--Filip--

As an experienced recording engineer and general audiophile, I think I owe it to overclock.net to make a guide for buying computer speakers so people know before they ask whether speakers are any good.

So let's begin:

Much of what kind of speakers are right for you depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a generic set just to relay speech, then just pick up a pair from Staples. However, if you need something for music, movies or games, you will need to be more picky. If you watch many movies, you will certainly want a 4.1,5.1,6.1 or 7.1 channel system. Beware though, if you have more than 2 (or 2.1 .1 is for the sub) channels you will need a soundcard with that many channels as well. Also, you will always need a subwoofer. You may want multiple channels also if you want to really be enveloped by games. However, with music you may just want your standard stereo pair and a sub.

When you go to look at speakers, some specs might boggle your mind. Take JBL's set of CreatureII computer speakers for instance:


In the 'Speaker System' section the first two things you need not worry about much. However, frequency response is one of the biggest considerations when choosing speakers. These go from 50Hz-20KHz, not bad. The best subwoofers respond down to about 20Hz, letting you really feel the bass. However, 50Hz is not going to do too much bumping. Good computer speakers respond to around 30Hz, so if you need and like lots of bass, aim for that.

As for high frequency response, most people cnan hear up to about 20KHz, although that decays with age or other hearing loss. The best tweeters, like JBL's titanium tweeters, go up to 22KHz. But for music, you will definitely want a system that goes up to no less than 19 KHz or else your cymbals will sound bad. If your tweeters actaully go up to 22-24KHz, this is usually really good. While you may think 'what's the point if I can only hear up to about 19-20KHz??? The thing is, if they still have significant frequency response at 22KHz, this means that more than likely they have strong response around 18-20KHz, hence, they have better sounding highs.

In the 'Satellites' section, it tells you about the two desktop speakers (wow). Transducer is just a fancy word for speaker. Sometimes, your satellites will have just one speaker in them, and sometimes they will have a tweeter in there as well. You will DEFINITELY want to try and find a set of speakers with tweeters in them so you can hear the highs really clear in your music and all the gunshots and crashes in your games. However, some speakers do sound great using just one speaker, like Logitech's upscale systems. The power rating, in Watts, tells you how much power each speaker can put out. 8 watts is pretty loud in a small room, but outside or in a big hall it is next to nothing. If you just wanta pair for say a bedroom though, this is fine. Better systems will usually put out about 40W per satellite and top of the line put out around 70W/satellite. THD stands for total harmonic distortion. This is in essence how clean your music will sound when cranked to the max. 10% THD is relatively bad, although I havea stereo with that much that sounds fine (maybe cause of $400 speakers on it LOL). However, good multimedia systems will have less than 1% typically and really good ones have about .1%.

In the 'Subwoofer' section it gives you the ever crucial subwoofer specs. First, it tells you JBL's 'Magnum' (just a name) sub is a whopping 4"(sarcastic). In sub terms that is pretty small, but I have a friend who has an Altec Lansing system that puts out decent bass with a 5.25" sub. If you are intent on weakening your housess structure and looking very cool you should go for at least an 8" sub. Subs also come in 10" and 12", but I have only seen bigger subs in cars.

The sub is rated at 24W, which isn't too much bass. You will feel it bump, but it won't bee too spectacular . Subs around 50W and 60W will certainly shake things up. A 100W sub will start to loosen the drywall . Top of the line systems usually have subs around 200W which will knock your socks off. So for bass that makes people go 'whoah' I would suggest at least 50W. The THD is the same for the sub, however you won't notice it as much in the bass.

Crossover frequency is the frequency at which the sub takes over for the satellites. Usually what manufacturers set it at is fine, and sometimes it is adjustable.


Now that you know how to read specs, I will make some addtional notes:

Speaker Sizes- Subs range from 4"-12" usually. For bumping bass, you will want at least 8". Midrange drivers come from 2"-4" usually, and their size varies with how much power they are meant to handle. Tweeters come anywhere from .5" to 1.5", once again dependent upon how much power they take.

Tweeters- I can't stress enough that you need to try and find a system that has tweeters. Some speakers like Logitech's manage to get good high frequencies and mids out of one driver. But usually tweeters make for better sound.

Adding other speakers- Do not buy speakers thinking you will replace the speakers that come with them with other ones or hook up more. You run the risk of burning up your speakers and/or amps from too low impedance. I have a friend who blew a $200 set of Logitechs doing that. If you have somebody very educated in electricity that you know, consult them to see if you can hook up more or different speakers.

Modding - Yes, you can mod speakers. Don't drill holes in them though, you'll mess up your sound :P. I did some cool things with my sub: I stuck a cool green light behind it and then put an 80mm antec fan on the heatsink (the heatsink stays cold to the touch now ) and it looks REALLY tight. You can spraypaint your speakers if you really want to (don't paint the speakers just the enclosures) but I wouldn't bother with painting. I also stuck all my power adapters and strips behind it to keep them out of the way.

RMS/PMPO - Some speakers may say '350W peak' (or PMPO or music) and then say '50W RMS'. This means they can handle only a constant 50W. RMS actually stands for root means squared and is the true way to measure speakers' power capabilities. '350W peak' means they can handle 350W for a split second before they burn up or sometimes can't at all, and usually handle less than half of the peak wattage constantly.Anything with PMPO on it usually is hiding a crappy product. So no, a $10 system can't handle 350W. For an explanation, click

added 6/26/05:
Sensitivity/Efficiency - Not all speakers will show you this rating, usually they won't, but it is important. It is measured in dB, for an explanation of that, go here: http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?t=29166 Basically, sensitivity is how your speakers respond to power; ones with a higher dB rating will be louder at the same power level than speakers with a lower dB rating. For every 3 dB of difference, it will double. Like speakers rated at 88dB will be half as loud as speakers rated at 91dB.

THX - Some speakers (Logitechs mostly) are certified by George Lucas's THX standard. This means that their sound quality and overall quality are up to one of the many THX standards. However, this makes your speakers more expensive because of the price of getting certified by THX labs, yet it gives you some assurance that the speakers sound good. Sometimes systems aren't certified to keep costs down or they simply wouldn't meet the standards, usually the former in higher end systems. But in general don't turn your head away from a set if they aren't certified; in my eyes having certification is just good measure and doesn't factor in much in my consideration of a system.

Style - Dammit, make sure they look cool next to your o/c'd rig!!!

Brands - It is usually a good idea to buy from a familiar brand. This way you can be assured of the build and sound quality of your speakers. Good computer speaker brands include: Logitech, Harman Kardon, Klipsch, Cyber Acoustics, JBL, Altec Lansing, Creative Labs, M-Audio (pro audio stuff actually), and others.

Setup - Adding this section in response to Ryan's request for a setup guide. Most manufacturers make it pretty simple to setup surround sound speakers but they don't always tell you where to place them for optimum sound quality. Setup is usually just plugging everything in. But I have a few recommendations as far as placement etc goes:

1. Ear level. Most speakers' satellites can be placed on your desktop and are usually tilted upwards to aim the sound at you accordingly. This is fine, but it is bettert to keep your speakers up around where your ears wil be so that they (a.) project towards your ears better and (b.) project sound into the room more. If you have speakers sitting on the desk right in front of you half the sound is going to your ears and half of it is going to your torso. If you are sitting there and want to play music to someone else in the room, it's not going to sound as good. This is why speakers are arranged with low frequency drivers on the bottom and high on the top; so that the highs are closer to you r ears. My suggestion would be to use speaker caddies like I do; little speaker stands with wheels at least for your front stereo speakers. Rear speakers aren't as important, and your center speaker is usually on top of your monitor anyway.

2. Sub placement. Subs are bad so send them to the corner . For optimum bass always put a subwoofer on the floor in a corner. Check out SPHERE's sub placement FAQ:http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?t=25081. Also, if you place it at an angle you can hide power strips behind it and also put lighting behind it like I do:


3. Placing rear speakers. Argh, this is always tough. I have an L shaped glass desk, so I can't really accomodate surround speakers well. If you have a wall close enough to you, you can always wall mount your speakers (make sure though that there is a beam there and that you're not trying to screw them into plain plaster/drywall. You can buy cheap ultrasonic tools at your hardware store to check for beams in your walls they're like $5.) If you play your spakers loudly a lot then wall mounting is no problem. I've seen people who have attached rear speakers to the sides of their computer chairs too.

4. Spacing. Try and keep your front and back L and R channels evenly spaced. If they aren't you won't get a real stereo image and it will start to bug you.

Ok, that's all I can think of for now. If I need to add something, let me know.

-Filip

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I'm from the AMD64/P4 days...
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Lostnhell

Great guide

Burn

good job! that way i know what to get next time i go shopping for speakers... i have a 4 speaker 1 woofer 4.1 setup from creative/EAX, does the job. i also have 2 speakers+another woofer from harmon/kardon that i got w/ my dell, i want to hook em up in pair, so i'm gonna get a splitter for them...but great guide!

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ShawnMcGrail

Good Job! And you absolutly right, the 100w subs do woosen drywall (thats why I live in a room with brick walls ,lol).

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--Filip--

Added section on THX and modding.

__________________
Ex-PC overclocker.
I'm from the AMD64/P4 days...
Laptop dead...custom rig reborn

Ryan

Great guide. I have a couple of questions/recommendations for guide:

1) I have a 4.1 system and was wondering if those still give out true surround sound (usually consider 5.1) on dvd's and games?

2) What is the cheapest and easiest ways to lengthen cords from your speakers (w/out sacrificing much quality)

3) An explanation (simply) of how to set up surround sound speakers

4) Your recommendation of speakers for different price ranges

5) Best sound card for different price ranges

thx

Sai_Jao

excellent guide

--Filip--

I'll work on that. I'm not really any authority on sound cards in different price ranges, but my personal reccommendation to anybody is the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz 5.1. It is really the best card for the money, I think you can get it for around $35+ship.

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I'm from the AMD64/P4 days...
Laptop dead...custom rig reborn

aef_death_fire

I happen to have an old generation of 4.1 speaker system, Altec Lansing ACS56W to be exact (they still sounds great). Now my question is, do you think the on-board sound on MB are still not good enough? Will my old SB Live 5.1 be better to drive my speakers?

--Filip--

Usually any soundcard beats motherboard sound especially when you're overclocking. When you overclock your sound tends to get messed up sometimes.

If I remember correctly, 4.1 systems substitute the center channel by just playing the same signal through the two front channels. It really depends on your personal preference, whether you want a true center channel or not, a friend of mine had a 4.1 Logitech system and it sounded great.

Also, please stick with questions about computer speakers, not like home theater stuff. I can help with acoustics questions etc, but I don't know about brands and specs for HT equipment. If you have any questions though ask away, or if you need help with home theater, I suggest asking Lando 95, I know he has a sweet setup

__________________
Ex-PC overclocker.
I'm from the AMD64/P4 days...
Laptop dead...custom rig reborn