Small Dorm Speakers

[RubberDucky]

Hey everyone, I recently moved into a very small dorm room after joining the Air Force. I was considering purchasing the TriTrix DIY speaker package before joining, but now it just seems I wont have room for floorstanding speakers :cry: . I fear I may not even have room for my reciever.

I have started considering purchasing a small computer speaker system like the Logitech Z-5500 5.1 system. I know Klipsch used to make a 4.1 system and I love the sound of their 2.1. I have room for the subwoofer and small satellites, but thats about all.

Any suggestions or ideas? Has anyone heard the Z-5500 system?

Thanks,
RubberDucky

[technodanvan]

I haven't spent a considerable amount of time with them, but I can tell you the Logitech subwoofer is over-the-top boomy, in my opinion. Since you're in the AF dorms you might want to see how thin the walls are before having any subwoofer at all. It's not a very good impression to have the dorm manager stop by in the first few week on noise infractions.

Some are solid concrete though, so it could help you out a bit too.

Were I in your situation, I think I'd look at two different things:

1. "Home theater in a box" solutions. There are some pretty decent sounding ones out there and they would be far more compact than a receiver. I would only consider this if you're intent on having others in your room on a consistent basis. And by 'others', I don't mean the girlfriend - they don't generally care about your audio system, especially when you won't be playing it a 'club-like' levels. So unless you have some audio enthusiast friends, I'd just get some cheap $20-$50 computer speakers to "cover up the noise" and...

2. A good set of headphones for yourself.

I don't know how long you've been there, but there may be a surround sound system already located in the common room. Something you may want to look into.

Also - Robins almost certainly has a woodshop. If you were thinking about DIY before, now is the time to try it out!

[Chris D]

Heheeee... Ducky, i'm in the AF as well. (currently doing a year in Iraq) I know just what you mean. My previous (full sized) home theater had all Klipsch speakers, and I was very pleased with it. The only reason I sold them was that my new theater came with all new speakers. I've had good experience with smaller Klipsch speakers as well, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend trying an all-Klipsch small setup for you. In general, I'd stay away from a HTiB solution. Most of their performances are lacking.

I would ABSOLUTELY recommend looking into Dan's recommendation of headphones. A good set of headphones can give performance that is superior to many, many speakers, and avoid any noise troubles with neighbors lik Dan talks about.

[RubberDucky]

Im not too worried about my neighbors, I don't listen at incredibly loud levels. I know the walls are pretty thick as well. I listen to mostly acoustic rock anyways, its not the most bass-heavy music.

I really want a subwoofer, without one there is simply not enough bass in these smaller speakers.

There is a woodshop here on base and I am beginning to think I might want to go that route. HTiBs aren't going to cut it. Any recommendations on a good, very small, starter project? My biggest concern is the electronics, I have never done a crossover and I don't know how to read the electronic schematics often provided on these forums.

As for headphones, I think that is also a great idea for listening at night. I have looked into those options as well, on Head-Fi.org.

[ruseriousclark]

2 or 4 of these with an 8" sub would work nice, minimal crossover and its easy to understand: http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker18.html

You can build a set cheap since you mentioned DIY or...

http://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy-overnightsensations

...if you want to go no sub 2 channel save cost on the sub. Low end on these is amazing.

[RubberDucky]

Thanks for the links, I really like that second one! There is a nice 5.1 system on there that I might look into. It could be pretty expensive though. Maybe build it over time.