Home audio - mid-high range computer related solutions

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    In this article i'll show you two representatives of two common ways to replace Hi-Fi systems. I had access to both of them.



    Part 1



    First representative is combined Hi-Fi components from Sony. Its really good option to assemble your own Hi-Fi system with components you like. Its featuring


    1) 2x 3 Way, 3 Driver Floor-Standing Speaker SS-MF550H


    1" Nano-Fine® Balanced Dome Tweeter
    150W Maximum Input Power
    Frequency Range 45Hz - 50kHz
    Screw Type Binding Posts
    3 Way, 3 Driver Floor-Standing Speaker
    8" Improved H.O.P. Cone - Bass Driver
    3 1/4" Improved H.O.P. Cone - Mid Driver
    Sensitivity - 88 dB
    Dimensions: Approx. 9.5" x 33.4" x 10" (240 x 850 x 255 mm)




    2) Sony A/V Receiver STR-DE197 (amplifier)



    - Frequency Range - 40Hz - 20kHz, THD 0.09%
    - two stereo channels; can work seperated; each 2x 100W
    - manual equilizer
    - tuner




    3) Chaintech ENVY 24PT sound card



    PCI 2.2 I/F with bus mastering and burst modes
    24-bit resolution audio format support
    Sampling rates up to 192KHz
    Supports Mic In / Line In / 4 Line outs & Digital Optical output
    2 separate CD audio stereo inputs





    Second representative is from Creative:


    1) Creative Inspire T7900


    Speaker Power: 8 Watts RMS per channel (6 channels),
    ----------------- 20 Watts RMS center speaker,
    ----------------- 24 Watts RMS subwoofer
    Frequency Response: 40Hz ~ 20kHz
    Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 80dB
    Satellite Speaker: 9.5cm x 7.7cm x 14cm
    Satellite Speaker (with tweeter): 9.5cm x 7.7cm x 16.8cm
    Center Satellite Speaker: 16.8cm x 7.7cm x 12.0cm
    Subwoofer: 19.2cm x 30.0cm x 28.3cm
    Wired Remote Control: 8.2cm x 4.0cm x 2.1cm


    + custom made ~80cm high stands for most of the satelites





    2) Sound Blaster Creative XtremeMusic


    - gold plated


    Technical Specs
    24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs: 96kHz sampling rate
    24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources: 96khz to analog 7.1 speaker output
    24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources: 192kHz to stereo output
    16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
    ASIO 2.0 support: 16-bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring
    Enhanced SoundFont support: Up to 24-bit resolution
    Audio Performance (Rated Output @ 2Vrms, Typical Value)
    Signal-to-Noise Ratio (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Weighted): Stereo Output: 109dB
    Front and Rear Channels: 109dB
    Center, Subwoofer and Side Channels: 109dB
    Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (20kHz Low-pass filter): 0.004%
    Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ): <10Hz to 46kHz
    Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input): <10Hz to 88kHz (Stereo only)



    Part 2


    It might looks that both setups are verry different, actually they sound close to each other. Frankly the double more power of the Sony setup ( 2x100W limited of amplifier channels ) makes no big difference except when its used near to its max capacity, gives more physical sensation and a bit more dB. Sound characteristics are similar, actually Creative's subwoofer have a bit of advantage reproducing deeper bass. For some reason i expected a bit more of this Sony setup.


    Sony SS-MF550H flor-standing speakers feature one 8 inch HOP Cone bass drive, lots of space inside and they are wooden. There is extra hole for a deeper bass. In audio, size DOES matters :D There is also 3.25 inch mid-range and 1 inch tweeter. Speaker is coved by transparent protector. Mid-range and high-range reproduction is good, no gaps. Bass aint strong by default but can be boosted through the amplifier with bass-bosty option and equilizer. It then reach good, deep and strong bass with distortion only in peaks of the amplifier. Amplifier allows you to mount two more speakers and extra 200W in total. Extra power catch up for the lack of surround sensation. Setup is good for music, movies and games.



    Whats for the Creative?! With its 92W RMS total is about twice lower than the sony. Subwoofer is wooden and bigger than most around. Its featuring 6.5 inch long-trow driver verry well hidden behind the protector. Its just impossible to see through it. Driver is looking on side left and all connectors are at the back. Keep in mind that thios is hell alot of cables - 7 satelites, wired remoute control, power cord, 3x 3.5mm jack to 4x 3.5mm jack and hardware upmix control (5.1->7.1; 6.1->7.1;DIRECT). Infront you will see big dual-flared port which is actually "tube-in-the-tube" going deep inside. Front satelites and center have a tweeter which provides good high-range reproducing. All 7 satelites have about 3 inch wide range driver which do well all long to the max capacity. Bass is deeper than the sony setup but it gets more distorption at pick power. While the sony's amplifier has remoute control, Creative T7900 use wired remoute control by default with overall volume control and subwoofer volume control with headphones and line-in 3.5mm ports. You can get a real remoute control and a wired module with light indicators too (Creative I200). Here is the place to note that sound card has big role thanks to upmix, CMSS-3D (simulates surround incredibly well), Crystalizer (clearing all channels) and good Signal-to-Noise ratio). Something that not much ppl knows is Creative X-Fi use three DSP processors (Digital Signal Processing) that not much companies has. This gives lots of calculation power and dynamic channel processing.