Recommendations for good speakers to go with Panasonic XR25

amolj98007 · « **on:** 30 Aug 2004, 09:54 pm »

Hi I am planning on getting the Panasonic XR25 receiver does anyone has recommendations on some reasonably priced compact surround sound package? i am looking for spending around $200.00 on them.

Thx

Carlman · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Aug 2004, 10:15 pm »

There's not much to recommend for $200 for 5 speakers and a sub. (if you're doing 5.1) There are some cheap options out there... but I'd consider anything under $800 to be a good budget. Otherwise, just start with a pair of speakers... add a sub and center later as you can afford it.

The best I've heard for the absolute cheapest is Polk at Circuit City. It'd be around 5-600 bucks and sounds alright... and may even knock your socks off...

You could likely find some used speakers also. Hope that helps.

-C

EDIT:
I just realized you said 'compact'.... like teeny tiny speakers... you need to go listen to them to see if there's anything that works for you. I know a guy that has a set of compact JBL's from years ago that are OK... but I haven't heard the newer HT packages...

mcgsxr · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Aug 2004, 10:17 pm »

Welcome to the Circles amolj98007!

I am hoping that on that budget you are seeking 2 channel advice, but perhaps I am wrong.

For 2 channel, I would suggest any of the small Paradigm, or Energy speakers. Mirage makes some small Omnipolars, that might be a good match also.

mark

Mudjock · « **Reply #3 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 01:12 pm »

The Level One System from www.hometheaterdirect.com is $149 including 5 sats and a sub. They have been around for a number of years and have a good reputation (check audioreview.com). If you are willing to consider used speakers, check out Energy (as mentioned before). There is an Energy Take 5 system auction ending tomorrow that is currently around $200. You might also see what ubid is peddling these days.

That said, I think you would wind up with even better sound if you spent the $200 on two speakers rather than an entire HT setup. There should be some pretty good used or kit speakers in that price range.

BTW: I have an SA-XR25 hooked up to a pair of Ellis 1801's and a Toshiba 3950 and it sounds great - much closer to "high end audio" than "cheap HT receiver".

mcgsxr · « **Reply #4 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 07:28 pm »

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=12782

I should think that this might light your fire.. Not me or anything, just saw it.

Mark

amolj98007 · « **Reply #5 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 08:31 pm »

After quite a research i have zerod down to Logitech Z680 speaker set. I think they will be enough to fire up my small 10 X 8 feet living room. Thx for the response guys

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #6 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 09:15 pm »

Quote from: amolj98007

After quite a research i have zerod down to Logitech Z680 speaker set. I think they will be enough to fire up my small 10 X 8 feet living room. Thx for the response guys

You've abandoned the idea of getting the Panasonic receiver??? And now are just hooking these "speakers" directly to a source??

amolj98007 · « **Reply #7 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 10:32 pm »

Sorry I wasnt clear in my previous reply. I have a Media center PC based Home theater. I am contemplating of 2 options.

1. Panasoinic receiver XR25 & Logitech Z680 speakers.
2. Good sound card (Creative Audigy 2 ZS) & Logitech Z680 speakers.

Dont know which one to go with?

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #8 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 11:02 pm »

Since the Logitech speakers are designed for use with a soundcard, option 2 makes sense. Option 1 DOESN'T make any sense to me and I'm not sure if it's even POSSIBLE.

amolj98007 · « **Reply #9 on:** 31 Aug 2004, 11:29 pm »

Cool, I am also leaning towards option 2 as one less commodity (receiver) to clutter the living room. Since i will be going with sound card i have heard a lot about Audigy sound card and it being a good match for HTPC but i dont know which is the right one for HTPC i dont intend to play games at all, my HTPC will be used exclusively for media playing.

1.Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS PCI Sound Card
2.Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition PCI Sound Card.
3.Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum PCI Sound Card.
4.Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro PCI Sound Card.

I am looking to pick one of these that will compliment my Logitech Z680 speakers. something not very high end but just good enough to produce better sound quality.

Thx

dave_c · « **Reply #10 on:** 1 Sep 2004, 05:30 am »

If you're going to use the Z680, I would go with the Chaintech AV710 soundcard. It's based on the Via Envy24 processor which a lot of other soundcards are based on. Good thing is its only $25 from Newegg.com

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-120-103&depa=0

Since you're really only using it for its SPDIF output, there's no reason to blow more money on the soundblaster series. The external processor on the Z680 should take care of all your needs.

Do a search on AVSForum.com or Headfi.org for more info on the card. It should fit your needs exactly.

BTW - If you're going for the Z680, take a look at the Acoustic Energy Aego series.

amolj98007 · « **Reply #11 on:** 1 Sep 2004, 09:20 pm »

Sounds good, I will check out the Chaintech sound card but as far as speakers go i think i will go with Logitech Z680's only.

vescica · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Sep 2004, 07:37 am »

If you can stretch the budget a little bit, you can try the Hsu Research Ventriloquist VT-12 for about $250?

Comes with the center & 5 satellites - 6.1 system. No Sub, but this system sounds great for the $$$.

EDIT - I forgot to mention - you can get these at CompUSA or from Dr Hsu direct at http://www.hsuresearch.com

CSMR · « **Reply #13 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 05:50 pm »

Quote from: dave_c

Since you're really only using it for its SPDIF output, there's no reason to blow more money on the soundblaster series.

Particularly as they are inferior since they resample to 48khz.

By the way, with all-digital amplification such as the panasonic series, does jitter matter? I'm thinking it probably doesn't since it all goes through a processor so as long as errors aren't created the quality of input signal doesn't matter.

dave_c · « **Reply #14 on:** 5 Sep 2004, 03:30 pm »

Jitter totally matters. I noticed a huge difference when I used a Monarchy DIP Upsampler in my chain. Originally I was using an M-Audio Transit to go from my laptop to my XR45 and it was okay. After the Monarchy everything sounded a lot better. I'm not sure if its cause the jitter reduction or the upsampling, but it made a huge difference.

CSMR · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 Sep 2004, 04:18 pm »

Interesting. You could try the upsampler in foobar with the transit at 24/96 to compare - if you're interested!

coleco · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Sep 2004, 05:06 pm »

Quote from: dave_c

Jitter totally matters. I noticed a huge difference when I used a Monarchy DIP Upsampler in my chain. Originally I was using an M-Audio Transit to go from my laptop to my XR45 and it was okay. After the Monarchy everything sounded a lot better. I'm not sure if its cause the jitter reduction or the upsampling, but it made a huge difference.

It's due to upsampling.

dwk · « **Reply #17 on:** 15 Sep 2004, 05:17 pm »

Quote from: coleco

It's due to upsampling.

Upsampling on the XR units is a good idea, but jitter does indeed matter on these units as well. The master clock for the PWM modulator is effectively recovered from the incoming SPDIF signal, and jitter on the master PWM clock is a big source of distortion at the output. Since the chips used in the 45/25 use an internal PLL to recover the clock, there is a limit as to how good you can make it. Later generations of the Equibit chip allow use of a local crystal to drive the master PWM clock, which can be made to perform much better.

AphileEarlyAdopter · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Sep 2004, 06:15 am »

Using upsampling on my Philip 963SA player yields slightly more robust sound, but I feel the soundstage becomes 'unreal'. The identity of the actual recording venue is lost, replaced by an 'artificially' large space. For this reason, I do not use upsampling anymore.
I also find a glass toslink better than a coax. The coax seems to give an 'edge' to the sound.

coleco · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Sep 2004, 06:33 am »

Quote from: dwk

Quote from: coleco

It's due to upsampling.

Upsampling on the XR units is a good idea, but jitter does indeed matter on these units as well. The master clock for the PWM modulator is effectively recovered from the incoming SPDIF signal, and jitter on the master PWM clock is a big source of distortion at the output. Since the chips used in the 45/25 use an internal PLL to recover the clock, there is a limit as to how good you can make it. Later generations of the Equibit chip allow use of a local crystal to drive the master PWM clock, which can be made to perform much better.

Okay.. I heard somewhere that all incoming signals were upsampled to 192khz in the digital domain first and the dac was 'locked' at 192khz. I just assumed that the upsampling algorythm in the unit wasn't as good as the one in the Monarchy.

By later versions of the chip, what uses it now?