[swerrdy]

I have some Altek Lansing 4.1 speakers that must have come with a computer we bought a while ago. Now I am trying to get them set up because the dell speakers I was using started glitching. Basically the volume would drastically change randomly and at random intervals. Sometimes it would be fine for a few days and other times i couldn't make it through a song without having to adjust the volume 3-4 times.
 
The Altek Lansing speakers have all four speakers connected to the sub and then the sub has the power cord and two input cords. The two input cords are black and green. I assumed that the go into the black and green outputs on the motherboard(no discrete sound card), and that would make sense because they are labeled front and back outputs.
They do not work though which is why I am asking for both advice on why these speakers might be not working and for suggestions on new speaker if these ones aren't worth the hassle of fixing.
 
I have gathered that the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 are widely suggested on these forums. 
I looked them up before and I would have sworn I saw them for $80 on amazon but when I look now they are going for $150. What's the cheapest people can get them for? 
Also are there any other 2.1 systems worth looking into that are hopefully under $100?
 
I would be listening to dubstep and other electronic genres of music as well as gaming. It is to my understanding that for gaming it is recomended to get a 5.1 system which would of course cost more, so I am willing to give up the extra few speakers.
 
If you can answer any of my questions thank you!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I have some Altek Lansing 4.1 speakers that must have come with a computer we bought a while ago. Now I am trying to get them set up because the dell speakers I was using started glitching. Basically the volume would drastically change randomly and at random intervals. Sometimes it would be fine for a few days and other times i couldn't make it through a song without having to adjust the volume 3-4 times.
 
The Altek Lansing speakers have all four speakers connected to the sub and then the sub has the power cord and two input cords. The two input cords are black and green. I assumed that the go into the black and green outputs on the motherboard(no discrete sound card), and that would make sense because they are labeled front and back outputs.
They do not work though which is why I am asking for both advice on why these speakers might be not working and for suggestions on new speaker if these ones aren't worth the hassle of fixing.
 
I have gathered that the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 are widely suggested on these forums. 
I looked them up before and I would have sworn I saw them for $80 on amazon but when I look now they are going for $150. What's the cheapest people can get them for? 
Also are there any other 2.1 systems worth looking into that are hopefully under $100?
 
I would be listening to dubstep and other electronic genres of music as well as gaming. It is to my understanding that for gaming it is recomended to get a 5.1 system which would of course cost more, so I am willing to give up the extra few speakers.
 
If you can answer any of my questions thank you!

Logitech Z 506 5.1 speaker set sells for around $80.
Should connect to the Dells built in sound card's black, green & orange connecters.
You could add an Asus Xonar DG ($24) or DGX ($40) sound card for better audio quality.
 
The Asus Xonar DX or D1 (used $55) offers better audio quality then the Xonar DG(X)

 

[cassull]

I have a receiver hooked up to my computer and have a pair of Behringer B2030P's from there. I don't have a subwoofer since I live in an apartment and my neighbor probably wouldn't like it, but you could also buy a subwoofer later and hook that up to the receiver. I think the set up works pretty well, the receiver was some cheap thing off craigslist and the speakers were about $140 for a pair. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I have a receiver hooked up to my computer and have a pair of Behringer B2030P's from there. I don't have a sub-woofer since I live in an apartment and my neighbor probably wouldn't like it, but you could also buy a sub-woofer later and hook that up to the receiver. I think the set up works pretty well, the receiver was some cheap thing off Craigslist and the speakers were about $140 for a pair. 

If your receiver comes with the sub-woofer output (single RCA jack).

 

[cassull]

Quote:

If your receiver comes with the sub-woofer output (single RCA jack).

I think most receivers would.
 
Also, a friend of mine mentioned that if you have a receiver, you do not need a sound card and can hook the receiver up to the motherboard. I'm not entirely sure how that works since I already had a sound card at the time and just hooked it all up together, but you might be able to save money by not buying a sound card that way. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I think most receivers would.
 
Also, a friend of mine mentioned that if you have a receiver, you do not need a sound card and can hook the receiver up to the motherboard. I'm not entirely sure how that works since I already had a sound card at the time and just hooked it all up together, but you might be able to save money by not buying a sound card that way. 

Receivers with S/PDIF Toslink digital optical input can be connect to a sound card or motherboard with a S/PDIF Toslink digital optical output.
The is also a S/PDIF coaxial digital input and output connection (looking like a single RCA jack), but it's not as common.
 
If your receiver has analog inputs for 5.1 (6 RCA jacks) or 7.1 (8 RCA jacks), then you can run analog from the computer to the receiver.
But I believe those kind of inputs are rare and only on more expensive receivers
 

 

[swerrdy]

Quote:

Logitech Z 506 5.1 speaker set sells for around $80.
Should connect to the Dells built in sound card's black, green & orange connecters.
You could add an Asus Xonar DG ($24) or DGX ($40) sound card for better audio quality.
 
The Asus Xonar DX or D1 (used $55) offers better audio quality then the Xonar DG(X)

How is the bass on the Logitech Z 506?
The page on amazon says they are only 75Watts while the promedia2.1 is 200Watts (i'm only guessing that's what affects the bass).
And is the sound quality for music on the Logitech Z 506 as good as other systems in that price range?
I'm not going to be getting a sound card yet. I still need to get my second gpu and then I'll see how much room I have for a sound card.
 
Thanks for the help!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

How is the bass on the Logitech Z 506?
The page on amazon says they are only 75Watts while the promedia2.1 is 200Watts (I'm only guessing that's what affects the bass).
And is the sound quality for music on the Logitech Z 506 as good as other systems in that price range?
I'm not going to be getting a sound card yet. I still need to get my second gpu and then I'll see how much room I have for a sound card.

Watts are not really a good judge of audio quality for speakers, I believe amps is more important.
Amps x Voltage = Watts, so you can have low amps, but add a lot of useless voltage and claim lots of watts.
There maybe more to it then that, but hey, what do know anyway.
I would assume the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 has better sound quality then the Z 506, but you can not do 5.1 gaming with a 2.1 system.
Sub-woofer wise, I do not think the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 sub-woofer is going to win any awards.
I have the klipsch ProMedia 2.1 hooked up to my system, which I never really use, as using headphone is better.
I like Logitech speakers, I use to use the Logitech X-540 and Z5300, before I go into headphones.