TomR192 Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I currently have a set of Logitech z-5300 speakers. I think they are pretty good, but the bass does seem a bit boomy at times. I want to upgrade to some higher quality, 2.1 speakers, since they don't require as much room to set up. I had been looking at the Logitech z-2300, the Promedia 2.1, and the iFi. I was looking around and was semi-interested in the z-2300s because of their recent sale price and excellent reviews. However, some reviews mentioned boomy bass, so I decided to check other products. The Promedia 2.1's have gotten great reviews, and I just checked on the iFi's, and some say they are better than the Promedias. Seeing as they are a good price via the eBay store, here are my questions about them: How good is refurbished?How much better are the iFi over the Promedia for gaming, music, and movies? Are they practical to set up as computer speakers? Can I use the iPod dock and the speakers connected to the computer simultaneously? In other words, use the iPod to play through the speakers while the speakers are connected ot the computer.What's the size difference between the Promedias and the iFi? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimman Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 used "untested" speakers at ebay are junks....waste of money my friend tested promedia 2.1 from bestbuy for half an hour, and it sounded great, but i have to say ifi is considerably better than promedia 2.1; however, since both are very good, it's not going to be day and night difference. ifi is smooth not boomy; for music, ifi should be more clear (i am an average joe in the street...not an expert ) since you used z-5300, i would say no worse than the logitech when you set up as a pc speaker yes, you can connect both ipod & pc at same time + one more device ;-)....1 x ipod dock + 2 stereo mini plug-ins (make sure your ipod is compatable with ifi) sat is about same for both klipschs which should be similar to logitech, but the ifi subwoofer is about twice as big (if i remember correctly) as promedia 2.1 you should be able to get a new promedia 2.1 for 140usd or ifi for 250usd if you look harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomR192 Posted April 5, 2006 Author Share Posted April 5, 2006 Actually Klipsch has an official eBay store. They are refurbished and still include a 90-day warranty. Basically, with shipping, the Promedias are $99 and the iFi are $196. Is it still worth 2x as much for them, and is it worth it to go refurbished instead of retail? I read that the satellites for the iFi were substantially better than the Promedia. Also, I believe the sub is 8" instead of 6.5". One of my main concerns about these speakers is gaming. I do a decent amount of gaming, although I also listen to music and watch movies. Would these speakers be good for games? (I have an Audigy 2 ZS, btw) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BobG Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 The improvement from the PM 2.1 satellite to the iFi satellite is very very big. For music and movies this will translate to much clearer, cleaner vocals and high frequency details. As noted in the post above, the sub is also a significant upgrade from 2.1 to iFi though the 2.1 sub is pretty nice to start. Regarding gaming, the better sounding product will always deliver better performance. Many of the multimedia speaker systems on the market have little in the way of midrange and high frequency accuracy and have very boomy bass. Going to a more accurate system will let you hear all the quality in the game audio tracks - there is a lot to hear. iFi has two additional inputs other than the iPod connector. One is on the back of the dock and the other is on the sub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voxr3m Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 The improvement from the PM 2.1 satellite to the iFi satellite is very very big. For music and movies this will translate to much clearer, cleaner vocals and high frequency details. As noted in the post above, the sub is also a significant upgrade from 2.1 to iFi though the 2.1 sub is pretty nice to start. Regarding gaming, the better sounding product will always deliver better performance. Many of the multimedia speaker systems on the market have little in the way of midrange and high frequency accuracy and have very boomy bass. Going to a more accurate system will let you hear all the quality in the game audio tracks - there is a lot to hear. iFi has two additional inputs other than the iPod connector. One is on the back of the dock and the other is on the sub. Exactly. At one point I owned the klipsch GMX 2.1A, Promedia 5.1 Ultras, and the Klipsch IFI all atthe same time. I made side by side comparisons with them all. The IFI is better quality wise. No doubt about that. You'll find that your music is more open and the mids more pronounced. The difference is like night and day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I have posted my comments on the ifi as I brought the refurbished, just look back on the ifi section. Basically new, I could not tell apart from new and refurbished. And I opened a new one up when I worked at a retail store to set them for display. The ultra I find as posted in the promedia section I believe or the ifi section has more in your face then the ifi. I have the ultra and ifi and sws subwoofer The 8 inch woofer of the ifi is I would say cleaner and better low end then the ultras which are more boomy and not as deep. I mean the ultra will win the spl and the ifi uses the nearly the same woofer as quoted by andy from klipsch but he says the ifi sub has something more.... he would not elaborate but since the ifi woofer is in a bigger enclosure 75% of the ultra it should go deeper. But the IfI is definitely worth it. Much better designed speakers, more rigid, better looks, better design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomR192 Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 Thanks for all the replies! Does the iFi sound the same when playing either from the iPod or from the computer via line in? I thought I saw someone who said playing the iPod sounded better. Can you crank up the bass when playing games and put it back for music/movies? I know this makes it less accurate, but games are always fun with lots of bass[] Does sitting close to the speakers (using them as desktop speakers) degrade sound quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I find the soundcard better sound then the ipod due to better DAC since the iPod is smaller there are compromises Yes the bass is adjustable I believe 6db+ or - You can actually play the ipod and the computer as long as you hook up from the back, on the control pod you only get sound from there. well not really, but it sounds best to me starting at 6 feet away but I mostly listen to music at my desk, it just opens up after a few more feet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomR192 Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 I really appreciate all the help so far. I think I might get these from Klipsch's eBay store. Unfortunately, I checked several local stores to at least see the speakers, but the only one who had it was CompUSA and they didn't have it set up. What are the dimensions of the satellites and sub? Are they a good size for a dorm (to use mainly as computer speakers but also for the iPod capability)? Also, how do these speakers connect to the computer? My current set of z-5300s have 3 connections: front, rear, and sub/center. Where do I plug the iFi's into my soundcard? If there's only 1 connection, does the iFi automatically adjust and send lower frequencies to the sub? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 you need to buy a 1/8 mini stereo male to male jack like the headphone ones the logitech has, or you can just use the one the logitech gave you. The ifi does redirect your lower frequencies to the sub. It is integrated to the sub The satellites are a fair size and the sub for a dorm room, heck I have the ifi, the ultra, a sws, and a altec ada 885 all in the same room. Next week I will have a pair of rf-83 [] seriously all in the same room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomR192 Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 Sorry to bring up an (almost) dead topic [] Out of curiosity, how would the iFi's sound quality compare to the Philips FWC788 minisystem? I know nobody here probably has it, but I bought it a few years ago and was wondering how it compared to the iFi. The specs are on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006ANYF/103-6148277-8955848 and the manual containing more data is also on the page. The manual has some frequency responses listed on page 26, but I'm a bit confused on them, since several are listed. Anyone have an idea of how it would compare, just by seeing the numbers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry1 Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Sorry to bring up an (almost) dead topic [] Out of curiosity, how would the iFi's sound quality compare to the Philips FWC788 minisystem? I know nobody here probably has it, but I bought it a few years ago and was wondering how it compared to the iFi. The specs are on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006ANYF/103-6148277-8955848 and the manual containing more data is also on the page. The manual has some frequency responses listed on page 26, but I'm a bit confused on them, since several are listed. Anyone have an idea of how it would compare, just by seeing the numbers? The Phillips doc doesn't list anything for the speakers other then say they are 6 ohm 3-way bass reflex, but the amp has a frequency response of 50hz to 20Khz +/- 3 db with 2 x 140 watts RMS. The iFi has a 27 Hz to 20 Khz response and conservative rating of 2 X 50 watts RMS for RSX-3 sat's and 100 watts RMS for 8" tuned subwoofer. Judging the the 3 way bass-reflex design uses a 6 1/2 woofer and 2" midrange 1" tweeter I would say this speaker probably has moderate bass output, doesn't have a very good mid range response, but would have very bright sound (stronger high's). The iFi would have deeper bass and much better midrange because of the 3 1/2" woofer/midrange 3/4" horn tweeter design in RSX-3 sat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc3sean Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I have the same phillips system, just minus the woox, i have the c550, when compared to my Pm 2.1's i would say the bass on the c550's is really boomy, and the subs reach excur. really fast, the PM2.1's mids/highs are alot more clearer as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 I would not even ask myself questions,the iFi is so clearly superior to the ProMedia 2.1 is not even close. The sats of the iFi are a full step up in quality,less coloration and more revealing.Uisng much higher qyality components. The subwoofer,we are comparing a more powerful,more extended down deep unit.A 8" woofer similar to the one used in the 5.1Ultra against a 6.5" woofer. The math is clear here. Even if you do not have an iPod now the iFi makes a great PC speaker system.The ideal combination for those who listen to music,and even play games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thxsubwoofers Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 In my opinion I would say go with the iFi. It has much cleaner sound + the subwoofer can go deep. If your not into logitech "SPL" or "Boomy bass", than the iFi is the best solution. The pm 2.1's in the other hand are still no match against the ifi even tho its THX certified.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc3sean Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 eh thxsubwoofers i got a vid of my ifi's on the realmofexucsion site, but ima upload another one of some bass sweeps 25-150hz, do they add that thing at the end, not the logo, the sound clip "check this out" if they liked the video? BTW everyone, great site! http://realmofexcursion.com/videos.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 why did you mislabel the ifi as a rw8? also you must have not broken it in all the way, I have been able to move it much more with some 32 hertz sine waves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thxsubwoofers Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 eh thxsubwoofers i got a vid of my ifi's on the realmofexucsion site, but ima upload another one of some bass sweeps 25-150hz, do they add that thing at the end, not the logo, the sound clip "check this out" if they liked the video? BTW everyone, great site! http://realmofexcursion.com/videos.html Yups, I have seen it. I just need to download it to my regular computer at home and save it with the rest of my subwoofer video clips.[] I think my next video clips would be a free-air one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc3sean Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 oops. my bad. Well, what should i name the driver as? A Ifi subwoofer driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc3sean Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 and i think ive broken mine in, i was palying some 20hz sines waves a second ago, how much is the xmax on the Ifi sub ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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