quiet speakers

shunx · Post by **shunx** » Tue May 20, 2003 1:48 am

Hi all, anyone knows some brand-name speakers (stereo, 5.1, etc) that do not generate much static or electric noise? I noticed that my new generic speakers have a lot of unwanted whine, whereas my older Cambridge Soundworks 4.1 system is relatively free of unwanted noise at lower to medium volumes. (To dampen the noise of my new speakers' whiny base unit I've had to muffle it with an old jacket plus a plastic garbage can covering them, placed upside down.)

Shuriken · Post by **Shuriken** » Tue May 20, 2003 5:02 am

Yeah i was having having troubles finding silent speakers as well, it turned out my old ones had a volume nob

tm · Post by tm » Tue May 20, 2003 9:56 am

Silent speakers == good speakers?

arstechnica's a/v forum will probably get you a lot of leads. They seem to like the klipsch speakers (since they keep recommending them).

Could the whine be coming from the sound card itself, or has the sound card not changed at all?

stsmytherie · Post by **stsmytherie** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:34 am

This subject can be very difficult, because noise can come from so many sources in an audio system.

The power supply for your speakers is probably going to be the biggest source of noise. This is true of all audio equipment. One of the easiest places for manufacturers to save money and lower costs is the PSU. (As we know from other discussions around here

)

However, modding the power supply of a computer speaker system is going to require some electronics knowledge, and the speaker quality may not be worth the effort.

You can also get interference from power cords and other signal sources. Try to run your speaker cables as far from power lines/strips/cables as possible. If speaker cables have to cross a power cable, do it at 90 degrees (perpendicular).

Make sure your audio cables have good, clean, tight connections. If you move cables around and hear crackling, or a channel drops out, replace the cable.

If you really want clean sound, run the line out from your sound card to an external hi-fi system. Yeah, it might seem pricey, but:

-- you probably already have one.
-- it probably has good power supply filtering and lower distortion.
-- it can switch between different sources (as in more than one computer).
-- it can drive real speakers at rediculously high (or very low) volume levels.
-- it may be able to drive a real subwoofer.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Wed May 21, 2003 12:30 pm

i wanna do that for my room

but amps cost a fair amount :\

shunx · Post by **shunx** » Wed May 21, 2003 4:12 pm

It's a new computer that I'm setting up, not the old computer which is hooked up to both computer speakers and a stereo receiver.

Actually I'm mostly trying to get a non-whiny subwoofer for the new computer. The new subwoofer has inherent whine that exists without any connection to an audio source. I attached my old Cambridge subwoofer to the new computer and it works just fine.

Since I can't find any more Cambridge speakers for sale, is anyone using a set from Altec Lansing, Creative, Logitech or Monsoon?

[thanks to tm but I can't find any Klipsch speakers locally]

stsmytherie · Post by **stsmytherie** » Wed May 21, 2003 4:50 pm

shunx wrote:Actually I'm mostly trying to get a non-whiny subwoofer for the new computer. The new subwoofer has inherent whine that exists without any connection to an audio source.

That definitely sounds like a psu problem.

shunx · Post by **shunx** » Wed May 21, 2003 5:46 pm

well I've given up on those crappy speakers, I installed them on another computer used by others. My new computer is fine now that I swapped the speakers with the old computer (which will be using a hi-fi system for now.)

If anyone has nice 5.1 speakers I would nonetheless like to hear it.

DeadBySundown · Post by **DeadBySundown** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:30 pm

shunx wrote:If anyone has nice 5.1 speakers I would nonetheless like to hear it.

Just bought a set of Logitech Z-680s. The sound quality from these things is just amazing. 5.1, 505 watts RMS and THX certified, certainly qualify as 'nice speakers' to me. Worth a look if you're in the market.

LushMD · Post by **LushMD** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:35 pm

Does anyone have any experience with the Logitech Z-340 2.1 speaker system? If so, please comment on general impression, quality, and any extraneous noise emanating from the speakers. Many thanks. Take care.

Td_nw · Post by **Td_nw** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:48 pm

No experience with the Logitech Z-340, but... I am using Logitech Z-560s. These things are great for the price. Quiet when computing, sounds great during movies, games, and music.

I use my computer for everything. I do not own a stereo, TV, anything. My computer is everything and these speakers work great, the sub-woofer is incredible but has unfortunately caused the neighbors to like me a little less. Of course, I live in Japan and your closet is probably the size of my combination living room/kitchen.

DeadBySundown · Post by **DeadBySundown** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:53 pm

A friend of mine has a had a set of the Z-340s for about a year now. The quality of construction and the sound quality seems very good to me. I am unable to discern any extraneous noise (hiss, hum, etc.) emanating from them.

Actually, it was hearing how good his 340s sounded as compared to my old Cambridge DTT2500 which led me to replace the 2500 with Z-680s, so I suppose that my general impression of the Z-340 is very favorable.

shunx · Post by **shunx** » Thu May 22, 2003 1:11 am

thanks for the input. The Z-680 sounds pretty upscale! I'd expect it to be 10 times better than the crap I bought (considering it costs that much more

)

Well, I might put off getting new speakers for a bit longer -- it turns out that Asus nForce Soundstorm's Dolby Digital-upsampled audio via the SPDIF connection to my receiver and floor speakers sounds very, very nice, especially the bass. It makes some of my 128kbps mp3s sound almost as spatially rich as my DTS CDs.

bigred · Post by **bigred** » Thu May 22, 2003 2:12 am

Speakers are very important, but your source is also extremely important. I’m talking about sound card and the audio itself (mp3's or cd's for example.)

For starters if your card has a low signal to noise ratio, then you will get a lot of noise along with your music. Then your speakers will only amplify the poor signal. If your music, lets say a mp3 encoded at 128kbps (if anyone is still encoded at that bit rate take this opportunity to put an axe through your hard drive...) then again your speakers are only going to amplify the poor quality of the audio.

So speakers are important, but source is as well.

d_kay · Post by **d_kay** » Thu May 22, 2003 6:21 am

Also (if your soundcard supports it, but it probably does not..)

Use balanced cables if you can. Made my active monitors less buzzy. But that whine you got... I've no idea.