Confused about iMac placement ... really need suggestion please?

[iSayuSay]

Yea .. the title may sounds silly .. but really, I have dilemma about where and how should I place my iMac later. I'm still waiting for my BTO iMac (27" with i7 and 2Gb VRAM) to come.

Right now in my home, I have 2 options to place my iMac, and I cant decide which is best, please help and give suggestion/comment? Here are the alternatives:

1. Place my iMac in my bedroom:

I have decent receiver (Marantz SR5003) along with mixed speaker + subwoofers already for movie watching or gaming on my PS3, along with 50" plasma. I can place iMac in my room, just beside my chair, add another table and chair.

Then get myself 3.5mm to optical converter, plug it on my receiver, and I'm ready to go, enjoy the digital output audio of my iMac. But the iMac position is not symmetric this way. My chair is in the middle, perfect position on my home theater system, while my iMac stuck beside the chair.

OR

2. Place my iMac in my study/working room:

Hmmm .. this room is kinda embarassing, I only have old pc (Pentium4 Prescott) where I'm typing now, and this is the one I'd replace with the new iMac :sad: .. but here .. I already have myself decent table and chair to place my new shiny iMac

Now I don't have good speaker to start in this room. I'm thinking of getting myself Multimedia speaker with 5.1 .. onboard DTS/DD encoder -and optical input of course - to be plugged into my iMac, again .. using 3.5mm to optical cable.

Drawback is, I'll spend more compared to 1st alternatives, right? Considering this kind of speakers don't come cheap. I already searched and searched, all I can find for this kind of multimedia speakers (or most of them at least) is Logitech Z5500 or Z906 at cost around $300.


Apart from the options, I'd like some suggestion about speaker alternative. Are there any alternative brand, type, and price range of multimedia speakers that has equal/better capabilities than Logitech I mention above? <--- Please suggest this also

Please .. vote, suggest and comment

 

[John T]

In my opinion, regarding the iMacs from the mid 2009 models and their occasional "problems" with dust getting behind the glass faceplate, the bedroom is the absolute worst place. Simply because the bedroom is the most dusty room in the home.

 

[iSayuSay]

In my opinion, regarding the iMacs from the mid 2009 models and their occasional "problems" with dust getting behind the glass faceplate, the bedroom is the absolute worst place. Simply because the bedroom is the most dusty room in the home.

Thanks for the first reply, I'll consider it. Do you have suggestion for multimedia speakers?

1. Having onboard DTS/DD decoder
2. Having coaxial/optical input
3. Sounds good ...

I know it may not sound as good as dedicated theater system, but yeah, please suggest if you have one

 

[gnasher729]

Drawback is, I'll spend more compared to 1st alternatives, right? Considering this kind of speakers don't come cheap. I already searched and searched, all I can find for this kind of multimedia speakers (or most of them at least) is Logitech Z5500 or Z906 at cost around $300.

Grado SR60i headphones for $80 - sound ten times better than cheap $300 speakers.

 

[iSayuSay]

Grado SR60i headphones for $80 - sound ten times better than cheap $300 speakers.

Thank you for alternative .. $80 is sure a lot of saving, hmmm but I'm inclined on using my iMac for theater purpose rather than pure or stereo music experience, although I'm kinda audiophile too, not that hardcore though

 

[Georgio]

Take some photos for proposal 1 & 2.
I would say people would be able to judge better if they can see the actual locations.

 

[roland.g]

First off, if you want suggestions, post pics of the two options to give us a visual idea.

Second, bedroom is always a bad idea. Study area is always better.

Third, get an Airport Express to allow for AirTunes/Airplay or an Apple TV, either way you can stream music to your stereo from your iMac. And this way you might be ok with the built in speakers for at computer use, and use the stereo for what is it meant for.

Personally, I don't listen to music much from my computer. I have some Cambridge PCWorks satellites/sub connected to my old 24" iMac which has way inferior speakers to the current iMacs. But most of my/our music listening is through the stereo connected via Apple TV and/or in the backyard with a pair of Logitech Bookshelf speakers connected to an Airport Express. Lots of times I have music playing from all three speakers at once, the beauty of Airplay/AirTunes so that as you move through the house and into the backyard, the music is continuous.