When Microsoft released a Media Center Edition to Windows XP all those years ago, they were only acknowledging the obvious – that to most people, at least part of the time, their computer stands in for a videogame machine or an entertainment center. Certainly, everyone knows right away that you need a nice, bright and impressive screen for their home entertainment system or their videogame machine. You need something that gives you an immersive visual experience. What they don't think of often is that you need immersive sound to go with it too. The best computer speakers that most systems ship with are tinny, tiny, and annoying.
Have you seen the kind of speakers they put into laptops? It's as if they're actually trying to not be audible. The thing is, people usually put all their speaker money into speakers for the home theater – out in the living room where there is a big-screen TV. They don't seem like investing much in buying the best computer speakers as well.
Well, if you ever spent time looking around the computer speaker section at your local Best Buy, you will have noticed that once they call them computer speakers, they don't really go beyond a certain size. You really don’t need to spend a fortune. A reasonable pair is all one asks for. And since your computer is the most important entertainment unit in your house, it really does deserve better than what it ships with. You'll have a far better time playing your games and watching movies.
So what do you need to look for if you're out there at the aforementioned Best Buy computer speakers department and you’re not really sure how to judge all the speakers other than to look at the price tag?
Well, for the kind of attention to sound quality that today's movie and game creators put in, you really owe it yourself to get a surround sound system – 5.1 or 7.1 – you know how it goes. Every new DVD out there and every game as well, goes out of its way to blow your mind with spectacular surround effects. Everything is recorded to overwhelm you with crazy sound effects and immersive sound. These don't even have to be expensive. Your typical 5.1 system (which means five little speakers to surround yourself with and one subwoofer) by Logitech, retails for $65.
There is something that should occur to you when you talk about surround systems – how are you going to wire all those speakers all around your room without tripping over them all the time? Well, that's what wireless speaker systems are for. At least, that's what they say they are for. You'll pay hundreds of dollars for wireless surround computer speakers. If you think that buying wireless actually means wireless, think again. The “wirelessness” only refers to how you don't have to wire each speaker for audio. Each wireless speaker does need its own power source. So you just end up having to wire everything anyway.
And finally, make sure that you check to see that the speakers you buy have ready-built connections for all the different sound sources you might have – RCA, headphone jack and so on.
