Are computers replacing the need for a stereo?

Question

I have heard Bose small stereos are pretty good. I dont know if they even make many stereos anymore. Maybe it is better to get some nice speakers for my laptop and just play songs off of it? is this a good idea?

Answer 1

yes they are. also applies to home cinema

Answer 2

I have an analogue system and some well kept vinyl, some over 20 years old. My total system would today cost about £1000 and in reality just deserves the label hI-fi, a much abused term if ever there was one. I know a Hi-Fi shop where one of the staff is a highly qualified ex designer of reference speakers. You are talking some £50,000 a pair. I asked him was it possible to equal the quality of my system with a CD player on classical music. He said I could if I spent £6000 on a Naim CD player. Evidently digital sound simply does not cover the whole frequency of the human ear, however good. He then demoed a pair of very well respected £800 speakers on analogue. The sound was clearly distorted compared with real life. He smiled at me and said it was quite deliberate, because many people wanted certain aspects of sound exagerrated and never mind the music. Believe me a specialist hi-fi shop will help you get a lot better sound for your money than any non specialists stack system can offer.

Answer 3

Many would say digital music storage and playing music from your computer has already surpassed the old method of having a separate dvd and tape player and it has also surpassed any need to store compact discs, vinyl records or cassettes.

Many people who had vinyl records and cassette tapes digitally converted them so they could play them on their Ipods and what not.

This is why the record industry is so upset. They did nothing to appease the changing format tastes of the public and couldn't see that people didn't want hoards of compact discs laying around, so the public took it upon themselves with a little help from the computer industry to change the game. Shawn Fanning should be applauded, not disdained. The record industry claims that electronic music singles produce a fraction of profit of what compact discs do. I think this is hogwash, because compact discs aren't selling at a formidable degree. And tough twinkies to the recording industry, they should have seen it coming. They did nothing, so the public and other industries did something about their complacency.

I know several people who have special speakers systems in their house that accomodate IPODS, but you'll find no DVD player and no cassette players in their house. An occasional phonograph is found so people can play those oldies but goodies, otherwise DMP's are definitely the way to go.

Many automobile manufacturers have also formatted their cars to accomodate IPODS

Answer 4

Worst case scenario
Load a cd in the drive and it gets ripped at 8 times speed doesnt bother correcting errors and then gets mangled into mp3 format at a low sample rate. Then it gets played, through a cheap sound card with electrical interference all around powered by a crappy switch mode psu, goes into a £5 amplifier and heard through £1 speaker cones. What emerges is noise, not music, no dynamics , no rythm no timing, you may find yourself loosing interest in music (because the life has been destroyed).

If you want to hear music, and lets face it, it is one of lifes main pleasures, get along to a hifi dealer. Real HiFi does cost money but it's worth paying for. The old music centres of the 70's and 80's which often had worthwhile amps and speakers did music much better service than the micro (hifis?) we get today.

Spend car money on hifi, it doesnt rust and gives more pleasure.

Answer 5

It all depends on what you want.

If you want convenience and ease of access, you'll play your music on a computer.
If you want high quality sound, you'll play your music on a dedicated hi-fi system.

No matter what anyone believes, the truth is simple - music played through a computer sounds lousy. The CD drive and speakers are designed to produce sounds (games effects, etc) and shunt data around, NOT to play music.

It's like trying to go offroading in a Ford Ka - you could do it, it's just so much better in a Land Rover.
You could play music through a computer, it's just so much better through a hi-fi.

If you ever get the chance to put a £1,000 PC back-to-back against a £1,000 hi-fi system, do it - and you'll hear that I'm right!

Oh, and don't buy anything from Bose. They sound lousy, too...

Answer 6

At the end of the day, manufacturers dictate what technology we have access to. Audiophiles say that the sound from a Tube Amp, is better than from IC technology. MOSFET class IC Technology is better than normal FET amp technology, Vinyl is better than CD, CD is better than MP3, MP3 is better than AAC, AAC is better than WAV!. At the end of the day, it is all about profit and how gullible the public is. If a manufacturer can sell you a "Life Style" based on a product, then they are very happy indeed. I own a Technics MOSFET class AA amp and the sound out of my iPod is fantastic through it. I also own a Pioneer 5.1 channel AV amp, which sounds pretty good with the iPod(but not as good).I would love to own a Tube amp, but this is still a dream.

Some years ago I had the fortune of a short trip to Jersey and I visited a shop full of true Audiophile equipment owned by a bloke called Michael Cheasel. He sat me down in front of a system which cost £30,000+ and consisted of a CD player, a separate PSU and two Speakers with integrated amps and dedicated DAC, all connected by Optical link. I personally heard sounds from Enigma that did not exist on any of my systems!

In short, If you are happy with progress, then go with it. If not, stick with the old and don't bother with the new. Someone will still cater for your taste in 10-15 years as per the Vinyl Luddites!

I use a mixture of all of the best and ignore the worst. Just like I encode MP3's using Windows media player at 320kbps as iTunes can only handle @ 190kbps. As my iPod plays at 320kbps and is as near CD quality as doesn't matter its almost perfect.

Bose systems are overpriced but sound awsome. Anyone who says otherwise is either deaf or just could not afford one and is just trying to convice themselves that they are cr4p anyway!
Over Christmas, I single handedly sold at least two Bose Sound Dock for iPod just from playing my own tunes on one in Currys!

My system consists of 42in LG HD Plasma TV, Samsung upscaling hdmi DVD player, Pioneer 5.1 Amp Technics CD Player, full set (5) Mission speakers including Floorstanders, Wall mounted rears and Wall mounted Centre speaker for general TV/Stereo use.
30gig iPod Video, Technics MOSS Class AA 2 Channel Amp, Technics CD player and Mission Monitor Speakers for playing Tunes.

Answer 7

bose still make the best lifestyle stereos but you can now get a bose 5.1 set up for your pc but more to the point are mobile phones taking over from pc now
do you need a pc really
replying on my phone lol

Answer 8

Not for me. I listen to my radio when I'm on here. I'm not into installing sound cards on my PC. I'd say the TV has less use for me than the stereo.

Answer 9

Yes, but I still use my stereo all the time

Answer 10

thats a good idea but try and buy a computer speaker good one or buy bose computer speakers
bose speakers for computer are a simply superb products with computer sound card and works perfectly there is no challenge with them they are a class of its own

Answer 11

My 5.1 Sony system just act as an amplifier these days. I mean, it has a DVD (so CD as well) reader, a VHS player, radio and TV tuners, but I don't use them anymore. Everything is coming from my computer's harddrive (MP3, DIVX), DVD ROM or the broadband...