[FuriousFred]

Hi,


I'm planning on upgrading my PC speakers to a pair of bookshelf speakers for music/gaming, and have decided from some research that the S-520 is the best value budget speakers there are. I saw a second-hand S-520 from a guy on canuckaudiomart.com selling his and at $375 CAN it seems like a steal. He also lives right next to my city (I live in Mississauga, he lives in Hamilton). I have not checked out the official price from a dealership yet here though, they don't have any prices listed on their website, so I'm not sure what to expect from retail prices. I only know from reviews listed they are at around $400 US from the manufacturer. If anybody has bought these speakers before firsthand in US or Canada I'd like to inquire about that, and whether it would be better just to buy new instead.


However, I read that speakers like these need to be powered by an amplifier. But it seems that receivers can do the same thing? If that is the case I am looking to pair these speakers up with an approximately $200 CAN receiver, nothing fancy really since they're just for playing audio and I'd like to have the ability to adjust the volume from the receiver (as opposed to just an amplifier). If there are reasons otherwise to pair it up with a higher quality receiver please advise.


Finally, once I have both the receiver and the speakers, what exactly do I need to hook them up. I saw there were 4 jacks on the back of the S-520s. I've only used computer speakers before, so I have no idea why there are so many jacks for just one speaker. (Afraid that when I have everything and then realize I need more "something" to use the speakers.)


I'm really looking forward to using professional speakers. Last time I went into Futureshop and checked out the Logitech and Bose speakers they didn't really sound all that great.

 

[FuriousFred]

bump for help

 

[bugs26]

Hi Furious Fred and welcome to the forum!


I am still somewhat of a novice at all of this audio stuff, but I thoght I may be able to help you out a little bit.


I have a pair of S-520s that I use with music from my computer as well. You're going to love these speakers as they sound great!


I think that a receiver would be adequate for what you want to do with them. The receiver will have it's own amplifier built in, so that will be taken care of. basicaly, you just need something that provides power for the speakers and provides you with a way to connect your source. You could do that with a preamp and amplifier, an integrated amplifier or a receiver. I'm currently using a Harman Kardon receiver with the capability of outputting 55 watts/channel with my Ushers and it works beautifully. There are some who believe that the speakers sound better with more power and that is where a discrete amplifier might help out. I have been more than happy jsu using the receiver in my case.


As for the 4 posts on the back of the speaker, this gives you the ability to biamp/biwire the speakers. I believe that this would allow for providing separate power for driving the highs and the lows (i.e. tweeter and woofer). From what I gather, there is quite a bit of debate over whether this gives you better sound or not. Maybe someone else that has more experience with this can chime in (or there is quite a bit of info if you search the forum). The speakers actually come with jumpers that connect the 2 sets of binding posts, so you can just connect your receiver to one set. this is how mine are set up and, again, they sound great to me. Basically, all you really need to hook them up to the receiver is some speaker wire.


Hopefully this helps to answer some of your questions.

 

[FuriousFred]

OK!


So it looks like everything sets then. I just need to wait until tomorrow when everything opens up again and phone the dealership in Toronto about the retail price of a new pair, decide whether I want new or second-hand, then buy a receiver and hook them up! I am still unsure about what you mean by the binding posts on the back of the speakers though. Do I need to connect all four of those jacks, or do I just need to connect 2 of them, or just one? This is a sincere question as I have no experience playing around with these sorts of speakers.

 

[bugs26]

You'll only need to connect up one set of posts to your speaker wire. A set is 1 red and 1 black post. I have my wires connected to the bottom set. When you purchase the speakers, they should have a metal "jumper" that is connected between the 2 red and then another between the 2 black and this precludes the need to connect to more than one set of posts.

 

[FuriousFred]

I was just watching youtube looking up people's setup. Do these speakers need their own stands (as I've seen them on vids) or is it ok to place them on the desk beside my LCDs? (I have two 22")