker Systems. As a young GI way back in 1972 - 73, living in the barracks and eating in the chow hall, I happily spent 2 month's pay on them! I cannot say the guys in the adjacent rooms felt the same way however - not when Ummagumma was spinning on my Dual 1219 with the Shure V15 Type III and those speakers were being pushed by my Marantz Model 240!

So while I appreciate the audio reproduction capabilities of that laptop and of today's miniature speakers - they are not audiophile quality - readily apparent even by these tired, old ears.

Oh, for those who like to stream music on their computers, and who like Pandora but cannot stand the commercials, I urge you to try Pandorian. This is a really nice desktop client for Pandora with two great features; (1) no commercials and (2) it is stand-alone and therefore does not require an open browser session. Plus, its free!

And just to be even more pedantic, to me "over-engineering" would be akin to building a bridge designed to support 100 ton per axel loads, then limiting its use to only 10 tons.

 

[mclaren85]

NO offense intended.

It is all right, I always welcome any ideas including criticisim. And I do appreciate your great knowledge and input about audio systems.

Without any doubt, This computer's sound quality couldn't match with the professional audio equipments since its Altec Lansing speakers have only about 15w of power. However, even you plug in a cheap headphones or a cheap stereo speakers, the sound quality is like your are listening a high-end system. Maybe it is about its built-in dac (if any) or SRS EQ or something.

To think that HP engineers accidentally build a flawless and perfect audio system is exaggeration, but this thing is definitely different imho.

And thanks for your recommendation about free music service Pandorian. It really works great!

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
If nothing else the os looks awesome

 

[mclaren85]

the os

You can still try Win7 in virtual machine. Guess you already know it anyway

 

[ThrashZone]

You can still try Win7 in virtual machine. Guess you already know it anyway

Hi,
VM ?
Nope eol is just updates vacation time I've never stopped using win-7 and the way 10 and 11 are going doubt I'll be retire the old girl anytime soon

 

[freeagent]

Our Inspiron 5515 actually sounds pretty decent. Not high end or anything, but out of the laptops I have heard it is the better one..