Party Vibe

@1984 371843 wrote:

damn that could be a problem I don’t really want much base due to being in a flat. Would have thought picking some speakers would be easy! no suck luck

that being said .. the ones i have heard are only sterio + sub … the extra suround sound speakers might cancel out the bass heavyness u get with the sterio ones on low volume

Yeah I got a set of Logitech X530s. I wanted some PC speakers for the study when I moved the stereo into the living room. These got good reviews from several people so I went for them.

I’m mostly listening to trance/techno/breaks on them, and as others have said they’re not too well balanced. The bass can only be turned down so far, I have an old sock stuffed in the horn as well to reduce it to bearableness. Admittedly we have wood floors which makes everything bright and loud, but with hindsight I’d prefer something with a more even spread of sound rather than four weedy tops and one big boomy bass in the middle (not that I would know what exactly to get instead !). Oddly enough, for all they’re loud in here, they’re lacking in power to reach to the kitchen next door (unlike the stereo 2 rooms away which has propah speakers and can be heard clearly at much less overpowering volumes).

Weird wiring as well, everything goes into the front right speaker with the master volume switch, and only then down to the bass cab for onwards distribution, so those two need to be close to each other and to the PC.

Doesn’t help mindyou that they’re connected to a PC sound card with the most useless and awkward set of channels, so can’t sort the balance out that way either. But they do the job most of the time, at least.

The idea of a small amp and speakers sounds quite good tbh, if you can find summat. It’s how I used to have things connected up here. It was only old fashioned 2.0 channel sound but much more controllable !

Dunno if you’ve looked at Richer Sounds yet ? They’re not ultra cheap ranges mind you, but generally do good stuff, and you can talk to them and listen to it in the shop before you buy. Lowest price I can see on their website is summat like a hundred quid – Cambridge A1 amp plus small bookshelf speakers. Amp is only 25W/channel but the speakers are 40W so should easily cope at flat-styleee volumes without distorting. The amp has 4 inputs so you could connect a telly and PC and console, for instance. Chief drawback looks like it doesn’t have a headphone socket for when you’re really into things late at night. Cheeseweasel sounds like he knows more about this stuff than me, what do you think m8 ?

@leveret 371889 wrote:

The idea of a small amp and speakers sounds quite good tbh, if you can find summat. It’s how I used to have things connected up here. It was only old fashioned 2.0 channel sound but much more controllable !

Dunno if you’ve looked at Richer Sounds yet ? They’re not ultra cheap ranges mind you, but generally do good stuff, and you can talk to them and listen to it in the shop before you buy. Lowest price I can see on their website is summat like a hundred quid – Cambridge A1 amp plus small bookshelf speakers. Amp is only 25W/channel but the speakers are 40W so should easily cope at flat-styleee volumes without distorting. The amp has 4 inputs so you could connect a telly and PC and console, for instance. Chief drawback looks like it doesn’t have a headphone socket for when you’re really into things late at night. Cheeseweasel sounds like he knows more about this stuff than me, what do you think m8 ?

If it’s gonna be used for music there’s no reason to have more than two speakers anyway. I guess it’s fun to have surround fx when ur gaming, but even so I’d much rather spend the money on two decent speakers than five which are pony.

Richer Sounds are pretty good, but take what the saleman says with a pinch of salt or you’ll end up leaving the shop with loads of wanky gold cables you didn’t want and if you’re unlucky, a paper bag on your head.

[YT][/YT]

Cambridge stuff is decent, I’ve got an A5 which has never given me any trouble. I’d buy an A5 over the A1, as 25W per channel is a bit weak if you ever wanted to upgrade to bigger speakers and the A5 only £20 more than the A1. Tbh, as long as you’re sensible and don’t rag the shit out of the speakers you can use an amp with more watts per channel than the speakers are rated, just bear in mind that if you crank everything up you could blow them (the speakers will distort noticeably before this happens).

But if I was looking for a new hifi I’d have a look at what’s going on ebay – there are usually loads of old branded amps and speakers from the 80s that are perfectly good kit, just a bit outdated (just make sure they’re working properly and the speakers are in good nick – get a close-up of the cones and surrounds). You should be able to pick up a good amp for £20-30 and speakers for a similar price. Spending £100 should get you a belting system.

@1984 371929 wrote:

Just got the 60 quid job ur right its a bit base heavy, would a thick bit of carpet help?

probably a bit .. but bass reverberates alot so would probably still be allmost the same … some thing like thick foam would probably work better alltho carpet if u have it will survise and help a little i’m sure

@1984 371935 wrote:

hmmm, think u can get foam from curtain shops. Cheers mate

something like this would be ideal .. costs a few quid

Soundproofing Closed Cell Foam Mat Blocks and Absorbs Sound

@1984 371942 wrote:

High density foam, sure I can find some from china for a lot less, cheers though I will nick the terms to search for from their site haha!

you’d be good on bargin hunt :weee:

Decision made then m8, carry on ! It’s not bad sound for the price, in fact I hope to be listening to PV radio on ours later this evening raaa …

Don’t forget to stuff a rag in the side bass horn too if it’s too bassy for you (i checked mine, it’s actually half an old tea towel not a sock !). I looked at the specs last night, the bass thingy is about 4 times more powerful than the side channels. In a typical room you just don’t need the volumes of air moving that that thing pumps out.