The little Cambridge Soundworks sub/satellite combo I have in my living room is starting to go out. Lots of constant hiss and crackle. I think it may be time to get something new.
I’m not sure if I want to find something similar to replace it with, or upgrade to more serious audio. Either way I’ll have to go searching, as Cambridge Soundworks got bought by Creative and now only makes little portable Bluetooth things. (And it’s worth noting that the one I’m replacing is the second one I’ve owned, made after Creative bought them; the other one has been pumping out music in my studio pretty much all my working hours since 2010. Ah well.)
On the one hand, a self-amplified subwoofer/satellite combo is relatively cheap and unobtrusive – I have the current subwoofer hidden under a coffee table, with my game machines piled on top of it. And it was only somewhere in the $200 neighborhood.
On the other hand, I will admit that surround sound would be pretty nice to have when I’m playing a game that really relies on using my ears to have an idea of what’s nearby. And it would be really nice to be able to send my computer’s audio output from the studio to the living room, then mix that in with the video game sound for those times when I want to provide my own soundtrack to my aimless wanderings around virtual worlds in search of experience points and cool loot. I just don’t know if I’m willing to drop about $700-1000 for a set of 5.1 speakers and a reciever to control them all.
I find myself wondering if any of my gearhead friends happen to have an old receiver and/or set of speakers lying around…
In the meantime I’m looking at the Wirecutter’s 5.1 speaker and receiver reviews, and thinking about their alternative picks – their #2 and #3 speakers are currently $275 and $160 respectively, and their #2 receiver is $250. $525 or $410 for a new audio system doesn’t sound too terrible with my current funds…
Truly, I am a grownup. I am contemplating the purchase of a surround sound system.
(More notes, thinking about my particular setup. Is there enough vertical room beneath my table to add a reciever to the subwoofer/360/ps4 stack there? The Yamaha has an 18×13” footprint, and is 7” tall (rounding up), both subs are a 12.6” cube. My table has 21” below it; the consoles total about 5”. 7+13+5=25 which is problematic. Though I could stand the consoles or the reciever on the side next to the sub? Or maybe I could find a reciever with a 12” square footprint? Looks like that’s a rare thing, though.)
Audio Advisor (audioadvisor.com) is an audiophile supply shop, and generally has audiophile prices (and bullshit) to match, BUT you can sometimes get really good deals on really good speakers there. Look in their clearance section.
Also, Athena and Mission speakers both give really good quality for the price, and those are available on Amazon sometimes too.
Receiver-wise I use a Sony but that’s because I used to work there and got a great discount on Sony stuff (like a $1000 receiver for $250). If I were to buy a receiver today I’d probably go with Denon or Yamaha. But for just stereo amplification I love Lepai’s T-Class amps. If you can find a dedicated surround decoder you can hook that up to multiple Lepais for surround, as well.
Oh and if you end up having several thousand dollars just BURNING a hole in your pocket, it’s hard to do better than Martin Logan. :)