Sound card vs speakers

[boo]

at high levels of volume, my speakers are distorting.
this is of course to be expected

how do i find out whether it is the onboard sound or the speakers that are the limiting factor (bottleneck)?

any help would be greatly appreciated of course
thanks

[Calum]

The easiest way would be to change the speakers or sound card, to see which makes the problem go away.
It could also be the files you're playing, they may be encoded at a low quality which might make them distort.

[boo]

i will compare songs with different bit rates to see what i get

is there no way to somehow compare the power output of my onboard sound card and the speaker output?

[boo]

the main problem is that i cant afford just to buy a soundcard/speakers just to test them

[Calum]

is there no way to somehow compare the power output of my onboard sound card and the speaker output?

I'm not sure, myself, but maybe someone else has an idea.

What speakers do you have?

Understood on not spending money on a new sound card or speakers, I was thinking of you borrowing them, rather than buying some.

[boo]

i have the altec lansing VS3251 speakers and an ASUS P5N-E SLI MOBO's onboard audio

[boo]

and i dont know anyone who has a good sound card or speakers so....