[Watsy1958]

You have to admit the Z-5500 speakers are pretty cheap and I was thinking after replacing the centre speaker with a better quality 3D speaker why wouldn't I just buy some top quality speaker to replace what I have..Question is what type of speaker should I use maybe some speakers with built in tweeters..I heard Bose make a few really good speaker so if anyone can suggest any speakers would sure save me some looking around..

 

[cel4145]

You could certainly put together a better setup than the Z-5500. Plus, switching out the center channel for a different one is generally a bad idea. It's best to have your front three speakers timbre match.

What is your budget? "Top quality" is rather relative and could include a $10,000 speaker setup

 

[Watsy1958]

Well I replaced the centre speaker with the klipsch rc62 and what a noticeable difference in sound..There over$400 and I scored big time at a yard sale for $50.. I'm mainly into music so I bought the asus Xonar essense stx and I listen to 24/96 6ch 8500 Kbps flac music and the quality is like your right in front of the band so if I can find some better quality speaker I'm sure there could be a difference....Far as finding a better system to make a big difference in quality your looking at $1600 plus so is I could find some good 8 ohms speaker that is as far as I'd like to take it....I'm looking maybe into some studio Rokit series 5

 

[cel4145]

Well I replaced the centre speaker with the klipsch rc62 and what a noticeable difference in sound..

Probably because you are only mainly hearing the Klipsch. For multichannel audio, the front speakers should timbre match for the optimal front soundstage. So the best match would be some Klipsch Reference series bookshelves. They will be a much better match for multichannel audio than running KRK Rokkits with the Klipsch center. And I'm not making this up. Basic fundamental principle of putting together a mulitchannel setup. Google center channel and timbre match to learn more.

 

[Watsy1958]

Makes a lot of sense I'll try that ....well thanks for the feed back...

 

[PurpleAngel]

 I'm mainly into music so I bought the Asus Xonar Essense STX and I listen to 24/96 6ch 8500 Kbps FLAC music and the quality is like your right in front of the band so if I can find some better quality speaker I'm sure there could be a difference....Far as finding a better system to make a big difference in quality your looking at $1600 plus so is I could find some good 8 ohms speaker that is as far as I'd like to take it....I'm looking maybe into some studio Rokit series 5

 
 
I'm assuming your connecting the Essence STX to the Z5500 using 3 analog audio cables, for best sound quality
and not using the S/PDIF optical/coaxial connection.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Makes a lot of sense I'll try that ....well thanks for the feed back...

 
Monoprice sells a 5.1 speaker set ($229), I believe they are a relabeled Energy 5.1 setup (or at least from the same factory that makes the Energy 5.1 classic)
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10906&cs_id=1090601&p_id=10565&seq=1&format=2
 
Sell off the Z5500 and buy a used A/V receiver off Craigslist or eBay.

 

[Watsy1958]

Really Iv always heard that optical was the best even in the logitech manual states three ways to hook up under good better best and the three wire input was better and optical was the best for quality...Mind you Iv always went with what Iv read and forum sites and I will definitely look into it ..thanks again

 

[PurpleAngel]

Really Iv always heard that optical was the best even in the Logitech manual states three ways to hook up under good better best and the three wire input was better and optical was the best for quality...Mind you Iv always went with what Iv read and forum sites and I will definitely look into it ..thanks again

 
10 Years ago when the Z5500 came out (and it's manual) the audio quality of computer audio was not nearly as good as it is now, so chances are back then the DAC chip inside the Z5500 was better then the DAC chip that came in most sound cards (if not all).
Then about 7 years ago companies like Asus released sound cards like the Xonar D2 which came with a really nice DAC chip, even then not a lot of people would be willing to spend $175 ($175 in 2007 money) for a computer sound card.
But nowadays the DAC chips used in most mid range sound cards should be better then whatever is used in the Z5500.

 

[Watsy1958]

I always wondered which device does the dolby digital or the DTS decoding the sound system or the soundcard....I was told its a waste to even use a soundcard because the z-5500 does the work I can't remember how many times I was told that..but I know when I changed sound cards from the creative extreme gaming card to the Asus there was a big difference in quality I'm guessing the difference was that the asus decodes dolby digital live. So over all it hard to know which device does the decoding.

 

[cel4145]

VLC Player can decode Dolby Digital and DTS (not sure about other media players). If I'm not mistaken, Dolby Digital Live is an encoding process for sending audio via optical as a Dolby Digital signal.

If you go with speakers like the Klipsch, then you'll need a receiver. Right now accessories4less.com has a factory refurbished/factory warrantied Denon 1513 for $99. With that, you set the output from the computer to LPCM.

 

[Watsy1958]

There again I use foobar 2000 and it also does decoding plus the asus soundcard and my z-5500 so which does the work...So if I did go with a reciever again a reciever decodes so over all it's confusing. I was thinking on buying a better 5.1 but this means I'd have more used CP part hanging around which my pile is becoming to be in the thousands least 2 anyways and if I try to sell them then who buys used parts...Just lately my old gamer Pc passed the 4 year mark so I replaced it so It would be nice to pick up a new sound system now that Iv been turned on to dvd audio 5.1 which I have a nice collection....

 

[cel4145]

The Xonar STX is easy to sell on Ebay. Sell the Z5500 locally on Craigslist so you don't have to try and pack and ship the whole thing.

Then be sure to budget at least a few hundred dollars for a good sub. Going from the Z5500 to Klipsch Ref series with a good sub will be like upgrading from a moped to a Kawasaki 700cc motorcycle. LOL

Seriously, though. In home audio, we think of the Logitech multimedia surround setups as toys in comparison to a good passive speaker/receiver/sub setup.