speaker wires question

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:56 am

i want to connect my stereo speakers to my PC.

the speakers have stripped wires and my PC has the normal 3.5 stereo plug. i have a stereo-RCA cable. i thought i could cut the RCA heads off, peel the cables, and tie the speaker wires to it. the speaker cable has a brown and a blue wire, though. so... can i just tie em together or how does this stuff work?

neon joe · Post by **neon joe** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:26 am

Puffi wrote:i want to connect my stereo speakers to my PC.

the speakers have stripped wires and my PC has the normal 3.5 stereo plug. i have a stereo-RCA cable. i thought i could cut the RCA heads off, peel the cables, and tie the speaker wires to it. the speaker cable has a brown and a blue wire, though. so... can i just tie em together or how does this stuff work?

You need some sort of amplifier to get any decent amount of noise.

That said, you will probably get a little bit of noise out of the speakers... why not try it, and let us know how it works?

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:41 am

so what are the two wires for? the brown and the blue? i can just tie em both to the same RCA wire? is this even technically sound?

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:54 am

Isn`t it possible to connect the pc to the stereo? I see little reason to use the speakers without an amplifier other than experimentation.

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:34 am

I would NOT do this unless this is an old part that you don't care if it dies. The headphone/line out plug on a computer is meant to feed an amplifier or headphones. Headphone are typically 32ohm (maybe as low as 16ohm). Stereo speakers are generally 8ohm or sometimes even 4ohm. Maybe they have protection for this but I would be worried that it would draw too much current and fry the tiny built in amplifier on your motherboard or sound card. Either way, it's definitely not made to do this.

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:34 pm

i'm not going to pay a hundred euros for an amplifier just to get these speakers to work, so are there any REALLY simple and cheap amplifiers out there?

also, could i to peel an RCA cable, tie the speaker wires to that, and stick that thing to my TV? it should have a better amplifier in it... but then i'd have to turn the TV on whenever i wanted to hear the PC. plus i dont know how healthy that is for the TV either...

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:28 am

You don't have to spend that much if all you need is any amplifier. Rummage sales, eBay, etc... I'm sure you could find someone who is looking to get rid of some old stereo of some sorts for cheap. All it needs is one input for CD/Tape/AUX, anything except phono which is used for old record players and uses a much lower level signal.

Even if you didn't cause any damage to your PC or TV if that works too, you're probably going to get very little sound out of the speakers. Again, as they're the signal is not designed to drive speakers. What kind of speakers are we talking about anyways? Size, specs, etc...

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:26 pm

i'd love to give some specs of the speakers, but there's not much on em i can read. the brand's B&W, and all it says is "2001" on the back.. they're 28,5cm's in height (11.3 in)... and black, if that helps

i tried to google em, but couldn't find em anywhere. they were bought for TV use some years ago.

i really dont want some massive amplifier even if it was cheap...

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:34 pm

Why don't you send ME those "junky old" B&W's:D to me,and 'll send you some amplified speakers made for a PC....Shoot i'll send you two pair with subs.

Please get a proper amp to run those speakers! Anything less would be a shame.

neon joe · Post by **neon joe** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:14 pm

xan_user wrote:Why don't you send ME those "junky old" B&W's:D to me,and 'll send you some amplified speakers made for a PC....Shoot i'll send you two pair with subs.

Please get a proper amp to run those speakers! Anything less would be a shame.

I second this... B&W makes some exceptional speakers.

potsy · Post by **potsy** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:39 pm

Hi there puffi, you can get the specs for your speakers here: http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.a ... 3&pid=1842 I think the 2001 was a small bookshelf speaker. Should be quite a nice pair, B&W make respectable gear (eg they do Jaguar car audio).

There's no way your sound card will have enough output to drive these. You will need an amp in between your computer and the speakers. So I don't think you should waste your time fiddling round stripping wires. If you don't want to get an amp maybe you should sell them on the ebay and buy a pair of powered computer speakers. But if it were me I'd get a cheap second hand amp. Speakers are generally the most expensive part of any sound system and you pay for what you get, whereas cheap amps often do a good job. So if you've already got half decent speakers your almost there!
Potsy

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:11 am

oh thanks for the link. turns out my version is the 2001 "magnetically shielded ZMF" version.

here's what it says in the specs:

frequency response: 85hz - 20khz +- 2db
sensitivity: 88db spl(1 watt into 8 ohms)
nominal impedance: 4ohms
power handling: 20W - 100W into 4ohms undistorted speech and music programme

yup i know they're not too bad... my dad bought em for himself some years ago, and he never really buys anything bad or even average... i browsed thru some amps, but couldn't find anything too great. they're not that cheap. i can find a bunch of amps meant for cars... how would they work with this?

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:14 am

Just get yourself something like this.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:18 am

Trust me, you will blow your sound board on your computer or your TV if you splice in those speakers. You can go on Ebay or to any garage sale and find an old stereo amplifier/receiver for not much money. As long as it has a set of RCA inputs (aside from the phono) it will be fine. You shouldn't need much power.

You could even use the deck from an old boombox, the kind that had detachable speakers that many people had back in the 80's.

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:56 am

Those B&W's need a WAY better amp than http://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Impact-15-W ... B00009W44B

Use at least a 50watt constant Home amp to drive these, not peak wattage. Do not use a car amp. The amp you use should weigh at least as much as a one of the speakers...
Please I beg of you, do not hook these up to a crappy amp! If you can 't afford a matching quality amp, sell them or store them till you can. Maybe your dad has an old amp that you can use? I'm sure he'd hate to see those speakers get damaged or even under utilized.

You have a REALLY nice pair speakers there, you owe it to both B&W and your dad to treat them right.

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:37 pm

i really dont know what to do right now... sure it's kind of a shame to watch a blu-ray movie or something and listen to it thru the crap speakers of the TV just cos i dont have an amp... but any decent amp costs pretty close to that 100 euros. i've browsed around and that's just how it seems to be. for 200 euros i could get a new 1. the amps are meant for 5.1 / 7.1 systems, so it's really a bit of a waste to get 1 for only these 2 speakers, especially considering power usage. these amps i'm looking at eat up a constant 170-190W. it gets pretty expensive in the long run.

how much money u think i could get if i sold these speakers and just forgot about it?

potsy · Post by **potsy** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:15 pm

You're right, it would be a waste to buy a surround amp for two speakers. But old stereo amps are a dime a dozen and usually they sound just fine. Here's some examples of completed listings so you can see what can be bought for about 20-30 Euros that will sound fine:
old dual amp
technics amp I'm using one like this!
pioneer amp the older pioneers seem to have become fashionable and sell for more, but I think the later ones like this sound good.
pioneer amp
kenwood amp
Amps like these are not flash but would drive your speakers and sound much better than many new amps that retail for much more. Have a look in your local junk shop too.
Potsy

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:51 pm

That was no crappy amp that I mentioned. Look around and you'll find that it's got some pretty good reviews. It's actually pretty well known in the audiophile community. Certainly there are bigger and better options around, but at what price? Also, don't forget that most "normal" listening only involves a few watts of power.

potsy · Post by **potsy** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:04 pm

Yep, I'm sure the Sonic Impact sounds just fine and would do the job nicely. It just costs more & delivers less power than an old one from a junk shop.

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:37 pm

Quote from amazon;
"Compatible with....speakers up to 20 watts"

They're "crappy" if you plan on using it to power B&W's as your main speakers rather than just for surround.

Using a 15 watt surround amp for these B&W's is kind of like using a $20 PSU on a quad core and expecting it to be silent and stable.

Seconded on potsy's post. Spend half as much on a used old school amp and get 2-3 times the power and performance.

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:05 pm

Using a 15 watt surround amp for these B&W's is kind of like using a $20 PSU on a quad core and expecting it to be silent and stable.

quikkie · Post by **quikkie** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:00 am

the class D amp that makes up the guts of that sonic impact gizmo is much better than you people give it credit for. There's reviews on 6moons.com and tnt-audio.com.

I would be tempted to just get a simple stereo power amp rather than a receiver. Sure a receiver would do a lot more, but you don't need all the functionality, you just need the amplification of the signal.

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