Using home speakers on a pc?

[cor302]

I have a pc in the garage that I want to play mucis on to the backyard. I will control it from the office by VNC. I have a set of outdoor speakers. Do they make some kind of adapter so that I can use the speaker wire in the the sound card of the pc? I already have the wire ran from the back porch to the garage. Or is there a certain connector that I need to splice so that it will work. From what I have read I will also need an amp to power the speakers, is that true?

[JJs89lx]

[QUOTE=cor302]I have a pc in the garage that I want to play mucis on to the backyard. I will control it from the office by VNC. I have a set of outdoor speakers. Do they make some kind of adapter so that I can use the speaker wire in the the sound card of the pc? I already have the wire ran from the back porch to the garage. Or is there a certain connector that I need to splice so that it will work. From what I have read I will also need an amp to power the speakers, is that true?[/QUOTE]


They make a fitting the plugs into the sound card and then splits into the Aux cords (red and white) I'm using a cheap 5.1 surround sound for computer speakers... Sounds decent..... When I had it connected to the surround sound for my TV it sounded Amazingly nice.


I don't think a computer sound card puts out enough power to make a speaker run or let alone sound good in less you have a high dollar sound card You gonna have to have an amp or some type of way to power the speaker.

I'd buy a cheap surround sound from wal-mart and the adapter and run it into the surround sound and just hook your out door speakers up to that. ?

[cor302]

I want to have the ability to control it from a pc in the house. I already have a 5.1 system in the house. I am trying to find a chap way to power two outdoor speakers from a pc. I don't want to have to go in the garage to change songs or the volume.

[jakesford]

a sound card doesn't put out a high enough signal to directly power speakers like that. Your best bet is to use an amp to power the speakers with the sound card providing the signal to the amp. They make a 3.5mm jack to RCA adapter so it should be pretty easy :cool:

[cor302]

[QUOTE=jakesford]a sound card doesn't put out a high enough signal to directly power speakers like that. Your best bet is to use an amp to power the speakers with the sound card providing the signal to the amp. They make a 3.5mm jack to RCA adapter so it should be pretty easy :cool:[/QUOTE]
What kind of amp do you suggest? Is there a pretty cheap one out there? Thanks for the help

[Stang2be]

I've done this using an old old stereo amplifier. Its the age that its all silver. I run the output of the sound card into the audio input on the amp. I was using it briefly to push a 10" sub in a bandpass box and I'm using the same amp this weekend at our block party to push a pair of old 15" 3 way Fisher home speakers.

Its about the same size as a stereo reciever but its got a built in eq and I got it free.

I'm just going to feed the audio via an mp3 player but similar idea.

Something like this would work or just check craigslist for an old stereo reciver or pro logic that someone is getting rid of.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-ELITE-M-91-stereo-power-amplifier-great-cond_W0QQitemZ280162281090QQihZ018QQcategoryZ14981QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[jakesford]

[QUOTE=Stang2be]I've done this using an old old stereo amplifier. Its the age that its all silver. I run the output of the sound card into the audio input on the amp. I was using it briefly to push a 10" sub in a bandpass box and I'm using the same amp this weekend at our block party to push a pair of old 15" 3 way Fisher home speakers.

Its about the same size as a stereo reciever but its got a built in eq and I got it free.

I'm just going to feed the audio via an mp3 player but similar idea.

Something like this would work or just check craigslist for an old stereo reciver or pro logic that someone is getting rid of.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-ELITE-M-91-stereo-power-amplifier-great-cond_W0QQitemZ280162281090QQihZ018QQcategoryZ14981QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/QUOTE]

yeah that would be perfect, you should be able to find something really cheap no problem :cool:

[cor302]

[QUOTE=jakesford]yeah that would be perfect, you should be able to find something really cheap no problem :cool:[/QUOTE]
The shipping on that is 100.00. Thats a little more than I want to spend. I might hit up a pawn shop this weekend.

[ceyko]

[QUOTE=cor302]The shipping on that is 100.00. Thats a little more than I want to spend. I might hit up a pawn shop this weekend.[/QUOTE]

I never personally find good deals at pawn shops. I look at sticker and even if I thought they'd take 50% off it still does not look like a good deal half the time for some beat up turd.

[NeedleSharp]

x2 for pawn shops

what kind of reciever are you talking about and how far is it located from your backyard? i know with my reciever, it has a/b outputs so i can actually set up my 5.1 in my living room into one set of outputs on reciever and ONLY hear the speakers inside, and press a button and listen to only the outside speakers... cool shit. your computer would connect to your AUX input on your reciever via a RCA to 1/8 inch (minijack) cable. cable costs about $10 for a decent one at radio shack

if your reciever doesnt have this feature, you could sell your current and upgrade OR you can use a speaker selector/switch and have channel one with ur surround sound and channel 2 with your outdoor. pm me if you need help with this OR anyone feel free to post anything they could find like this that is cheap... all i could find is expensive HDMI combo switched that are $100+... radioshack used to sell just the audio switches but i havent seen them lately.

[stacy532]

I have a sherwood pos receiver with polk audio 5.25" bookshelf speakers and a 10 audiosource powered sub my pc has the front little audio out jack and all I have coming out is the wire that looks like a headphone jack with two rca jacks coming off of it ... ;)

[hndaklr]

i'm sure you could find a cheap sony receiver at best buy or circuit city for just under $100. Then get a 1/8 to aux ( red white ) cable to go from the sound card to the receiver.

[ram57ta]

If you want a stereo that I was using for that specific purpose in my garage come get it. Its an early 90's Pioneer mini component that probably has about 40 watts x2. Has a built in logic dual cassette deck with dolby but it needs new belts, also has like 6 EQ settings, a built in CD player that works, an am/fm tuner, and an aux input. I even still have the remote. If you want it PM me.

[NeedleSharp]

[QUOTE=ram57ta]If you want a stereo that I was using for that specific purpose in my garage come get it. Its an early 90's Pioneer mini component that probably has about 40 watts x2. Has a built in logic dual cassette deck with dolby but it needs new belts, also has like 6 EQ settings, a built in CD player that works, an am/fm tuner, and an aux input. I even still have the remote. If you want it PM me.[/QUOTE]

i used to use one of my old 2 ch DJ amps (about 800 watts) and a mixer for EQ's and recently had to use them again for gigs. i pulled out my old school Aiwa stereo (nearly identical to the one your selling) that i believe is 50x2 and use it for my computer. I have 2 bookshelf speakers and a passive 12" sub and it sounds fricken awsome! nearly as good as my pain in the ass setup. lol. this would be a great buy and easy sollution. as stated above, all you need is a mini-jack to RCA and some speakers and your good to go.

I got my pioneer bookshelfs for $50 on sale @ best buy :p

[cor302]

[QUOTE=ram57ta]If you want a stereo that I was using for that specific purpose in my garage come get it. Its an early 90's Pioneer mini component that probably has about 40 watts x2. Has a built in logic dual cassette deck with dolby but it needs new belts, also has like 6 EQ settings, a built in CD player that works, an am/fm tuner, and an aux input. I even still have the remote. If you want it PM me.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the offer but I grabbed on from my old man. Got it set up and running. Thanks for all the input guys.