Payton H. Wilmott, Gleaner Writer

Nothing tickles my fancy more than music being played at high volume, so loud that you can feel the bass shaking your lungs in your chest as you find it hard to breathe.

When your home-theatre system has that effect, you know that you have an awesome music machine. But not everyone out there knows how to hit the desired decibel level and others just need the basics.

Stage 1: Selecting a sound card

Most persons are looking for a surround-sound system that makes you feel like you're in the movie theatre, while the minority are just looking for computer speakers that will give you the illusion that you are listening to a stereo radio.

If you are a person looking for the former, your best bet is to go with an Encore 7.1 channel sound card whose output will give maximum performance out of a set of surround speakers you can throw at it.

On the other hand, if you are a hunting okayish stereo speakers, you don't need to invest in a sound card because the one built into the PC motherboard is good enough to produce quality sound.

Stage 2: Selecting your weapon of mass destruction

This part is real simple because all you have to do is pick the speaker system that best fits your needs. Lucky for you, folks, we went ahead and tested three surround-sound speaker systems and three stereo-speaker systems.

First, we found that Logitech had the most varied and best-sounding computer speakers. Let's list the top-three speaker systems in each category.

Surround Sound

1. Logitech Z-5500: At the top of this list is this monster that I'm a proud owner of the Logitech Z-5500. This speaker system is worth every dollar and gives you surround sound at the highest quality.

2. Logitech G51: If you can't manage the price tag on the Logitech Z5500, this is certainly the next best thing. It's definitely not as loud as it's big brother but it gets the job done.

3. Logitech X530: This speaker system gives you a little extra than an average surround system would. But for the price you are paying for it, there would be no need to complain.

Stereo Sound

1. Logitech Z Cinema: The big winner in this section is the Logitech Z Cinema, because of its beauty and sound clarity. This little baby produces a quasi-cinema ambience when you're playing movies.

2. Logitech Z2300: Let's have a hand for our first runner-up. The reason why this is second place on the list is because the Logitech Z Cinema looks better and has more functionality, but they are the same when it comes to sound quality.

3. Logitech Z4 - What can I say? It gets the job done for a reasonable price.

Closing thought

Warning: For persons who are going to make the leap and purchase the Logitech Z-5500, make sure you have enough money to pay for your and your neighbour's glass windows when you buck the volume.

The products mentioned in this article were provided courtesy of Royale Computers and Accessories telephone#: 906-1067, 906-1068, and 754-5048.