computer to HiFi speakers

[lummac]

Question

What is the best way to connect my pc to some 40w and 60w 8ohm speakers

I have finished my kitchen refurb and have put in 4 jamo ceiling speakers, and subwoofer, now I want to hook these to my new computer (AMD 64 2.8mhz with chaintech ZNF3 -250 with risercard )

How can i do this?
or what is the best way to do this?

[Rave]

You'll need an amplifier mate, one with 5 inputs. Home cinema ones are designed to run the five main speakers of a surround sound setup, but there's no particularly good reason not to run the sub from one of the channels, probably the centre, although it might struggel at really high volumes. If the sub is powered you can go direct from the sub out of the computer to it's low-level input and then run the four other speakers from the amp.

BTW, if it's an A64 2800+, then it actually runs at 1.8GHz.

Rich :¬)

[lummac]

Thanks for that quick update.

I was thinking onn the same line of putting in an amplifier, was just hoping that there was maybe a different solution to this.

Are there any amplifier cards available???

Ps you are right Rave the amd athlon 64 2800 runs 1.8ghz

[Alex]

no amplifier free solutions available mate.

If you want a dirt cheap one then look here:

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/index....l.php&p=300973

Or on ebay...

[lummac]

Looks good, but it must be an amplifier which is not wider than 28cm as its going to be build in a Kitchen unit


maybe there are some amplifiers arround wich have a rs232 connection so i can control it via de pc??

[unrealrocks]

You wont get an amp that you'll be able to control from the PC ...

Is the subwoofer powered? (IE does it have an amplifier built in?)

If so you could get a stereo amp that has twin outputs (IE two sets of stereo) you can power them all through that and run the sub directly from the PC.

BTW - you must have quite a sizeable kitchen to really need 4 speakers :|

[Andyr]

Here’s my solution:
An Airport express can be used to send Audio from a PC through to an amplifier to allow the sound to be played through a home hifi system wirelessly. They cost about £100 but you haven’t mentioned a budget.

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

You will need a wireless network card installed in your PC to be able to use this. A wireless networking card should cost around £40.

Im not 100% sure exactly how this works but from what I have read it appears that you create a play list in Itunes (acceptable but could be winamp, maybe winamp support will follow), select a area in the house to stream the audio to (each "area" must have a airport express installed), Have the airport express plugged into a wall socket and then with a connection into your Amplifier.

Your amplifier will need to have 4 speaker outputs (some 2 channel amps will do this but you may need to purchase a Home Cinema receiver) which is going to set you back around £100 - £200 and will have a dedicated sub out.

Can I just ask you what you need 4 speakers in your kitchen for? In my kitchen we are happy with a Denon all in one system.

[Howard]

Alternatively if you wanna pump music throughout the house you could use a Squeezebox:

www.slimdevices.com . One can be bought from www.advancedmp3players.co.uk

Fantastic device. Recently set one up in my lounge. Zero delay for anything really cos we use the wired interface. I almost want one for my room. But my MediaPC is perfect

[lummac]

I have seen some amps that have a rs232 connection (what is that used for then.
No the subwoofer doesn't have an amplifier
her is my kitchen where i will be converting my island to a multifunctional place of working

here are some pics
http://imagehost.darkernet.co.uk/i/x2.jpg
http://imagehost.darkernet.co.uk/i/x1.jpg

[Howard]

Cool.

The only amps I've seen with RS232 connections have been really expensive multichannel AV amplifiers costing upwards of £1000+

[lummac]

woooh. keep it steady their mate

Then i need a amplifier with a posibility to run a wired remote which i can hide behind the screen

[Andyr]

I believe that the reason home Cinema amps have an RS232 port on them is so that a HTPC can be used on them and are more generally reserved for those who are in the good books of their bank manager.

What will be key points when purchasing a new amp for your rather nice kitchen setup? Price? size?

Should be able to make a recomondation from that.

[unrealrocks]

You leave the amps at a high level (say -5db) then just use an ATi remote on the PC to control the PC (and the PCs volume) - that'll work through walls/doors because its an RF remote rather than IR

I really dont see the point in getting an AV decoder as its not exacly going to be a surround setup (if even stereo in a kitchen) - I would maybe concider one of those 'shopping center amps' that have 600 odd speakers connections, there quite cheap and would prob be good enough quality for what you want it for ... have a look on Maplin.co.uk

[lummac]

I have a setup of 4 ceiling speakers and a subwoofer as the computer is to be used as a multimedia centre (TV, Internet, Radio, DVD player, etc) (the kitchen is the place were everybody hangs out the most -as i have two sons one of 19 and one of 17) it is part of a network of 6 other computers (all hardwired) but I have a wireless hub within the network - for the laptop) I want something smart to connect the pc to normal Hifi speakers and a subwoofer (non powered)


So sollutions mentioned are
amplifier
airtunes
slimdevices

I like the ampliefier solution - but i need to control everything from the pc, i do not want a sepereate HiFi system.

I forget to mention that i also have planned (already have it) to use the new Logitech dinova keyboard. This one comes with a multimedia keypad. To ensure this works perfect i need to be able to control eveything from the PC

Does anybody done a set-up like this before and can share some ideas??
Reas

[Andyr]

Another thought that came into my head earlier on was the following:
My idea incorporates the ATI Remote as mentioned earlier by unrealrocks which can be found here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=51627

I own one of these remotes and use it on my HTPC downstairs when it is in use, I have also had the office I work at purchase one for Slideshows and for use in other situations where it is not always best that the operator always sits near the computer.

Anyway the device has a 10m receiving radius (should be enough to be used anywhere in your house). The remoter bob also uses Radio Frequency so it can be used through walls, doors etc.

From what I gather you are planning on having the PC, which will be connected to the speakers, inside the kitchen itself, this simplifies things. To connect the PC to the amplifier all you would need is a RCA - 3.5mm cable similar to this.

You have 8 Ohm speakers which will not require a high powered (nor high priced) amplifier to drive them, I would recommend a Cambridge Audio Azur 540A (seen here and available in black and silver) but since you said it needs to be no wider than 28 CM which cancels out a lot of possible amplifiers as most are 43cm. After a quick look around the internet it seems that the only amplifier that is below 28cm is the Eltex AVR200 (as seen above). The only other one I could find was a Cyrus AV8 which retailed at around £1100. Cyrus Audio specialise in hifi components which are half size to most other components.

Install the Remote Bob into your computer system and install software called Uice (available 1here) which allows you to customise the remote bob to function with any program. Set this up using the default Winamp settings (or windows media player depending on your preference). Plug the 3.5 MM jack into your audio out on your sound card and plug the two RCA plugs (the red and white connectors) into the AUX port on the back of the amplifier. Use decent quality speaker cable (Such as QED Silver Anniversary or QED Original) to connect the amplifier to your two sets of speakers (I recommend having the more powerful set plugged into Front and the 40W set into the rear port). Plug the sub into the sub out on the Amplifier and Power the amp up. You should now be able to play music from your computer all around your kitchen.

Andy.

[jsterling]

from memory, kustompcs has things which turn a 3.5mm jack into terminals which you can connect speakers to. here's the kustom one, but afaik theres is another available.