Suggest a good 5.1 speaker system ~15k

I want to buy 5.1 speaker system which will be mostly used for listening music and watching movies, since I prefer gaming with my steel-series.

My room size is 14X10.

I did some research and came up with

5.1

Logitech z906 - ~ 15k

Edifier DA 5000 Pro ~ 13k

F&D F6000 ~ 8.5k

Creative T6160 ~ ??

Logitech z506 - ~5k

2.1

Logitech Z623 ~ 8k

Let me know which one is best value for money. z906 is good but no dedicated tweeters

some more info

I prefer tight and strong bass

I don't have sound card (thinking of getting Asus Xonar Essence STX but later

)

As I am located in pune please let me know some place where i can have audition of mentioned speakers.

Faun can help you with last problem.

Also do consult Megamind for suggestion of speakers.

edifier da5000 pro, for tight & strong bass (provided you can find this model now

)

perhaps you should avoid Z906.

edifier da5000 pro provide a good SQ in music too, but having a good sound-card is kind-of MUST with them.

F&D F6000 would be my next choice. there's a small review on it over here.

in 2.1 --> Z623 has a thread on it here on TDF. pls go through that.

another model you could consider in 2.1 is corsair's SP2500. pls get in touch with megamind on that.

^Why avoid z906 ?

Logitech speakers Bass rocks

a user (on HFV....name's 'gurujee'....he's a TDF member too) had told me the that the bass of Z906 is boomy and muddled (which at times seems to eat up the mids), and not at all recommended, for music atleast. according to him, the only plus point of the system is the multitude of connectivity options.

Hmm 5.1 was never for music. Stereo or 2.1 ftw

Thanks a lot for replies

I checked Edifier S550 and that seems really good, only downside is connectivity which is only analog. I think i saw it for 20K

What your take on Edifier S550

Its really good if you can strech your budget upto that.

Apocalyp5e said:
Thanks a lot for replies

I checked Edifier S550 and that seems really good, only downside is connectivity which is only analog. I think i saw it for 20K

What your take on Edifier S550

i've no personal experience with them, but these are considered the rivals, and sometimes better than the legendary logitech Z5500 (tighter bass than the latter) . if you can stretch your budget, simply grab it.

check a couple of reviews here :

Edifier S550: The Logitech Z5500 Destroyers

Tech Labs Review #1

Tech Labs Review #2

BTW, where did you get this price from ?

also consider these :

Energy 5.1 Classic

these energy speakers have got great reviews at many places. but i guess you'll have to import them from the above link or from elsewhere.

Offtopic : I have z906 and there is not 1 ounce of mud present my the Bass!
Maybe the guy complaining didn't set it up properly or something, but it sound crisp and tight to me.
It's pretty amazing

But ya, 5.1 is not for listening music (z906 is just Good for music, but for Games and Movies (with 5.1 sound) it rocks )

quite possible. proper set-up counts too.

although this is commonly understood that 5.1s aren't much good for playing 2-channel recordings (ie, stereo sound), but this formula makes me more than happy --> properly set-up and burnt-in edifier da5000 pro + xonar dx & its GUI + a couple of FLACs = quite a pleasant amazement

i have got z506, and these are the "GOD" speakers in its range you know, go blindly for z906, i have heard them and they are the best,

bass quality depends on the listener. Who have felt the bass of Altec Lansing MX5051 or ATP3, they will never be satisfied with Logi Z906 as far as music is concerned.

Logitech is good for gaming, then movies. But when watching movies, at the time deep bass requirement, it fails. A typical 'drrrrr' sound comes. Yes, i have placed the sub on floor and have experimented different placement also. Well, for music I am also getting Edifier c2 soon.

If OP can audition both, then he can feel what exactly he likes & wants. Megamind is the man to ask these all.

Thanks for the replies

GhorMaanas said:
BTW, where did you get this price from ?

Well I got the price from letsbuy and some other sites for ~19k mark but the problem is, that its out of stock everywhere

then there is a site called timtara.com where its for 19k + i can use coupon for 3.5 rebate, but I read a lot of bad reviews about the site so I am not going to order it from there.

By the way S550 is very limited as connectivity wise and I think I will be needing a good DAC or good sound card (ex. xonar essesnce ST/STX) for getting most of it.

On the other hand z906 could be used with my S/PDIF and inbuilt DAC will do all the decoding.

The bottom line is
Is it worth going from my 15k (z906) budget to whooping 28k (S550 + SC)

(

I mean the SQ wise, considering that I am not an audiophile. I just want to have VFM Speakers.

About the BASS I like it Thumpy/Tight and not muddy/boomy. It should be precise and shouldn't overdo it

gurujee said:
bass quality depends on the listener. Who have felt the bass of Altec Lansing MX5051 or ATP3, they will never be satisfied with Logi Z906 as far as music is concerned.

Logitech is good for gaming, then movies. But when watching movies, at the time deep bass requirement, it fails. A typical 'drrrrr' sound comes. Yes, i have placed the sub on floor and have experimented different placement also. Well, for music I am also getting Edifier c2 soon.

If OP can audition both, then he can feel what exactly he likes & wants. Megamind is the man to ask these all.

probably your woofer is faulty or something, because i am using z506 and i have experienced z906, and it is superb for gaming , music and movies...
in gaming and movies, it gives the 3d surround sound effects which can't be felt in any other speakers as far as i checked...
these two models of logitech just touch perfection...

Apocalyp5e said:
Is it worth going from my 15k (z906) budget to whooping 28k (S550 + SC) (

I mean the SQ wise, considering that I am not an audiophile. I just want to have VFM Speakers.

About the BASS I like it Thumpy/Tight and not muddy/boomy. It should be precise and shouldn't overdo it

Answer is in your post itself.

Apocalyp5e said:
Thanks for the replies

Well I got the price from letsbuy and some other sites for ~19k mark but the problem is, that its out of stock everywhere

then there is a site called timtara.com where its for 19k + i can use coupon for 3.5 rebate, but I read a lot of bad reviews about the site so I am not going to order it from there.

By the way S550 is very limited as connectivity wise and I think I will be needing a good DAC or good sound card (ex. xonar essesnce ST/STX) for getting most of it.

On the other hand z906 could be used with my S/PDIF and inbuilt DAC will do all the decoding.

The bottom line is
Is it worth going from my 15k (z906) budget to whooping 28k (S550 + SC) (

I mean the SQ wise, considering that I am not an audiophile. I just want to have VFM Speakers.

About the BASS I like it Thumpy/Tight and not muddy/boomy. It should be precise and shouldn't overdo it

then get either the Z506 or Z906 from ebay. yes you would need a good sound card with the edifier, while there's no need of it with the former two. the sound card's abilities would be put to good use with the edifier, but since you said that you are not looking for an enthusiast set-up, get Z506 or Z906.

@GhorMaanas I read your thread about Edifier DA5000 Pro, what are the connectivity options in that system.

Let me know if you auditioned z906 as well. I am bit skeptical about z906 because of lack of tweeters.

If anyone owns F&D F6000, please let me know connectivity options in that one, also i heard there is some distortion in sound at high volume.

one last thing how much difference between Z906 and Z506 SQ.

gurujee said:
bass quality depends on the listener. Who have felt the bass of Altec Lansing MX5051 or ATP3, they will never be satisfied with Logi Z906 as far as music is concerned.

Very true. But then none of Z906 & Z5500 are meant for music listening. In fact none of multi channel speakers are!

gurujee said:
Logitech is good for gaming, then movies. But when watching movies, at the time deep bass requirement, it fails. A typical 'drrrrr' sound comes. Yes, i have placed the sub on floor and have experimented different placement also. Well, for music I am also getting Edifier c2 soon.

Both Z906/Z5500 have gr8 frequency range for watching movies and are capable of reproducing most of the effects within. As for "deep" bass / "boom-iness" all Z5500/Z906 owners know very well how badly their neighbors are victimized by it!

hehe..
Nevertheless, to my experience i found Logitech Z906/Z5500's bass response to be most suitable for movies and gaming.

How is this one

LG Home Theatre Systems: Buy LG Ht 855F Htib Satelite Home Theatre at Lowest Price Rs. 15,990 in India | FutureBazaar.com

Trying to find a review about it

actually that is for 13 k and specs seems good enough

If anyone around pune, Please let me know any good store where I can audition these speakers

Ask Faun.

Sorry for peeping in very late..

gurujee said:
bass quality depends on the listener. Who have felt the bass of Altec Lansing MX5051 or ATP3, they will never be satisfied with Logi Z906 as far as music is concerned.

Logitech is good for gaming, then movies. But when watching movies, at the time deep bass requirement, it fails. A typical 'drrrrr' sound comes. Yes, i have placed the sub on floor and have experimented different placement also. Well, for music I am also getting Edifier c2 soon.

@gurujee, check whether your Z906 is getting clean power & not low voltage...

I checked my bro's Z906, right out of the box i did burn-in for 4-5hrs & used at low-med. volume for a week.. Then started pumping up the volume..
The sound is clean & bass is shattering, nowhere close to muddy.
For listening to music i set the unit to 2.1, was not disappointed but still prefer my VS4121 for music..
I also checked for distortion @100% volume & 100% bass, to my surprise i can't find any.. BTW, i can't stand inside the home

I was astound by its performance..
All this testing was with onboard realtek ALC888 analog..

However, on the downside i need to boost the highs in EQ to suit my taste..

mayanksharma said:
Nevertheless, to my experience i found Logitech Z906/Z5500's bass response to be most suitable for movies and gaming.

I can say this is a fact...

Apocalyp5e said:
How is this one

LG Home Theatre Systems: Buy LG Ht 855F Htib Satelite Home Theatre at Lowest Price Rs. 15,990 in India | FutureBazaar.com

I'd say stay away from LG, sony, etc. HTIBs..

Also how much are you willing to spend?

Apocalyp5e said:
I don't have sound card (thinking of getting Asus Xonar Essence STX but later )

Xonar Essence STX is a stereo sound card. To connect a 7.1/5.1 to itn u need a daughter board like Xonar H6 to be paired with STX..
Better off with xonar DX or the next stop AuzenTech X-Fi Forte...

Apocalyp5e said:
What your take on Edifier S550

S550 is an awesome unit.. But is becoming very expensive.
Its bad that the digital version is not avail. in India

If you are limited to 15K, i'd recommend Z906 over the DA5000 pro & F6000.. And since z906 has digital o/p, the money on a discrete sound card is saved..
EQ tweaking & speaker, sub. placement plays a vital role in the sound o/p of the speakers...

Thanks everyone for helping me out

So i think its z906 then

Hi please let me know if S/PDIF cable is included in the package if not let me know good cable appropriate for z906

Apocalyp5e said:
Hi please let me know if S/PDIF cable is included in the package if not let me know good cable appropriate for z906

Its not inc. with Z906..
Get Belkin Digital Toslink, 6 Feet White Optical Cable

^^ pls name some good music and movies to test this beast.

avichandana20000 said:
^^ pls name some good music and movies to test this beast.

For bass test a quick song i can think of is,
Mariah Carey - Shake It Off ft. Jay-Z & Young Jeezy bass gets very low n deep.
Pitbull - Hotel room service. If the sub is not good enough, the bass will be farty..

Movies - bluray movies. I tried on Thor, source code, hangover, Transformers(all), etc.

^How about 50 cent?

^^They don't go deep..

MegaMind said:
Its not inc. with Z906..
Get Belkin Digital Toslink, 6 Feet White Optical Cable

Well the thing is my board is having coax S/PDIF and not optical so can i use a regular coax cable to connect it ?

found the coax cable on delta page as well but just curious can i use normal RCA cable for connection. How much difference will be SQ using belking and a cheap RCA

Apocalyp5e said:
Well the thing is my board is having coax S/PDIF and not optical so can i use a regular coax cable to connect it ?

found the coax cable on delta page as well but just curious can i use normal RCA cable for connection. How much difference will be SQ using belking and a cheap RCA

Yes you can.. Get a regular coax cable.

A good branded cable to cheap cables will have 5~10% SQ diff.
The Sub. will start to suffer during high excursion due to signal loses..

Seriously, 30 bucks cable for a 15K system?

MegaMind said:
Yes you can.. Get a regular coax cable.

A good branded cable to cheap cables will have 5~10% SQ diff.
The Sub. will start to suffer during high excursion due to signal loses..

Seriously, 30 bucks cable for a 15K system?

thanks for advice will be going for good branded cable for sure I was thinking of ordering cable before speakers, and I have good RCA cable already

Just bought 1.5KVA APC BR1500G-IN, so speakers next week

Thanks everyone for your valuable feedback

I had some bad luck getting these speakers, ordered it on 20th April from ebay. Blue Dart guys messed up with courier and got it on 9th may, I was so exited went right for un-boxing and proper setup for test run, but :cry:

then no power on console :cry:

. Next day was dedicated for getting root cause about what is wrong with it, No joy there It was Indeed a DOA as I suspected. So then started RMA process and got then like 10-15 days back.

My two cents about z906.

At first I connected it via Analog, I wasn't quite impressed with the sound I got. I changed to S/PDIF, this time there is a lot of difference in SQ. But it still wasn't upto my expectation.

After some burn in (2-3 days) it started to sound better. For movies and games it really roxx. (I am using FFShow to encode to DTS. This way speakers do all the decoding

, since you cant get 5.1 from SPDIF)

Tested my setup on a few movies (Avatar, Dark Knight, Sucker Punch, Die Hard 4, Matrix ) and few Games (Battlefield, Street Fighter X Tekken, starcarft II etc)

Following is my observation for different Frequencies (I have rated it keeping these are worth 15k, more you spend better SQ you get so these aren't absolute ratings )

High: I was suspecting about sub-par SQ in this range, because of no dedicated tweeters but I am amazed the Highs are really perfect.
9/10

Mid: IMHO the Mids of z906 aren't that great, could be because of these are full range satellites. I think these are more inclined towards highs.
7/10

Low: Z906 really shines in This area, In movies you will feel absolute power of the Sub. Its not too boomy or Muddy(if you set you EQ right). For listening music you need to turn down the volume of sub else BASS will overpower everything else.
10/10

Now I got a few questions for z906 owners.

I am thinking of getting a DTS live enabled Sound card. How much difference in SQ if you play it with sound card.

how much difference in SQ if you connect sound card with spdif/toslink, cuz in this case the decoding will not be performed on card.

I noticed something strange when i try to set the volume for each speaker individually(pressing Level Button). I get the option Back Satellites, Center and Sub. I am not unable to set sound of each speaker individually. Is this fine or something is wrong my console.

In case of stereo is it possible to force decoding on speakers.

Once again thanks to you all.

Do u know anything about Altec Lansing

the company that rocked the audio industry :-D

yashthedude said:
Do u know anything about Altec Lansing

the company that rocked the audio industry

Yes I do, and my previous roommate had MX5021... so if you suggesting anything better let me know. MX6021 isn't good as MX5021 besides there aren't very good 5.1 offering from Altec Lasing these days.

Apocalyp5e said:
Yes I do, and my previous roommate had MX5021... so if you suggesting anything better let me know. MX6021 isn't good as MX5021 besides there aren't very good 5.1 offering from Altec Lasing these days.

Coz they are giving there power in 7.1 audio

tested by me

better than any other ****.

Apocalyp5e said:
1. I am thinking of getting a DTS live enabled Sound card. How much difference in SQ if you play it with sound card.

2. I noticed something strange when i try to set the volume for each speaker individually(pressing Level Button). I get the option Back Satellites, Center and Sub. I am not unable to set sound of each speaker individually. Is this fine or something is wrong my console.

3. In case of stereo is it possible to force decoding on speakers.

1. DTS live in specific doesn't make much of a diff. just get a decent sound card, not less than a Xonar DX..

2. Can you be more specific here, can't get you. 'Able to' or 'unable to' ?

3. Same here, what you mean force decode?

Apocalyp5e said:
MX6021 isn't good as MX5021 besides there aren't very good 5.1 offering from Altec Lasing these days.

MX6021 is not upto 5021, but they are musical than other PC speakers in the same price range..

yashthedude said:
Coz they are giving there power in 7.1 audio

tested by me

better than any other ****.

7.1 from altec lansing? model no. ?

yashthedude said:
Coz they are giving there power in 7.1 audio

tested by me

better than any other ****.

Really can you mention the model number and name since as per my knowledge Altec doesn't have any 7.1 offering. Maybe I am not up to date with all hardware industry.

Dont forget to mention the price, since if its too high only n00bs will stick to it coz a little bit over 25k you can get real speakers (onkyo, Yamaha, pioneer, Swan, Klipsh etc ) so why bother with altec.

MegaMind said:
1. DTS live in specific doesn't make much of a diff. just get a decent sound card, not less than a Xonar DX..

2. Can you be more specific here, can't get you. 'Able to' or 'unable to' ?

3. Same here, what you mean force decode?

I will try to explain

sorry for confusing you.

1.Ok yeah who needs direct passing if my card does better job

so which one you suggest there are many xonar(D2X, D1, D2 and more) what about creatives, Now my preference will be games, movies then music.

2. There are 6 lights on the cosole one for sub, two for front speakers, 1 for center and rest two are for rear speakers.
So when cycle through level button

I. Sub light lit up i can change sub volume independently
II. Rear speaker pair light turn on and now i can change volume of back pair(i cant change the volume of one the back speaker)
III. Center speaker lights up and its volume can be changed independently

after this it returns to sub again.
so my cycle is like sub,rear,center with front missing. and for the rear pair you can't adjust volume independently.

3. Force decode, I want to decode my stereo singles as from inbuilt DAC when i play DTS, or Dobly stream my decode light on the console turns on, but if i play stereo sounds like mp3 its always off and this time effect light is on (surround).
I tried using FFDshow to encode the mp3 in DTS but no avail since sytem uses some other codec for mp3. I did some registry tweaks as well to disable internal codec from m'soft but it was breaking my system so I had to undo the modifications.

Apocalyp5e said:
1.Ok yeah who needs direct passing if my card does better job
so which one you suggest there are many xonar(D2X, D1, D2 and more) what about creatives, Now my preference will be games, movies then music.

2. There are 6 lights on the cosole one for sub, two for front speakers, 1 for center and rest two are for rear speakers.
So when cycle through level button

I. Sub light lit up i can change sub volume independently
II. Rear speaker pair light turn on and now i can change volume of back pair(i cant change the volume of one the back speaker)
III. Center speaker lights up and its volume can be changed independently

after this it returns to sub again.
so my cycle is like sub,rear,center with front missing. and for the rear pair you can't adjust volume independently.

3. Force decode, I want to decode my stereo singles as from inbuilt DAC when i play DTS, or Dobly stream my decode light on the console turns on, but if i play stereo sounds like mp3 its always off and this time effect light is on (surround).
I tried using FFDshow to encode the mp3 in DTS but no avail since sytem uses some other codec for mp3. I did some registry tweaks as well to disable internal codec from m'soft but it was breaking my system so I had to undo the modifications.

1. what is your budget for a sound card?

2. No you can't change the front speaker volume when in 4.1/5.1 mode & you can't change rear sp volumes individually..

3. No you can't force decode them..

Thanks for clearing my doubts.

For the sound card budget is not a concern, but I don't want to do overkill I need the sound card which best compliments my speakers.

I think I can get a decent card around 4-8k.

Should be 5.1/7.1 optical/SPDIF out DTS Live. One more thing the software support should be good

Btw i m eager to sell my 2months old logitech z906.
will create a sell thread as soon as i got time..
If anyone one interested pm me :wink:

H

Apocalyp5e said:
Thanks for clearing my doubts.

For the sound card budget is not a concern, but I don't want to do overkill I need the sound card which best compliments my speakers.

I think I can get a decent card around 4-8k.

Should be 5.1/7.1 optical/SPDIF out DTS Live. One more thing the software support should be good

When you are not going to use the analog outs of any sound card so what is the use of getting it?

Also don't spend more than Xonar DX on your logitech speaker system as it will not be worth.

Buy sound card only if you are going to use it's Analog outs.

Rest ask @funskar as he has this combination.

Apocalyp5e said:
Should be 5.1/7.1 optical/SPDIF out DTS Live. One more thing the software support should be good

Just get a Xonar DX. Dolby digital live/DTS connect is used for multichannel digital o/p, Xonar DX uses DD live & z906 supports both of them so no worries for DTS connect..

I think u shud get this one Zebronics ZEB-SW8500RUCF 5.1 Multimedia Speakers | Speaker | Flipkart.com

MegaMind said:
Just get a Xonar DX. Dolby digital live/DTS connect is used for multichannel digital o/p, Xonar DX uses DD live & z906 supports both of them so no worries for DTS connect..

Thanks a lot for the info, can you tell me the difference between Xoanar DX vs D2X. As for as i know both card uses difference decoders and have output SNR rated at 116DB and 118DB. D2X have toslink connectivity AFAIK. Both cards are 7.1 right? What is the subjective SQ difference between these two. anything worth shelling out extra 3k

What about Essence STX I heard its a music card is it 5.1

yashthedude said:
I think u shud get this one Zebronics ZEB-SW8500RUCF 5.1 Multimedia Speakers | Speaker | Flipkart.com

Thanks for the suggestion bro, but i already bought z906

Speaker System Z906

@funskar: As i can see in your sig that you own both z906 and xonar DX can you tell me the difference in sound quality while playing with

On board audio

Xonar DX

Spdif

Thanks in Advance.

Apocalyp5e said:
Thanks a lot for the info, can you tell me the difference between Xoanar DX vs D2X. As for as i know both card uses difference decoders and have output SNR rated at 116DB and 118DB. D2X have toslink connectivity AFAIK. Both cards are 7.1 right? What is the subjective SQ difference between these two. anything worth shelling out extra 3k

What about Essence STX I heard its a music card is it 5.1

DX & D2X uses different audio processors, ofcourse D2X has the superior one..
Both are 7.1 cards & support digital(s/pdif) connections.

Between DX & D2X with z906 you won't see much of a diff. since you will be using digital connec. IMO not worth spending on a D2X..

STX by nature doesn't support 5.1 channel, it requires expansion card like asus H6 to o/p 5.1/7.1 audio..

C

Friends,i just joined here,
suggest me a 5.1 system for music,movies...
and i love cleaner bass...

what about
F&D F6000,EDIFIER DS5000 and Logitech Z504
please suggest...

i am very confused and i haven't experienced any of the above systems...

with love
CBG

Charlie Bailey Gates said:
Friends,i just joined here,
suggest me a 5.1 system for music,movies...
and i love cleaner bass...

what about
F&D F6000,EDIFIER DS5000 and Logitech Z504
please suggest...

i am very confused and i haven't experienced any of the above systems...

with love
CBG

please let us know your budget. also, you would get more replies if you create a new thread on your need. make a new thread here in the 'audio' section itself. as for your query, i would suggest Z906 as well as F6000.

yes if low on budget go for F&D F6000, or if you have more money to shell out then z906 is the best bet.

Unfortunately my console is acting weird again, and it shutting down speakers automatically. It seems like a Cable fault since if i move the console it turns on just fine. So if you are going for Z906, unbox it there and test it.

Apocalyp5e said:
Unfortunately my console is acting weird again, and it shutting down speakers automatically. It seems like a Cable fault since if i move the console it turns on just fine. So if you are going for Z906, unbox it there and test it.

Only 2 reasons,
1. If the amp gets too hot, the unit shuts down.
2. If there is a drop in voltage.

I played Z906 at max. volume & after 30 min the unit goes off to protect the amp. The rear of sub got too hot that i can't even get my hands near them..

Note : Max. volume is too loud even for a large hall..

MegaMind said:
Only 2 reasons,
1. If the amp gets too hot, the unit shuts down.
2. If there is a drop in voltage.

I played Z906 at max. volume & after 30 min the unit goes off to protect the amp. The rear of sub got too hot that i can't even get my hands near them..

Note : Max. volume is too loud even for a large hall..

Hummm...
1. I don't suspect it's overheating cuz, I never play it over 35%-40% mark. That auto shutdown happens even after a few seconds. Meddling with console wire fixes this behavior.

at least for some time.

2. It Can't be cuz I am using using my speakers with APC BR1500G-IN. As I can read on display it is supplying 220 Volts clean power. So I think it could be console.

P

Where can i buy logiteck z906 for 15k....i want to buy please suggest

^^^
On ebay you can get it at the cheapest price, it was for around 16k there.

P

hey someone will tell how is onkyo 3400 compare to z906. i want to buy one of them

prinkkaadi said:
hey someone will tell how is onkyo 3400 compare to z906. i want to buy one of them

Go with onkyo 3400 .
Logitech z906 sound muddy .