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Pooky posted:My 70 year old grandmother just bought a beautiful 52" tv and decided to pick up an amp to drive her subwoofer, but instead of getting what she needed she picked up a PylePro PZR6XA 2200W DJ amplifier. The thing is a sexy beast (the amp!), but useless with her 200w sub. Is there anything we can use it for that won't blow the roof off her duplex or make her ears bleed while listening to Fox News at 2200 watts? Return it! There is no use for that kind of amp outside of throwing a bonfire party in the backyard that will wake up the neighbors. I mean yeah, it WILL work, if you keep it down very low but why even risk it? That amp could fry the poo poo out of that woofer at any sudden peak, and it wouldn't think twice of it. Unless you have some serious PA speakers to drive with it, which will likely cost more than the amp cost, return that sonnabitch and get something suited for the application at hand. Not saying its a great amp, but, it's definitely not in the right application. Now, as far as what you CAN use it for, if you feel like buying a pair of gently caress-off-huge PA speakers, you could drive them with it, in the similar watts range input, like http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMS115V or anything else, and you would run less a danger of completely blowing the hell out of them. It's a cheap amp, obviously, but it is not suited for that application at all. Frankly, at that price point I wouldn't use it for either application. Edit: just for comparison sake, here is an amp that is rated at the equivilant power level, mid line, and costs $700. http://www.zzounds.com/item--CWNXTI2000 For about $100-150 depending on how bad she got taken for it, that "watt rating" is probably peak output power not music/rms/program power. (each of those terms means the same thing) Sniep fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Oct 29, 2009 |
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Oct 29, 2009 10:28
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I agree that she should return it and buy something more appropriate. However, it won't damage the sub as long as she keeps the gain down. There's nothing wrong with using an amp much more powerful than the speaker rating - it just means more headroom and no risk of clipping. I'd take that solution over underpowering it. I'm also kind of weirded out by how cheap that amp is for the reasons you posted. Even Behringers are much more expensive. Based on price alone, I'm guessing it's garbage. Dominoes fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Oct 29, 2009 |
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Oct 29, 2009 14:06
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It was from overstock.com, so returning it is not an option. I wish she could. I guess I'll either rent speakers and throw a party or tell her to donate it to her church. E: yup, that was 2200 peak, I love how audio companies lie. Looks to be around 250w rms. I think I'll just buy it off her and have a booming party system. Any suggestions on speakers? I don't want to have to pick up another sub so I'm looking for something full range. Pooky fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Oct 30, 2009 |
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Oct 29, 2009 22:23
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Pooky posted:It was from overstock.com, so returning it is not an option. I wish she could. I guess I'll either rent speakers and throw a party or tell her to donate it to her church. On this note, I have a few thoughts. [Entire post removed, because, on second thought, see edit below] Edit: Honestly? To take this full circle? If you bridged that amp, it'd be perfect after reassessing the situation, to power that sub that she got it for. Funny how that works. I wouldn't drive it to shake the rafters, but based on your initial statement that the passive sub was 200 watts, and bridged that amp should come quite near that for RMS output, go for it! I think it'd do just fine. Sniep fucked around with this message at 11:05 on Oct 30, 2009 |
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Oct 30, 2009 10:47
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Pooky posted:Looks to be around 250w rms. Dominoes fucked around with this message at 14:08 on Oct 30, 2009 |
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Oct 30, 2009 14:05
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My wireless keyboard has a BT dongle that supposedly works with all BT. SO my question is should I use my BT headset (the one you use to talk on the phone while driving) or use a wired usb ported headset? I'll be using it for cs:s and L4D2.
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Oct 30, 2009 23:09
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AznKwaiJai posted:My wireless keyboard has a BT dongle that supposedly works with all BT. SO my question is should I use my BT headset (the one you use to talk on the phone while driving) or use a wired usb ported headset? I'll be using it for cs:s and L4D2. While I honestly don't have first hand experience with this, everyone I've heard of doing this says it's more trouble than it's worth, drops out a lot, etc. Wouldn't kill you to try it though since you already have the hardware!
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Oct 30, 2009 23:39
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I just got a Panasonic HTIB for my Panasonic Plasma. I have a HD Cable Box and a PS3 hooked up to the TV via HDMI, and a 360 and Wii hooked up via Component cables. I am going to connect the reciever to the TV using a digital optical cable, and it will also be plugged in via HDMI to the tv for the DVD player. Basically, I want to know if the stuff plugged in VIA hdmi will transmit everything to the TV and then back to the reciever through the HDMI+optical cable, or will I have to find some way to plug everything into the receiver? What about the stuff plugged in via component, will I get 5.1 like the HDMI cables?
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Nov 4, 2009 02:23
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Tactical Boner posted:I just got a Panasonic HTIB for my Panasonic Plasma. I have a HD Cable Box and a PS3 hooked up to the TV via HDMI, and a 360 and Wii hooked up via Component cables. I am going to connect the reciever to the TV using a digital optical cable, and it will also be plugged in via HDMI to the tv for the DVD player. Basically, I want to know if the stuff plugged in VIA hdmi will transmit everything to the TV and then back to the reciever through the HDMI+optical cable, or will I have to find some way to plug everything into the receiver? What about the stuff plugged in via component, will I get 5.1 like the HDMI cables? Very few TV's will take 5.1 audio from sources other than its internal tuners and pass them over the optical cable. You will most likely have to connect audio from all devices to the receiver. Also, component is a medium for video so I don't quite get your question there. You either plug in red/white rca cables into the receiver for stereo sound or optical/digital coax/hdmi (if supported) for surround.
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Nov 4, 2009 02:31
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Hey all- I have a quick, and probably silly, question. Does operating bookshelf speakers on the floor cause any damage to them? I know they sound vastly better higher up, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to find stands to my liking, and I've run them on the floor a fair bit. Thanks for fielding such a basic question!
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Nov 4, 2009 08:05
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Animaniac posted:Hey all- I have a quick, and probably silly, question. Does operating bookshelf speakers on the floor cause any damage to them? Pretty much any speaker will operate in any position. You have nothing to worry about running some bookshelfs on the floor, they don't even have the capacity to harm themselves if misused, unless overdriven or severely under driven. Even gigantic club speakers designed to fire from the air suspended from wire, will do fine in a floormount position. What you have to worry about is what you feed them with, other than that, its acoustics.
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Nov 4, 2009 08:21
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Animaniac posted:Hey all- I have a quick, and probably silly, question. Does operating bookshelf speakers on the floor cause any damage to them?
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Nov 4, 2009 14:00
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Animaniac posted:Hey all- I have a quick, and probably silly, question. Does operating bookshelf speakers on the floor cause any damage to them? Some masonary blocks of your choice, some industrial adhesive and a little spray paint. Or pvc tube filled with some shot. You can make some stands quite cheaply. Here is a thread from a little while ago. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3202909
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Nov 4, 2009 21:40
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Not sure if this has been answered, but I recently got a really nice Amp donated to me by my Dad. I've got a set of surround speakers i've gone and hooked up, only to find that my TV doesn't have an analog output to go into the Amp, just a digital one. Is there some kind of cheap Digital\Analog converter, maybe a cable or something? The ones i've seen online are varied and cost around £30-£60. Will getting a cheap one affect audio quality? Will they actually work how I want them to? I assume it'll be TV -digital-> Converter -analog-> Amp. Has anyone got experience of using this kind of thing?
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Nov 5, 2009 17:11
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Thanks for the replies, Sniep, Dominoes, and Doc Spratley. I'm glad I didn't do any damage. I'll definitely look into that stand idea.
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Nov 5, 2009 21:50
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I hope this is the right place to ask. If I want to connect this motherboard to these speakers using the Optical connection on both, is this the right cable?? This is the back of the Logitech panel
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Nov 6, 2009 20:45
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d3rt posted:I hope this is the right place to ask. Yes.
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Nov 6, 2009 22:26
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Thank you
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Nov 6, 2009 22:51
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This motherboard apparently does on the fly Dolby Live encoding. If I got that mobo does that mean I can output from one of the S/PDIF outputs to my receiver for surround sound? My receiver is an oldish Onkyo HT-R330.
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Nov 6, 2009 23:31
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I asked this in another thread, but this is the better place to ask. I apologize in advance for not knowing jack-poo poo about audio equipment: I'm saving up to get a decent 5.1 or maybe a 7.1, but as of right now, I'm using an old abused surround sound DVD player from '03 and everything is in stereo right now  The black speakers are under my bed for now Until I get a decent receiver with a digital/hdmi connection, I'm stuck on stereo composite inputs because that's all the dvd player has. Since it's 5.1 and has free slots open, I would like to be able to use the two black speakers as well. Is there any way in tinkering around through windows to get the extra two speakers playing stereo as well, or will that not work?
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Nov 7, 2009 01:38
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I use my headphones a lot at my desk and I'm really getting tired of the "hum" that my iMac produces even when theres nothing playing. I rip everything in apple lossless and it seems worthless with this hum. Would buying a DAC let me hear cleaner audio or am I looking for a different product?
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Nov 8, 2009 03:42
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If it's the same issue I've had before with cheaper speakers, you might want to check into getting a ground loop isolator
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Nov 8, 2009 20:13
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Delrith Ur posted:Since it's 5.1 and has free slots open, I would like to be able to use the two black speakers as well. Is there any way in tinkering around through windows to get the extra two speakers playing stereo as well, or will that not work? Unless the black speakers are powered (i.e. have built-in amplifiers), you need to connect them to some sort of amplifier to get sound out of them. Does your receiver have outputs for more than one pair of speakers? Also, put that monitor back down at eye level where it belongs. Jeez kid, you wanna spend your computer time craning your neck like that?
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Nov 9, 2009 09:34
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Cthulhuite posted:Not sure if this has been answered, but I recently got a really nice Amp donated to me by my Dad. I've got a set of surround speakers i've gone and hooked up, only to find that my TV doesn't have an analog output to go into the Amp, just a digital one. Is there some kind of cheap Digital\Analog converter, maybe a cable or something? So the amp is multi-channel (not just stereo) but only has analog ins? If so, then yes, you have to get a D/A converter to use your digital output for surround signals, there's no other way around it. Before you invest in any gear though, you may want to check and see if your TV passes through digital audio from your other sources (HDMI, etc), as a lot of them don't. If it does not, you should consider investing in a receiver with pre-outs, which would allow you to use the amp and would also take care of the d/a conversion as well
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Nov 9, 2009 22:01
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Hippie Hedgehog posted:Unless the black speakers are powered (i.e. have built-in amplifiers), you need to connect them to some sort of amplifier to get sound out of them. Does your receiver have outputs for more than one pair of speakers? .....it's not a receiver, it's a dvd player. It has outputs for five speakers and a subwoofer, but only stereo input my desk was only arranged like that so you could see my set-up, normally the widescreen sits on my desk and the black speakers go under my bed edit: and the dvd player supplies powers to the speakers, so no i dont need an amplifier. essentially my question is "can I get stereo sound to play on more than two speakers at once? Delrith Ur fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Nov 9, 2009 |
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Nov 9, 2009 22:30
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dawiyo posted:I use my headphones a lot at my desk and I'm really getting tired of the "hum" that my iMac produces even when theres nothing playing. I rip everything in apple lossless and it seems worthless with this hum. Would buying a DAC let me hear cleaner audio or am I looking for a different product? As the other poster mentioned, what you are hearing is indeed a ground loop. An external DAC would probably take care of this for you. A ground loop isolator can be had for pretty cheap though, so you might try that first. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Rolls-HE18-Buzz-Off-Hum-Eliminator-102935947-i1124895.gc
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Nov 9, 2009 22:37
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vanilla slimfast posted:As the other poster mentioned, what you are hearing is indeed a ground loop. An external DAC would probably take care of this for you. A ground loop isolator can be had for pretty cheap though, so you might try that first. Thanks for the suggestion however before I go and buy anything, let me rephrase my question. I said "hum" but I'm not sure that accurately describes my problem. You know that static noise you get when you turn a set of speakers all the way up but have nothing playing? That's the "noise" I'm trying to get rid of.
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Nov 10, 2009 00:43
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dawiyo posted:Thanks for the suggestion however before I go and buy anything, let me rephrase my question. I said "hum" but I'm not sure that accurately describes my problem. You know that static noise you get when you turn a set of speakers all the way up but have nothing playing? That's the "noise" I'm trying to get rid of. That is a ground loop unless your speakers do that when theyre not even plugged into anything else, in which case buy better speakers
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Nov 10, 2009 00:52
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My wife has a laptop she wants to use to have audio in the kitchen. I have a little JVC iPod dock speaker thing with a remote control that I won. The laptop has Bluetooth. The audio orb does not. Is there something cheap I can buy that will take a BT signal from the laptop and output to the little JVC iPod orb dock?
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Nov 10, 2009 02:23
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Delrith Ur posted:.....it's not a receiver, it's a dvd player. It has outputs for five speakers and a subwoofer, but only stereo input Sorry, used the wrong word I guess, I'm just used to calling any amplifier a receiver if it does anything more than amplifying. I guess that's not correct unless it actually hasa radio tuner... In this case, your amp is also a DVD player. To address your question, I think it's unlikely, but it's impossible to tell for sure without having at least a make and model and preferably a manual. [Edit: No, I can't tell that from the picture. I suck I guess.] There could be some "multi-channel stereo" mode in your surround settings. It will probably not output the exact same thing on all 4 speakers though, and it might assume you have a center speaker. It all depends on how smart/stupid your DVD unit is I guess. Hippie Hedgehog fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Nov 10, 2009 |
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Nov 10, 2009 13:45
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I've got a question about speaker selectors/amplifiers. My parents just moved into a new house which has 6 different speaker pairs built into various rooms. I've been dealing with the A/V guy who did the wiring because my father knows absolutely nothing about this and usually asks me to assist him when it comes to things of this nature, but I don't really know enough to make a solid decision. My father has his own receiver/stereo system, so that's not an issue. Like I said, the house has 6 sets of speakers, so I'd need a 6 zone selector to hook all speakers up to the receiver. Everything is already wired and ready to go. The A/V guy sent an estimate for a Harman Kardon selector priced at $149 and an amp priced at $55. Plus about $250 for installation. I'm pretty sure I could do 99% of this myself and save my dad a bunch of money but I don't know anything about what to look for when buying a selector, or how to know if I really do need an amp. I've priced out models on Amazon that range from $45 to $190. I read all the specs and couldn't really figure out what justified the higher end models being that much more expensive. The installation fee seems to be a major rip off because essentially all that would entail is wiring the speaker wires into the selector and then the selector into the receiver and placing them in the cabinet which I'm more than capable of doing. Any advice on how I should go about this or what specifically to look for when shopping for selectors would be much appreciated. examples of what I found on amazon. Low-end model & High-end model McKracken fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Nov 10, 2009 |
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Nov 10, 2009 19:33
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McKracken posted:Any advice on how I should go about this or what specifically to look for when shopping for selectors would be much appreciated.
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Nov 10, 2009 23:05
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Saukkis posted:I think on the cheap model you can only choose which speakers are outputting sound. On the more expensive one you can individually adjust the sound level of the speakers and you can have two separate sources. For example living room and kitchen could be playing the sound from a TV, while other rooms are playing music from a CD. But that probably requires two amplifiers. What's the situation with amps, how do I know if I need them/when are they appropriate?
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Nov 11, 2009 00:54
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dawiyo posted:Thanks for the suggestion however before I go and buy anything, let me rephrase my question. I said "hum" but I'm not sure that accurately describes my problem. You know that static noise you get when you turn a set of speakers all the way up but have nothing playing? That's the "noise" I'm trying to get rid of. That still does not help. A ground loop hum has a very distinct sound at 60hz (a low-frequency hum). Here's a youtube video where you can hear what the hum sounds like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YM1iwC6vhg#t=1m50s If you're just talking about static, that is because on-board soundcards are notoriously noisy because of crosstalk from other integrated components. An external DAC/audio interface will definitely make this go away.
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Nov 12, 2009 01:22
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vanilla slimfast posted:That still does not help. A ground loop hum has a very distinct sound at 60hz (a low-frequency hum). Here's a youtube video where you can hear what the hum sounds like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YM1iwC6vhg#t=1m50s It's just the static. Would you suggest either of these two? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_i=507846 I like the convenience of bringing the headphone jack closer with this one http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Advantage-Micro-Sound-Card/dp/B0002ICGDY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257995495&sr=8-5 However, this one was recommended in the Headphone thread Thanks to everyone who has helped me out with this.
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Nov 12, 2009 04:27
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if it needs to be occasionally portable then get the Audio Advantage. I have one (but I don't use it after getting an ibasso d2+), and it is no bigger than a thumbdrive.
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Nov 12, 2009 23:12
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TenementFunster posted:if it needs to be occasionally portable then get the Audio Advantage. I have one (but I don't use it after getting an ibasso d2+), and it is no bigger than a thumbdrive. Want to sell me the Audio Advantage one?
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Nov 13, 2009 05:53
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DAC/Amp question: I just purchased a pair of Audio Technica DTH-A700 (closed) which are I believe ~64ohms impedance. I'm going to be running them from my MacBook Pro and I'd like to get as nice an audio experience as I can while playing games and listening to music. Question is, which DAC should I get to drive these cans to their full 64ohm potential? I want the audio-dg Compas DAC, but $300 is way too much for my budget at the moment. I was also looking into the Pocket Amp 2 (http://www.electric-avenues.com/amplifiers.html) but wasn't sure if this would be sufficient. I believe this thing runs for $60 which is something I could afford, but I'd be willing to spend around $100 for an even better DAC. Something small is a plus, but by no means necessary. I wasn't sure if USB powered DACs are of lesser quality than AC powered DACs. Would the USB at all interfere with sound quality or be an insufficient power input for a good quality DAC? tldr; looking for a DAC (size unimportant) for my Audio Technica A700 (closed) 65ohm headphones to run from my '09 MacBook Pro for gaming/music/movies for no more than $120. Thanks in advance.
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Nov 15, 2009 19:57
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a while back i got a great deal from woot on http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Synergy-SS-5-Surround-Speakers/dp/tech-data/B0006G9I56/ref=de_a_smtd speakers and have been running 4x those + a klipsch synergy center channel + subwoofer. i'm looking to upgrade my two fronts, as 90% of the time this setup is just used as a stereo for mp3's and vinyl. looking around the $200 price point, but would be capable of going higher if someone puts forth a particularly good set a little higher. atm i'm thinking of grabbing these http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-TSi100-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/tech-data/B00192KEY0/ref=de_a_smtd polk audio speakers. looking to stay at about this size though due to space limitations. e: looking at the tsi200 as well, seeing as its just the next model up in the same line of bookshelf. tldr: recommend me good bookshelf speakers for music listening across a broad spectrum of genres Nephzinho fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Nov 17, 2009 |
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Nov 16, 2009 02:42
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dawiyo posted:Want to sell me the Audio Advantage one?
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Nov 18, 2009 17:19
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