Attaching amplifier to computer audio

[Happily1986]

has anyone tried attaching a class AB amplifier to non amplified speakers?

 

the flow diagram is as follows,

 

computer line out> amplifier> unpowered speakers.

 

wonder what is the difference like? my understanding is that the difference here with the conventional arrangement of using speaker out is where amplification is done. either in the subwoofer amplifier circuitry or the amplifier.

 

thanks

[Verve]

yes much better sound, caveat unless your idea of goodsound is wow effect speaker boombox cinema

 

easy just connect rcas from pc - audio out get the 3.5 mm jack to the normal rca type and connect to the amp aux - if not available to tape will also do just fine.

[Happily1986]

sorry i just realised i posted this thread in the wrong section. some kind mod please help me shift it to where it should be.

 

hmmm. i am thinking of using an amplifier to power a 3.1 setup. am insistent on a centre speaker due to the fact that i frequently watch movies on my computer. i especially crave aural spatial differentation even minutiae nuances so definitely a centre speaker is my thing.

 

so if i do a line out, what happens to the inbuilt amplifier of the subwoofer? normally subwoofers have the amplifier circuitry right?

 

thanks.

[Jim]

  On 3/24/2012 at 8:53 AM, Happily1986 said:

sorry i just realised i posted this thread in the wrong section. some kind mod please help me shift it to where it should be.

 

hmmm. i am thinking of using an amplifier to power a 3.1 setup. am insistent on a centre speaker due to the fact that i frequently watch movies on my computer. i especially crave aural spatial differentation even minutiae nuances so definitely a centre speaker is my thing.

 

so if i do a line out, what happens to the inbuilt amplifier of the subwoofer? normally subwoofers have the amplifier circuitry right?

 

thanks.

 

If I understand you correctly, you should plug the LR Centre lines to the amp while the subwoofer line should go directly to an active subwoofer. I am too lazy so I just bought a Denon receiver and let it sort it out for me.

 

That said, my HTS set up is just LR Centre because my bookshelf wharfdales pack enough kick already and I dont really want to rattle my neighbours. The Centre is very important though, if you want to hear conversations clearly without cranking up the volume.

[Adilshaheen]

It is easy to connect your computer audio to an amplifier. Plug in its "audio out" jack. This will bypass the computer's speakers and will start using the amplifier's speakers. With the right audio cable, this task is not difficult to complete.

[Happily1986]

  On 3/24/2012 at 9:27 AM, Jim said:

If I understand you correctly, you should plug the LR Centre lines to the amp while the subwoofer line should go directly to an active subwoofer. I am too lazy so I just bought a Denon receiver and let it sort it out for me.

 

That said, my HTS set up is just LR Centre because my bookshelf wharfdales pack enough kick already and I dont really want to rattle my neighbours. The Centre is very important though, if you want to hear conversations clearly without cranking up the volume.

 

a receiver as an intermediary between the line out and the amplifier set top? is that overkill for a computer setup?

 

spot on about the centre speaker. i actually used srs audio sandbox to enhance the audio output of my speaker setup. i was thinking how else i could do to make the centre speaker achieve a longer throw so that 3d wise, the central channel is literally in your face. maybe the external amplifier could help do that.

[Mustank]

  On 3/24/2012 at 8:22 AM, Happily1986 said:

has anyone tried attaching a class AB amplifier to non amplified speakers?

 

the flow diagram is as follows,

 

computer line out> amplifier> unpowered speakers.

 

wonder what is the difference like? my understanding is that the difference here with the conventional arrangement of using speaker out is where amplification is done. either in the subwoofer amplifier circuitry or the amplifier.

 

thanks

 

buy the sonic gear armegadon a7 120$ only. blast quite power

 

http://mysonicgear.com/multimedia-speaker/...geddon-ultra-a7

[Fastfive1]

  On 3/24/2012 at 8:22 AM, Happily1986 said:

has anyone tried attaching a class AB amplifier to non amplified speakers?

 

the flow diagram is as follows,

 

computer line out> amplifier> unpowered speakers.

 

wonder what is the difference like? my understanding is that the difference here with the conventional arrangement of using speaker out is where amplification is done. either in the subwoofer amplifier circuitry or the amplifier.

 

thanks

 

The sound is way better.

I do that sometimes when i wanna blast some tunes at home.

I've got a few unused speakers and amps (from actual HiFi with floor standing speakers right down to a car amp and a car Head Unit) so i use whichever is easier to set up.

[Mllcg]

  On 3/24/2012 at 11:29 AM, Fastfive1 said:

The sound is way better.

I do that sometimes when i wanna blast some tunes at home.

I've got a few unused speakers and amps (from actual HiFi with floor standing speakers right down to a car amp and a car Head Unit) so i use whichever is easier to set up.

 

donate me some.

[Fastfive1]

  On 3/24/2012 at 12:38 PM, Mllcg said:

donate me some.

 

Haha every time ask for free stuff. I already donated a pair of shoes to you.

Besides a pair of car speakers can be had for less than 50 bucks if you go to mustafa.

Anyway you gonna change your car's speakers or are there a whole lot of stuff you have yet to change like your clutch, etc?

[Happily1986]

ok here is what i understand. My left/right and centre speakers are passive so i think i can reuse them and drive them using the amplifier (whichever i am going to lay my hands on). How about the subwoofer unit? It is active so it is definitely not possible to attach out to the amplifier. However i have read of people saying that it is intended for users to attach the subwoofer to the pre outs? is this right? I am not going to get a receiver, that will be overkill for a computer setup.

 

Please recommend a decent amplifier too. I am surprised that amplifiers can come in very affordable costs. I am not quite sure what are the parameters to consider intently before procuring one. If you would like to share, please do. Thanks

[Ben5266]

  On 3/26/2012 at 5:15 AM, Happily1986 said:

ok here is what i understand. My left/right and centre speakers are passive so i think i can reuse them and drive them using the amplifier (whichever i am going to lay my hands on). How about the subwoofer unit? It is active so it is definitely not possible to attach out to the amplifier. However i have read of people saying that it is intended for users to attach the subwoofer to the pre outs? is this right? I am not going to get a receiver, that will be overkill for a computer setup.

 

Please recommend a decent amplifier too. I am surprised that amplifiers can come in very affordable costs. I am not quite sure what are the parameters to consider intently before procuring one. If you would like to share, please do. Thanks

The amp must match your existing speaker. You need to find out the Watt and the omh of the speakers before deciding the amp. Cheap amp might not have anough power (W) to drive the speakers.

A receiver is simply an amp + radio.

A good amp will comes with pre-out for us to connect active sub-woofer.

A pre-amp is to connect several source to 1 set of speaker.

If you are using good speakers with good amp, you don't really need a center speaker. The speakers will project the sound as though it is from the center.

[Happily1986]

  On 3/26/2012 at 6:29 AM, Ben5266 said:

The amp must match your existing speaker. You need to find out the Watt and the omh of the speakers before deciding the amp. Cheap amp might not have anough power (W) to drive the speakers.

A receiver is simply an amp + radio.

A good amp will comes with pre-out for us to connect active sub-woofer.

A pre-amp is to connect several source to 1 set of speaker.

If you are using good speakers with good amp, you don't really need a center speaker. The speakers will project the sound as though it is from the center.

 

thanks for replying. yes, spatial wise, i can feel that the sound is projected from the centre. i think the 3.1 with the additional centre speaker might have helped. To be fair, i have tuned the setup to be fairly good already. At least my friend who is a self professed audiophile was impressed. What i am yearning now is for a longer throw from the centre speaker. I am also a sucker for binaural audio effects.

 

All this trouble of getting an external third party to drive the speakers, i am really wondering is there a practical difference with my current setup.

 

I use the following tracks to test my setup.

 

1.) Hotel California

2.) Don't Know Why

3.) Carribean Blue

4.) Billie Jean

 

All tracks are FLAC high bit rate sampled at CD quality 44.1 khz.

 

btw my speakers only have frequency response from 40 hz to 20khz. Is that bad? ideally we should aim for 20 hz to 20 khz?

 

Thanks

Edited March 26, 2012 by Happily1986

[Escksu]

Yes, I have. Connection like this:

 

Computer -> AV Receiver -> Speakers.

 

The sound is much better compared to tiny speakers. Play games more shiok!!

 

But is your integrated amp? Power amp? AV Amp???

[Happily1986]

  On 3/26/2012 at 8:19 AM, Escksu said:

Yes, I have. Connection like this:

 

Computer -> AV Receiver -> Speakers.

 

The sound is much better compared to tiny speakers. Play games more shiok!!

 

But is your integrated amp? Power amp? AV Amp???

 

i am looking at amplifiers like this one.

 

Pyle

 

[Ben5266]

freq response 40Hz-20kHz is what the speaker could handle. Going down to 20Hz is not necessary mean better. It might compromise low end or high end quality. Since you have a subwoofer, it will take care of the low freq.

 

But where are you going to connect your center speaker to? You computer already has 5.1 channels out?

 

 

[Happily1986]

  On 3/26/2012 at 9:39 AM, Ben5266 said:

freq response 40Hz-20kHz is what the speaker could handle. Going down to 20Hz is not necessary mean better. It might compromise low end or high end quality. Since you have a subwoofer, it will take care of the low freq.

 

But where are you going to connect your center speaker to? You computer already has 5.1 channels out?

 

Indeed. Do you set a crossover frequency or leave it be?

 

currently the subwoofer is plugged direct to the computer and it does the amplification and drives the satellite speakers from there. It is originally a 5.1 but i removed the rear speakers because i found rear speakers to be lame.

 

The satellite speakers are passive speakers with RCA plugs so i think they should be fuss free in connecting to a third party amplifier console.

[Ben5266]

  On 3/26/2012 at 9:45 AM, Happily1986 said:

Indeed. Do you set a crossover frequency or leave it be?

 

currently the subwoofer is plugged direct to the computer and it does the amplification and drives the satellite speakers from there. It is originally a 5.1 but i removed the rear speakers because i found rear speakers to be lame.

 

The satellite speakers are passive speakers with RCA plugs so i think they should be fuss free in connecting to a third party amplifier console.

Mine is different. I am using active speaker from Yahama. It has output to another Yamaha's subwoofer.

Also tried, connect PC out to mini Hifi. Sound more sweater.

I am not sure of your model/make and assume, satellite speakers are usually having small power. So, having a dedicated amp to drive the speaker might not improve much.

 

I would suggest you get a pair of shelf speaker (kef or dali etc) and a plain vanilla power amp to drive them. Heaven!