Hi all audiophiles,
I would like to install a good surround sound system in my bedroom. The problem is that:
- my room size is small - 10 feet by 10 feet,
- there is no place to position the speakers - except on the wall using wall mounting brackets or on the study desk, and
- will be running the 2.1 or 5.1 system from the Lenovo Y580 laptop.

A few questions that need your clarification:

Question 1: 5.1 vs. 2.1 system:
Given that the room size is pretty small (10 feet by 10 feet), i wonder if a 5.1 system prove to be an overkill? The room is small and this resulted in a less than optimal positioning of the 5 speakers. Hence, the 2.1 (with sound virtualisation) may do the trick and possibly "replace" the rear speakers.

Question 2: What happens to the sound quality by mounting all the 4 satellite speakers on the wall?
Due to the lack of space, i am planning to mount the four speakers at all four corners near to the ceilings to avoid clashing with the furnitures. How would that affect the sound quality? As far as possible, i will try to place the 2 frontal satellite speakers & 1x middle speaker on the study table.

Question 3: Which is the best surround sound system for 2.1?
My budget is around the price range for Logitech Z623. Any comments on Logitech Z623? How about any incremental upgrades to Logitech Z623.

Question 4: External sound card.
Someone mentioned that we can enhance the sound quality of the 2.1 system by purchasing an external USB sound card (Example: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Sound Card) and plug the 2.1 system to the external USB sound card (instead of plugging it to the Laptop).

Will this approach yield any difference to the sound quality if compared to plugging 2.1 system to the laptop?

With a square room is not ideal for surround sound. 2.1 will be nice. External sound card or not does not really make much difference. Will advice to save your money

Actually it is not about surround speaker. Do u watch many 5.1 media or content?

otherwise only front speaker will give sound
..

BUDGET!???

I use my Hivi x4, its so loud..... i dont think i gonna expand to 5.1... unless i got a living room...

^
I second this~
there are many who complained only the front makes sound an not other speakers... calling it a total speaker ripoff

Z623 not worth it imho. better listen to Hivi M50W for 2.1 or even the cheaper M10(which killed the Z623)

good 2.1 beats crap 5.1 all day everyday

small room get 2.1, downmix and get a proper image and boom, less resonance also

For small room, suggest 2.0;

+ KEF Q500
+ Marantz PM6005, which has high quality built in DAC.

It sure give happy sound~

So high end no sub, where got kick.
Watch movie so boring

Main problem: your budget is around the price range for Logitech Z623

for best result, just choose 1 from the suggested list: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2504789

no, no and no

there are a few considerations ebfore you run a 5.1

1. do you use 5.1 configuration media, games, music must be encoded in 5.1. the only gaming companies im aware that does this is blizzard and valve, otheres use stereo. if movies it has to be original blueray thus far i have yet to see a jack sparrow ver that supports 5.1

2. does your system support 5.1? a laptop does not support 5.1, even a creative sound blaster x-fi doestn really support 5.1, it has only enough output for 3.1 (front left right, rear and sub). the 5.1 on the creative sound blaster is ONLY activated when you use an optical cable out into a real 5.1 processing system.

a real 5.1 system optimally needs to have 5 outputs, not 3 nor 2. each output is directly connected to a speaker to allow accurate reproduction of 5.1

most systems out there simulate 5.1 they dont have 5.1,

i use a 5.1 system sometimes but i come across formats that rarely utilizes its need, i juse use Rm20 speakers

now i see a friend download movie has dolby ac-3 (meaning dolby digital 5.1 @ 128kbps), dual language some more!

pc grade surround speaker set only need 3 stereo ports. front channel L+R, rear channel L+R, center +sub.
xfi usb has no problem to run them.

still it is not recommended to buy surround in small room. better up budget to buy good quality stereo set

the problem is a lot of things say they are 5.1 but they are not, they are simulated 5.1. most pc grade sound speakers are not 5.1 and the xfi on its own cannot support a full 5.1, i own the xfi and the only support for the 5.1 is the optical out, you need to get a something that will send the data to the right and proper speakers. its easy to dupe people about the whole 5.1 thing as its rare someone actually hears proper 5.1 in the works, a lot of it is software simulation which is where you get the "eh why my front speaker not working", "eh why my back speaker soo soft" and that stupid echo. if its software simulation then 2.1 is always superior and all you need is just a surround sound emulator.

basically to make a full 5.1, the data needs to be stright from the source and the speakers recreate the surround, the surround comes purely from teh source, if its a game the game decides where the sound goes

you dont need a big room to create 5.1, most 5.1 systems are recommended to be used in a very small room

This post has been edited by +3kk!: Mar 10 2014, 09:21 PM

Hi ,

I'm currently using 40inch led tv as my desktop monitor , normally i use my pc for movie the most and gaming . can anyone advice me that 2.1 better or 5.1 better and the different ? i went to viewnet today saw a speaker salpido amx5 the sound is very nice but the price is Rm700 and rm700 could buy a 5.1 set d .. sifu please help .. need recommend a best quality movie and gaming speaker

hi,

i own z906 and currently quite happy with it when gaming and watching movie. i plug it with sound blaster x. its loud to me.

i own another creative 500 pro gamer and c6xd but the z906 sounds much better.

i prefer watching movie 5.1 rather than stereo.