Buyer's Guide: High End System - May 2004

Sound Card

Recommendation: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (6.1) OEM
Price: $71

Since many of the packages that come with sound cards add a lot to the cost and little to the value, an OEM version of an Audigy 2 sound card provides the best value for a high-end sound card. If you're a big gamer, love watching movies, or are just someone who wants quality sound, the Audigy 2 is one of the best on the market to fit those needs. This version of the Audigy 2 supports 6 channels of sound and will deliver a great listening experience in any game, and especially ones that support the Audigy 2's special features like EAX. Simply pair the Audigy 2 with the right set of speakers and you'll have the necessary tools for an exceptional listening experience. Other special Audigy 2 features include 24/96 analog playback and recording and "add-ons" like FireWire.

Alternative: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (7.1) retail
Price: $83

The Audigy 2 ZS differs from the regular OEM Audigy 2 mainly in its support of 7.1 channels of sound instead of 6.1 The benefit of going to 7.1 isn't really all that huge, as there's a point that you reach where continually adding more channels yields diminishing returns; that is, your surround sound experience doesn't get a whole lot better going from 6.1 to 7.1 channels, or for that matter, 5.1 to 7.1 channels, depending on how sensitive your ears are. The Audigy 2 ZS is also a retail package instead of OEM, meaning you get additional bundled features, such as video games and a FireWire header.

As we've said before, there are inevitably going to be people who don't need this kind of audio processing power. For those users, we simply suggest that you use your motherboard's onboard sound controller. Some people could care less about their system's sound as long as there isn't any interference or crackling. If that description fits you to a tee, then use the onboard sound controller and forget about the Audigy 2.

Speakers

Recommendation: Logitech Z5300 THX Certified 5.1 speakers
Price: $146 shipped

Logitech, yet again, tops our speaker recommendation this week with their popular Z5300 5.1 THX Certified speaker system. Besides obviously supporting 5.1 channels of sound, the Z5300 is able to boast such features as a 100W subwoofer and a greater than 85 dB signal to noise ratio. The surround sound gaming and movie experience is tremendous, especially paired with a good Audigy 2 sound card. These speakers can also get impressively loud, and best of all, we didn't encounter any sort of crackling or distortion as volume was turned up to excruciatingly loud levels. For the price, these speakers are unbeatable.

Alternative: Creative Labs Megaworks THX Certified 6.1 speakers
Price: $248 shipped

This speaker system justifies its value versus the Logitech Z5300 speakers with:

1. 6.1 surround sound instead of 5.1 surround;
2. 99 dB signal to noise ratio instead of "somewhere" over 85 dB;
3. 150W subwoofer instead of 100W subwoofer;
4. 70W per satellite and 75W for the center instead of 35W and 39W center; and,
5. Positional audio support.

Essentially, what you're getting here is "bigger, better, faster". You're getting a deeper/louder base, better surround environment, and positional audio that makes your surround sound experience more realistic (your ears can hear better from where the sound is coming). Unfortunately, 7.1 speaker systems aren't cheap enough yet, so it's hard to recommend them with a straight face considering how little they bring to the table over 5.1 and 6.1 speaker systems. That's one reason why you may not want to consider the Audigy 2 ZS at all. However, if you're a hardcore audiophile, go ahead and pick up that Audigy 2 ZS and try out a 7.1 GigaWorks speaker system while you're at it.

If, for whatever reason, you're not interested in high end sound and will be gaming or watching movies mostly with your headphones on, obviously an expensive surround sound system will be pretty useless. If that's the case, you may just want to opt for 2.0 or 2.1 speakers, such as the ones recommended in our last Entry Level Buyer's Guide.

If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.